Before an Ohio Education Association (OEA) staffer wiped the content from the official Professional Staff Union (PSU) blog, emails from OEA leadership played a starring role on its “Hall of Shame” pages. Apparently OEA decided the public shouldn’t see what union bosses think of their own employees.

OEA President Patricia Frost-Brooks, paid $190,000 in 2010, crosses her employees' picket line

Here’s part of an email from OEA President Patricia Frost-Brooks:

I can say that in my opinion PSU is excessively aggressive in its rhetoric, almost outlandish in its rendering of the OEA positions, and very close to the vest about what their members make relative to what contract raises they’ve negotiated for US in the past two years.

Surely Ohioans aren’t expected to treat OEA employee talking points as gospel except when they disagree with OEA bosses – right?

Also–note that some PSU people are more vocal and adamant than others–of course they have a strategy–they’re the folks who teach us how to negotiate.

Here, the OEA president sounds like the OEA vice president: Frost-Brooks accuses OEA staff of putting on a show, while affirming that OEA does the same thing to taxpayers. “Of course they have a strategy” – berate the evils of management until management caves.

but [sic] they’re also the same folks who’ve gotten our locals 0-2% contracts for the past year. They need to live in our economic world, in my opinion.

In OEA President Patricia Frost-Brooks’s economic world, you’re paid $190,000 a year to pat yourself on the back for demanding unsustainable compensation while demonizing reforms that would reward the best educators. Speaking of excessively aggressive rhetoric:

In a message to her members, Ohio Education Association President Patricia Frost-Brooks called the bill’s passage a “final stamp of approval on an attempt to silence your voice as an advocate for Ohio’s children.”

She said SB5 was “a clear attempt to gut the ability of educators, nurses, firefighters, police and all public employees to have a voice on the job,” adding that it “does nothing to create jobs and instead gives politicians free reign to cut public education in Ohio.”

“An attempt to silence your voice” – like, for instance, by deleting an official staff blog. Is this sort of transparent class warfare what Ohio teachers have in mind when they fork over hundreds each year in OEA dues?

As a graduate of an Ohio public school, I can say without a doubt that handsomely-paid, wildly hypocritical OEA bosses do not speak for all Ohio teachers. On November 8, vote for sensible reforms that will empower taxpayers instead of professional agitators: Vote Yes on Issue 2!

Cross-posted at Third Base Politics.

Before some Ohio Education Association (OEA) staffer pulled the plug, the official Professional Staff Union (PSU) blog featured a number of emails from OEA bosses. As OEA employees represented by PSU fought for their contract demands, the bosses of Ohio’s largest government union reassured concerned members.

OEA VP Bill Leibensperger: Paid $186,471 in 2010

Here’s one of OEA Vice President Bill Leibensperger’s September 2009 emails, which figured prominently in the now-defunct PSU Blog’s “Hall of Shame”:

As your representatives, we value the contributions of our professional employees as well. I don’t take the rhetoric and posturing to heart.

By “rhetoric and posturing,” Leibensperger is referring to the complaints and criticisms of OEA employees against OEA. Interesting, since OEA uses the same “rhetoric and posturing” when fighting elected officials for taxpayer dollars! From another Leibensperger email (view source as PDF):

You know the negotiations process and understand posturing and rhetoric.

This seems awfully close to an admission that OEA’s entire business model is founded on cynical theatrics. Here’s yet another email from OEA’s vice president:

It is unfortunate that some of our professional staff use only one technique with these kinds of issues, and that is to gin up the emotions and play fast and loose with the facts. It seems especially cruel these days.

Hello there, Kettle; haaave ya met Pot? I wonder what the OEA Vice President Leibensperger from late 2009 would have to say about the OEA Vice President Leibensperger from March 2011:

“This is a real war. I am not overstating it,” said William Leibensperger, vice president of Ohio Education Association, during an informational meeting for OEA members at the United Auto Workers Hall in Bath Township.

Or this Vice President Leibensperger:

“These amendments really shine the light on what this bill is all about, which is silencing the voice of people who collectively bargain on behalf of their members and, in our case, on behalf of the children we work with,” OEA Vice President Bill Leibensperger said.

Or this one:

Another teacher said the bill leaves them with no protections.

Leibensperger agreed. “SB5 is all about removing any and all protections. You’re vulnerable,” he said.

Take it from Leibensperger himself: when the union bosses behind We Are Ohio engage in rhetoric and posturing to gin up emotions, we shouldn’t take it to heart.

Need more proof We Are Ohio doesn’t deserve your trust? There’s plenty of it. On November 8, Vote Yes on Issue 2!

Cross-posted at Third Base Politics.

How much can you learn from a 404 “File not found” error? Plenty, when it replaces content critical of the Ohio Education Association (OEA) - written by OEA employees.

When I stumbled across the official blog of a union representing more than 100 OEA staff, I could hardly believe how its authors reamed – over the course of 2+ years – the selfish, dishonest, hypocritical leadership of We Are Ohio’s biggest in-state donor.

In late August I began sharing quotes and context with readers of the Ohio sites I write for in my free time. By early September, years of union employees’ entries had vanished down the memory hole. Like this gem from 08/29/2009, which used to be at the web address above:

OEA apparently does not care that it is rife with hypocrisy, adamant in taking positions it tells its local affiliates to fight at all costs, and shortsighted.

Unfortunately for We Are Ohio, I printed every page of the OEA staff union’s blog to PDF a month ago. Here’s the full source for that quote. And here’s another example of what We Are Ohio doesn’t want you to see (view PDF):

The truth of the matter is that OEA failed to bargain in good faith with PSU.  In fact, they wasted five bargaining sessions before even responding with a written counter-proposal.  Does that sound like collaborative leadership?

Like the first quote, this OEA staffer insight was publicly visible until I began asking why Ohio voters should rely on union bosses who can’t be trusted by their own employees. Now…

Imagine, if you would, being paid heaps of public dollars to stand between elected officials and the voters who fund their operations. You don’t actually do any of the things taxpayers need, but you have considerable power over how much those services cost – and how they are (or aren’t) delivered.

The obvious brokenness of current Ohio law is why the unions created “We Are Ohio” in a desperate effort to market themselves as reg’lar folk. Senate Bill 5 threatens their cozy arrangement, and they plan to block reform using the usual tired lines about “solidarity” and “speaking for working people.”

What do you think – should Ohio voters buy what We Are Ohio is selling?

Follow me on Twitter: @jasonahart

Cross-posted at Third Base Politics.

OEA employees on strike

The Ohio Education Association (OEA), Ohio’s largest government union and We Are Ohio’s biggest in-state donor, has quite the history of strife with its own employees. Since OEA takes hundreds of dollars a year from public teachers in return for “organizing” and “solidarity,” this should be a huge red flag to Ohio taxpayers.

Here’s one of many revealing blog posts from the Professional Staff Union (PSU), which represents more than 100 OEA employees (note – union staff have deleted or blocked access to content critical of OEA; view a PDF copy):

The following message is from PSU’s brothers and sisters at CORE:

Our PSU Brothers and Sisters are in a stranglehold grip by OEA management–or so OEA management would like to believe. For OEA staff retirees, well, we’ve “been there, done that!” In what appears to be from the playbook of previous OEA management contract-gutting-proposals, OEA is once again wasting time and member goodwill (as well as public PR) on another impotent showing of bad management.

Why the bitterness from a retired OEA employee?

Remember the impact of the 1997 strike when dozens of retirees–including former OEA Executive Director Glenn Darr–descended on the OEA headquarters building when OEA was proposing take-backs in insurance and retiree health insurance (yes, post-65 insurance). We not only carried signs and created a huge crowd, but we spoke on TV about OEA’s two-faced management stance. Who can forget Glenn Darr speaking to the press about OEA’s mantra to members of “no take-backs” in support of continuing our lifetime health-care benefits bought and paid for in previous negotiations.

Fast forward to 2009…PSU and OEA negotiations opened with a take-back proposal that would have had a local association on the street and OEA management crying “foul.” But as we know only too well, OEA management can forget who they really represent and what they stand for when THEY go to the bargaining table with hard-working staff…the very ones who keep local membership dollars coming in to OEA coffers.

If you need it, there’s a whole lot more proof We Are Ohio doesn’t deserve your trust or your vote.

Cross-posted at Third Base Politics.

The past two years have been rocky for the Ohio Education Association (OEA) and its employees represented by the Professional Staff Union (PSU). Why should you care? Because OEA is Ohio’s largest government union, and the chief in-state donor to union front We Are Ohio.

Opposition to the reforms in Senate Bill 5 means support for the status quo, with union bosses wielding vast power over public funds. Would you hand a blank check to an HR consultant with miserable people skills? That is the effective result of Ohio’s government union law, passed in 1983 on a party-line vote.

The above photos are from a 2010 PSU strike against OEA – which is hardly the only recent example of conflict. Here’s an excerpt from an August 18, 2009 PSU blog post (note that union staff recently deleted or blocked access to content critical of OEA; here’s a PDF copy):

“We are picketing the OEA building today because we are concerned that bargaining a successor agreement does not seem to be a priority with the management of OEA. We urge the OEA to go to the bargaining table with the serious intention of negotiating a fair agreement with which both parties can agree. It is extremely ironic that the state’s largest advocate of school employees in collective bargaining has chosen not to bargain fairly with its own employees, ” said Bill Pearsol, spokesperson for PSU.

The informational picketing was done to draw attention to the lack of progress made at the negotiations table thus far.

“Ironic” is one word to describe OEA’s behavior with regard to its employees. Another would be “pathetic” – union bosses tell locals to “bargain hard” when taxpayer dollars are at stake, but suddenly care about saving money when it comes to their own cut. Wonder why?

On November 8, vote for sensible reforms to the power of union bosses who demand that taxpayers meet their terms… but won’t deal honestly with their own employees. Vote Yes on Issue 2!

If you need it, there’s plenty more proof OEA should not be trusted.

Cross-posted at Third Base Politics.

Professional Staff Union Members,

I’m writing to express concern over the recent lockdown and deletion of content from the official PSU Blog. I find it troubling that more than two years’ worth of entries written by your members – Ohio Education Association employees – are now hidden from the public or gone entirely.

Have you been pressured by OEA bosses into removing content critical of their leadership? As PSU has said, the OEA executive team is “rife with hypocrisy,” which casts doubt on their dedication to making workers’ voices heard. I’ve also noticed that Larry Wicks and other union leaders tend to slander their opponents when trying to make a point, so I can understand why you may want to do as OEA bosses say.

Was content on the PSU Blog not reflective of PSU’s beliefs? The PSU Blog is linked prominently on the PSU website, so it’s inconceivable how posts from 2009-2010 would only now be deemed inappropriate for public consumption. At any rate, the abrupt disappearance of so many entries is inconsistent with OEA’s alleged support for collaboration and open discussion. I hope PSU has not “abandoned its Core Values,” as one OEA member accused OEA of during last summer’s PSU strike.

Are PSU members no longer proud to fight for their pay and benefits? I suppose some would consider it unseemly to publish complaints about compensation, since average pay for OEA employees was more than $95,000 in 2010. But, if it’s good for the Ohio Education Association to fight taxpayers for more money, it’s good for their employees to make similar demands of union leadership. Especially since OEA has, in the words of a PSU member, “failed to bargain in good faith.”

In closing, allow me to reassure the Ohio Education Association employees whose voices have been muted by the removal of PSU Blog content. I planned ahead for this sudden disappearance of content, and am doing everything I can to guarantee the writings of OEA employees are read by voters across Ohio.

Aggravatingly,

Jason A. Hart

Cross-posted at Third Base Politics.

This belated attempt at discretion – why would a union try to explain hypocrisy when they can purge records instead? – made my day:

Last month I stumbled across photos from last year’s strike against the Ohio Education Association (OEA), posted to Facebook by OEA employees. Suddenly remembering the ridiculous situation – OEA bosses crossed the picket line for days while roughly half the union’s employees protested – I did a little more searching.

What did I find? The website and blog of the Professional Staff Union (PSU), a union representing more than 100 OEA staff. On 08/24, I started posting quotes from OEA employees and members that should devastate any chance of We Are Ohio preaching down to taxpayers about what callous cheapskates we are.

Coincidentally, PSU blog content that hasn’t been deleted outright is now locked to members-only. Three words for OEA bosses and the leftist hacks who have been sniping about what a boring, irrelevant series my PSU posts have been: Print to PDF. I have copies of everything. Go ahead and move on to “Hart’s a liar and this stuff is all made up” at your leisure, because I’m not nearly out of content.

Readers, refer to “ohiopsu.squarespace.com” in The Wayback Machine or Google cache. I’ve updated posts at that hero, Third Base Politics, and the Columbus Tea Party site to include the quotes in PDF screen caps.

Cross-posted at Third Base Politics.

A year ago the Ohio Education Association (OEA) forced more than 100 of its employees into a strike. Why should you care? Because the OEA is Ohio’s largest government union, and the primary in-state donor to union front We Are Ohio.

Opposition to the reforms in Senate Bill 5 means support for the status quo, with union bosses wielding vast power over public funds. Would you hand a blank check to an HR consultant with miserable people skills? That is the effective result of Ohio’s government union law, passed in 1983 on a party-line vote.

OEA Employees on Strike, Summer 2010

Though OEA employees most recently went on strike last summer, fights between the union and its staff represented by the Professional Staff Union (PSU) seem to recur each time the PSU contract expires. Here’s what one OEA employee had to say in an August 29, 2009 PSU blog post titled “STRIKE VS. RESOLUTION: WHY DOESN’T OEA ‘GET IT’?” [Update, 09-16-2011: Here's a PDF copy, since union staff have blocked access to the website]:

OEA apparently does not care that it is rife with hypocrisy, adamant in taking positions it tells its local affiliates to fight at all costs, and shortsighted.  Perhaps the only interest of OEA’s Bargaining Team is to “bring PSU to its knees”.  Be forewarned, those legs and knees are CARRYING OEA. If the work performed by members of PSU ends, OEA will undoubtedly topple very shortly afterward.

If the OEA management team truly cares about its members and the stability of the organization, it will bargain a fair settlement with its professional employees prior to September 1.

These are not my words, folks, or a quote from some sca-aa-ry Right to Work advocate. “OEA apparently does not care that it is rife with hypocrisy” – according to one of the union’s own employees! On November 8, vote for sensible reforms to the power of government union bosses. Vote Yes on Issue 2.

If you need it, there’s plenty more proof that OEA should not be trusted.

Cross-posted at Third Base Politics.

The Ohio Education Association (OEA) is Ohio’s largest government union and the biggest in-state donor to union front We Are Ohio. Accompanying their cynical “solidarity” rhetoric, union apologists point to slight concessions made since Senate Bill 5 passed, insisting Senate Bill 5 is unneeded.

Before going on strike against OEA just one year ago, OEA employees represented by the Professional Staff Union (PSU) had this to say on August 6, 2009 [Update, 09-16-2011: Here's a PDF copy, since union staff have blocked access to the website]:

The Professional Staff Union is bargaining its contract with the OEA.  So far, there have been 4 bargaining sessions, all of which have been disappointing and unproductive.  The OEA bargaining team has not brought a single counter proposal to the table so far.

Emphasis in the original. It gets worse:

Is this how OEA should act as a union?  Absolutely not.  Disappointing?  Absolutely.

Especially when earlier this year, at its Collective Bargaining Conference in January, OEA was telling you to “bargain hard” stating that “even in this economy, don’t take concessions,” “if the district has money, get it while it’s there” and, “if you can’t get money, at least get language.”  Apparently, OEA believes that’s what’s good for you, but not for the Professional Staff who work tirelessly for you & your members.

OEA fights to avoid providing the benefits they demand for members, while as recently as 2009 the union was instructing locals to squeeze taxpayers for all they could. In 2009, Ted Strickland was governor and the sensible reforms of Senate Bill 5 would have been unheard of. I’m sure that’s a coincidence.

Here’s a table that follows the above quotes from OEA staff -

On November 8, vote for sensible reforms to the power of union bosses who demonize elected officials while playing hardball with their own employees. Vote Yes on Issue 2!

…If you need it, there’s plenty more proof that OEA should not be trusted.

 Cross-posted at Third Base Politics.

The Ohio Education Association (OEA) is We Are Ohio‘s biggest in-state donor and the largest government union in the state. For folks who trade in “solidarity” and take dues for their collaboration services, OEA bosses have a surprisingly awful relationship with their own employees.

Don’t believe me? Just last summer, OEA staffers represented by the Professional Staff Union (PSU) went on strike against the OEA.

What’s more, PSU blog entries from summer 2009 tell a story similar to the one I’ve shared from summer 2010. In an OEA employee’s words, from a July 31, 2009 post [Update, 09-16-2011: Here's a PDF copy, since union staff blocked access to the website]:

Unfortunately, there was little or no movement on the part of OEA. They appear to not understand the basic concepts of collective bargaining. The PSU team attempted to get OEA to commit to present counter offers in the future. While OEA says “we are prepared to come with what needs to be done”, Larry Wicks (OEA Executive Director) refused to commit to any specifics.

It remains to be seen whether OEA will come back to the table with a real commitment to bargaining.

According to an OEA staff member, “they appear to not understand the basic concepts of collective bargaining.” Why should Ohio taxpayers trust the OEA with immense power over how public schools operate? Read the PSU blog for yourself – nearly every post reveals stunning hypocrisy on the part of the union bosses.

OEA employees can’t rely on the union, and neither should you – on November 8, empower taxpayers instead of union bosses. Vote Yes on Issue 2!

If you need it, there’s plenty more proof OEA should not be trusted.