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CORE of OEA Member Area
6th District Court of Appeals Rules in Favor of Retirees After only 3 weeks the three judge Appeals Court panel gave it opinion reversing the lower court decision supporting nearly all of the retiree positions. We will not attempt to interpret the decision as the court was quit clear on what it thought about OEA’s arguments. Quoting the dialog about an OEA position on Summary Plan descriptions trumping employment contracts ECKELBERRY: Your Honor, I don’t know what position they take with regard to the school teachers; I don’t represent the school teachers.
JUDGE MCKEAGUE: This is an astounding position for the Education Association to take in terms of its practical impact on every teacher in the state you represent. That why I’m just curious.
Click here to read the decision or go to the legal activities area.
Oral Arguments were held on September 13, 2007. The hearing was attended by over 30 retirees and no one from OEA except counsel. That pretty much tells the story. CORE of OEA has obtained an audio copy of the hearing and you may listen to it by clicking here or going to the legal activities area. You may also click here to view a written transcript. We invite all to listen to the arguments. Listen to the OEA attorney lie to the court to advance their case. It has come down to OEA wanting to advance positions via their attorneys to try to win their case against retirees that are extremely harmful when applied to their own members. The Appellate Court Judges understand, too bad to this point OEA leadership has be going blindly forward with total disregard for its members welfare. Listen for yourself and see what you think.
See Articles Below on this page: Important Legal Update NSO and UAW Enter into the Battle OEA Strikes Again with New “Benefit SPD” documents Governmental Relations NLRB PATCO Decision involving OEA Executive Director Dennis Reardon CORE of OEA New Membership Year PSU Members Medicare Part ‘B’ Reimbursement Form
Links to other important pages: Membership, Authorization Forms and Legal Defense Fund
IMPORTANT LEGAL UPDATE! In September of 2006 the Federal 6th District Court granted OEA’s motions for Summary Judgment. This decision was unexpected to say the least, but, at the Annual Membership Meeting of COREofOEA, retirees stood firmly behind the class representatives in recognizing that the court made serious errors in its decisions. Retirees were left with speculating why the court would consider OEA’s misleading and often untrue statements without considering all of the evidence in the case. That not withstanding the only choice was to appeal the decisions and CORE members voted to unanimously support the appeal process. As a part of that decision CORE members also voted to form a fundraising committee to make sure there would be continued financial support of the litigation and other CORE activities. The Notice of Appeal was filed in October, 2006. There is a strict briefing schedule and following those filings the court will schedule oral Arguments. Once those are complete the court will have all the information it needs to makes its decision. There is an expectation that oral arguments will be completed by this fall and hopefully with a decision by the end of the year. Retirees filed their brief on January 29. It is a ‘proof’ brief because references to some materials won’t be complete until the final brief is filed. March 5, 2007 – OEA’s appeal brief is filed March 22, 2007 – Appellant’s (retirees) reply brief is filed March 29, 2007 – Joint Appendix filed April 19, 2007 – ALL final briefs filed. These are the extension of the briefs previously filed with all references to the Joint Appendix (JA) completed.
NSO and UAW enter into the battle - As a result of the anti-labor positions OEA has taken in this litigation and the courts failure to consider evidence, the National Staff Union in support of PSU and OASU filed an Amicus Curiae brief with the Federal Appeals court. Along with NSO the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers or America—UAW has also filed an Amicus Curiae brief with the court. Both of these unions recognize that OEA is supporting very serious anti-labor actions. These actions if supported by the courts would be a major setback to employee/management relations. Ironically they could have a serious impact of all of OEA’s own local unions. OEA management is out of control and is operating without any apparent oversight by elected governance. Every Retiree and union member must read the briefs. This is critical to understanding the breadth of the issues involved and why we as union members cannot allow OEA management to destroy benefits for not only OEA retirees but potentially for millions of union members and their families across the country. Go to the Legal Activities area to see all the documents.
OEA Strikes Again with new “Benefit SPD” Documents All retirees should have received in the mail a document form OEA titled: Summary Plan Description for the Ohio Education Association Group Benefit Plan This document is another attempt by OEA to circumvent the staff contracts of the OEA. For some reason OEA management thinks staff can be duped into a situation where they will give up their rights under their employment contracts. Clearly OEA’s position is if they put out anything in an SPD and the Unions do not challenged it then it supersedes the contracts thus giving OEA the right to do virtually anything with staff benefits not only for current retirees but for future retirees. NOT TRUE!! Counsel has advised retirees that this ploy will have no impact on the current litigation in the Federal Appeals Court. That being said both PSU and OASU have been notified by retirees that this type of action by OEA will not be tolerated and are demanding that the unions take whatever action necessary to defend the benefits guaranteed under staff contracts. The unions are obligated by law to represent retirees to the fullest extent IF the retiree agrees to and demands that representation. They have the same duty of fair representation to retiree as they do to current employees. See the following on this web site: Letter sent to OEA by two staff retirees
Governmental Relations COREofOEA has appointed Denny Roberge as its Director of Governmental Relations. OEA and others have formed a coalition to try to get legislation passed that would place a new tax burden on local school districts to help fund post retirement health care for school employee retirees. CORE is going to make sure the legislature understands the hypocritical nature of OEA. This organization has gutted benefits for its staff and is taking aim at gutting as much of its retiree benefits as possible. All this while advocating that the Ohio Legislature force school district to pay a major portion of retired employees health care. Again the irony is those OEA retirees who have had their benefits illegally terminated by OEA management will be asked to spend their tax dollars to fund health care for the very people who terminated health care for OEA retirees. At this time COREofOEA is actively lobbying against the bill and in favor of a universal health care plan for all residents of Ohio not just the special interest group of school employees. Want to help? Contact COREofOEA and Denny will get back to you.
National Labor Relations Board PATCO Decision involving OEA Executive Director Dennis Reardon Want to know more about OEA Executive Director Dennis Reardon and his tenure at PATCO? In the early 1980’s Dennis Reardon was Director of Operations for the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization when their staff tried to form its own union. Follow this link http://www.nlrb.gov/shared_files/board decisions/261/261-132.pdf to read about how PATCO tried to stop this action and about Mr. Reardon’s involvement. It is a 12 page document but is well worth reading. Read how PATCO was in financial trouble because of excessive legal fees. They improperly terminated employees for their union organizing efforts while refusing to bargain a contract. Read the judge’s opinion of Mr. Reardon’s testimony and actions. Has anything really changed?
CORE of OEA New Membership Year The new membership year starts 1/1/07. So please send your 2007 dues ($20) to: Jim Prater 2000 Malvern Road Columbus, Ohio 43221
PSU Members - Medicare Part ‘B’ Reimbursement form If you would like a copy of the form you submit to OEA to collect your reimbursement click HERE.
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