Yesterday, the Professional Staff Union of the Ohio Education Association went on strike.?? Workers are picketing the union's downtown Columbus headquarters as well as regional field offices.
The OEA and PSU agree that ???mainly economic??? issues are in dispute, including pensions, health-care benefits, job security, workload, and compensation. But the PSU, representing 110 OEA staff members, says that the treatment of staff throughout the negotiating process is also a factor.?? PSU President Norm Young told the Columbus Dispatch, ???OEA officers and managers need to practice what they preach. It's a pretty high form of hypocrisy for OEA officers and managers to be giving us this treatment when they expect us to protect OEA members from the same treatment out in the schools.???
When it comes to salary at least, the striking workers have something worth fighting for.?? The Dispatch reported that most of the PSU members make more than $100,000 per year ??? $10,000 more than the average district superintendent in Ohio makes each year and about twice what the average Ohio teacher is paid.
- Emmy Partin
