Ohio Education Association will defend right of
educators to strike
The Ohio Education Association, representing
130,000 teachers and school support personnel, today said it
will oppose legislation being introduced by Senator John Carey,
R-Wellston, that would eliminate the right of educators to
strike from the Ohio public employees collective bargaining
statute.
In a statement, OEA President Patricia
Frost-Brooks outlined why OEA opposes the no-strike bill as a
threat to balanced collective bargaining for education employees
in Ohio. She said: “The OEA strongly opposes any weakening
of Ohio’s longstanding collective bargaining law, which has
empowered teachers to advocate for many improvements in teaching
and learning conditions that have benefited students. “The
so-called reform proposal to eliminate the right to strike would
undermine a carefully balanced law that has proven successful in
helping educators and school boards resolve issues to their
mutual benefit in a way that also helps Ohio students.
“Ohio’s collective bargaining law has created a framework for
problem-solving that has made strikes rare and short in
duration. When strikes do occur, the issues at stake have a
direct impact on teaching and learning conditions. “Collective
bargaining itself, including the right to strike, came about as
a labor reform intended to help educators and school boards
develop consensus on key education issues and the terms and
conditions of employment. “We agree that binding arbitration and
mediation are important tools to resolve specific contractual
disputes, and we have negotiated arbitration and mediation
procedures within local collective bargaining agreements.
Strikes are a last resort after other dispute resolution
processes fail. We cannot support the elimination of the right
of employees to withhold their services.”
