CWA 4501 Supports OSU Marion Faculty

June 27, 2022

Columbus Labor Statement in Solidarity with OSU Marion Faculty Efforts to Unionize

Speaking with a single unified voice, we – labor unions and advocacy groups operating at The Ohio State University and in Columbus – call on OSU President Johnson and the Board of Trustees to stop obstructing the right of faculty to organize at the OSU Marion campus. 

In March, tenured and tenure-track 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).

The will of the OSU Marion faculty is clear, as demonstrated by their signatures in overwhelming numbers to support being recognized as a collective bargaining unit, and to be allowed to unionize. We ask that the university withdraw its challenge to SERB and allow a vote to take place on the issue of unionizing.

It should be universally acknowledged that unions have been at the core of advancing our society and issues of social justice–including the struggles for racial and gender inequality which are linked to economic disparities–by helping to create workplace equality, protecting workers rights, developing safe employment environments and, in turn, strengthening some of the greatest institutions across this country.

We ask The Ohio State University to advance these issues and this mission by supporting the OSU Marion campus faculty in their efforts to collectively organize, and by allowing the process to continue so that a free and fair election can be held.

Signatories,

American Federation of State, Country and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Ohio Council 8

American Association of University Professors (AAUP), Ohio State chapter

Columbus Education Association (CEA)

Columbus State Education Association (CSEA)

Communication Workers of America (CWA), Local 4501

Ohio State University Nurses Organization (OSUNO)

Wex Workers United (WWU)

Worthington Public Libraries United (WPL United)

Press: Contact Corissa Spense, AFSCME Ohio Council 8, cspence@afscme8.org.

Local unions/workers groups: To sign on, contact Pranav Jani, AAUP-Ohio State, pranavjani@gmail.com