Ryan Holderman: No union should be allowed to restrict their members access to information about their retirement system

From Ryan Holderman, April 8, 2006

Subject: It's hard to lose control!

I find the following point made by OEA President Gary Allen in his memorandum of March 17, 2006 very interesting. It offers insight into the mindset of the OEA leadership:

"As the exclusive representative for our members, OEA has the right to communicate with our members about union matters and issues, including endorsed candidates. Outside entities do not enjoy the same right to access to our members."

STRS is a totally independent agency. It is not a division of the union nor is OEA the "exclusive" representative for STRS matters. Membership in a union is not a prerequisite to being a beneficiary of STRS. There are many STRS constituents who've never belonged to a union.

OEA has, for too many years, treated STRS as though it was a branch of the union. The majority bloc OEA once held on the STRS Board is, as a result of SB 133, a thing of the past. STRS is free of the heavy-handed grasp of OEA. The diverse composition of the reformed STRS Board has brought it broader representation, greater expertise, and input that represents a wide variety of points of view.

OEA may "communicate with our members about union matters and issues, including endorsed candidates" but they do not have the right to shanghai the STRS election and censor the campaign information that Ohio teachers need to make an informed decision before they vote. No union should be allowed to restrict their members access to information about their retirement system.

Anyone running for STRS Board office has the right to communicate with any STRS constituent about their candidacy.