Professors attempt to form faculty union
Faculty at The Ohio State University at Marion are attempting to form the first faculty employee union at Ohio State.
A majority of tenured and tenuretrack faculty at Ohio State Marion submitted union authorization cards with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Ohio Council 8 to the Ohio State Employment Relations Board (SERB) in March, and the process is still pending before the board amid campus faculty claiming the organization has not yet acknowledged the efforts to organize.
By organizing with AFSCME, Ohio State Marion faculty hope to gain equal pay and workload expectations with their faculty colleagues, to secure rules and governance on the Marion campus and to ensure that professors can negotiate health care benefits and prevent further loss of pensions.
According to a release from AFSCME, the university administration is delaying and evading the attempts to unionize, arguing the professors at Marion are part of the larger university and therefore cannot organize separately.
Marion campus faculty meanwhile claim the organizational structures are separate between campuses and “separate and increased work and service standards” they experience at the regional campus.
Associate Professor and union organizer Scot Kaplan said the Ohio State administration has made no attempt to acknowledge or reach out to the faculty of the Marion campus since filing the petition to be collectively recognized and has instead hired a law firm and promoted slogans citing “Many Campuses, One Ohio State.”
If this message is to be communicated, Kaplan said, it should mean professors of the different campuses are being truly treated equally.
“’One Ohio State’ should be more than a slogan. It should be a policy that means equality for all,” Kaplan said.
He also noted professors at the Marion campus teach more courses, engage in increased service to the institution and receive lower wages than their Columbus faculty colleagues.
“The question is, why does OSU regard and subsequently treat the people of Marion as less than the people of Columbus? Why does OSU hire law firms in an effort to prevent us from simply having a vote to express our will? Why does OSU obstruct the overwhelming desire of the faculty to organize which is simply an effort to help create greater parity? I believe these are important questions to ask, which OSU has chosen to avoid to date,” he said.
Ohio State Senior Director, Media & Public Relations Benjamin Johnson provided the following response on behalf of the university, explaining the school is dedicated to following the process as defined by the State Employment Relations Board.
“We value our faculty and sincerely appreciate all they do to support Ohio State Marion and our students. Ohio State employs nearly 50,000 individuals, including at-will, contract, civil service and bargaining unit employees, and we strive to provide an inspiring and equitable work environment for all of our employees,” he said.
“This specific matter is currently pending before the State Employment Relations Board, and the university is committed to following the rules and regulations of the board as the process moves forward.”
Story by: Sophia Veneziano (740) 5645243; sveneziano@gannett.com