This Holiday Season
By: Melissa Cropper
Tags: Teachers, Teachers Unions, Ohio, Unions

A message to OFT members.

It’s almost here. We’re reaching the end of a challenging year for educators, school support staff, and children’s services workers. For many of us, it’s been the most challenging year of our careers as we’ve navigated new technology, worked hard to protect our health and the health of our students and communities, and coped with a disruption in all aspects of our lives.

Throughout it all, you have gone above and beyond. You have made your profession, your community, and your union proud with your dedication, compassion, and ingenuity. I hope that this holiday season, and winter break for our members who have time off, gives you moments of peace, tranquility, and reflection amid the turbulence of this pandemic.

While we know the year will start out rough, with COVID-19 cases still at an all-time high and with so many of our neighbors in dire economic situations, there are many reasons for hope.

We have hope because across Ohio, and across the country, frontline healthcare workers are receiving the first doses of a safe, effective vaccine for COVID-19. This is a necessary step toward safely regaining normalcy in our schools and in our lives. Educators and school staff will be included in the earlier phases of vaccine distribution, and we will be vigilant to make sure that members who want to be vaccinated have safe and timely access to the vaccine.

We have hope that President-Elect Joe Biden will take strong steps to safely guide us through the remainder of the pandemic, build the economy back better to support working families, and invest in public education, higher education, and children’s services.

And above all else, we have hope because we have each other, we have the strength of our union.

The power of our unity was on display recently in Cleveland Heights, when 500 educators in the Cleveland Heights Teachers Union stood up for the schools their students deserve. Their school district, hampered by years of outrageous private school voucher deductions, tried to balance their budget on the backs of the teachers, counselors, nurses, and other professionals that keep the school district running. They declared an impasse in negotiations and unilaterally imposed a contract that would have cost many of our union sisters and brothers between $3,000 to $5,000 annually in concessions. In the face of everything — pandemic, remote learning, threats of losing healthcare, even a historic snowstorm — the members of CHTU stood firm and were ready to strike to prevent lowering standards in their district. Because CHTU was united and organized, they dragged their district back to the bargaining table and negotiated a last minute deal to avert the strike and undo the district’s imposed contract.

Cleveland Heights Teachers Union members fighting for a fair contract.

This is why I know that whatever challenges we face, we can find the solution by looking to each other.

From the bottom of my heart, I want to wish you and your family a happy and safe holiday season. Stay safe by following public health guidance and keeping your gatherings small this year, so that your loved ones are still with us for family gatherings for years to come.