News

At this year's 35th Biennial Convention, two chapters were honored for their Labor Gives Back efforts. We were happy to honor Grafton Correctional Chapter 4710 and Ashtabula Chapter 400 as the co-recipients of this year’s Bob White Labor Gives Back Award. Both chapters continue to carry the torch of community service, just as the award's namesake, Bob White, did in life.

In an amazing show of union solidarity and humanity, OCSEA convention delegates came together yet again for another important cause. In this case, it was to help raise donations for union sisters and brothers greatly impacted by the Maui wildfires. Nearly 300 AFSCME members are from the devastated town of Lahaina. 

Hey OCSEA Convention delegates! Tell us what you think! Take the OCSEA 35th Biennial Convention Survey.

Thursday’s OCSEA Convention agenda was jam packed with speakers, learning opportunities and action items starting with two “welcomes” from friends of labor Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther and Franklin County Commissioner Erica Crawley.

Board Member Cynthia Watiker who introduced her “boss,” explained to delegates that it’s important union leaders have people on the other side of the bargaining table who respect us and who value our work like Commissioner Crawley.

OCSEA President Christopher Mabe and OCSEA Vice President Gerard "Rocky" Jolly were both re-elected by acclamation Thursday afternoon at the OCSEA 35th Biennial Convention. Because neither officers were faced with opposition, the election rules certified that both officers were re-elected by acclamation. An election for the office of Secretary-Treasurer will take place Friday starting after morning session in Franklin A. All seated delegates are permitted to vote. An OCSEA ID badge is required to vote.

 The Rules Committee, led by chair Mercedes Hare and co-chair Eric Kusky, met Wednesday evening to determine the proposed Rules to govern Convention. The following Convention Rules were voted on and approved by the delegation during Thursday morning's general session.

The mascots from the Columbus Clippers baseball, Krash and Lou Seal, joined us this morning at general session to announce tonight's special delegate event!!!!!

They made a special trip to deliver a personal invitation to all OCSEA delegates to come out to see the Columbus Clippers at Huntington Park for their home game against the Jackson Jumbo Shrimp tonight.

AFSCME is hitting the road with one message: Staff the Front Lines! And OCSEA delegates are going to help spread that important message! Join your fellow delegates today at Noon for the Staff the Front Lines Rally. It will take place outside the Convention Center in Sensenbrenner Park at the corner of Nationwide Blvd. and N. High streets (SW corner). Together we will rally to bring attention to the public sector staffing crisis.

Welcome to the first day of the 35th OCSEA Biennial Convention! It's so great to be back together again in person and getting down to the business of the union. We will be electing officers and updating the OCSEA Constitution and so much more. But don't forget to have fun while you're here. We have a lot of fun and important events planned, and we hope you can take part in as much as possible.

Maria Byrd, Vice President of downtown BWC Chapter 2535, wants to welcome all OCSEA delegates, alternates and guests to her hometown, Columbus, Ohio. Maria is a Business Process Analyst 2 and has been with the agency nearly 29 years. Besides being a union activist, Maria is also an avid bowler and says she’s the only one in her family that hasn’t had a 300 score––but she has bowled a 290!

Every delegate is highly encouraged to attend the OCSEA Workshops throughout convention. There are workshops being held Wednesday night, Thursday morning and Friday morning. All new delegates SHOULD attend one of the New Delegate Workshops, either on Wednesday night or Thursday morning to get a feel for what convention is all about.