An oldie but goodie (1998)

Top OEA staff pay outpaces teachers' 9-to-1

http://www.buckeyeinstitute.org/article/525
The Buckeye Institute

Posted October 1, 1998

Compensation for top Ohio Education Association (OEA) union leaders grew more than 9 times faster than the average Ohio teacher's pay between 1996 and 1997, according to the most recent data available from the U.S. Department of Labor.

With 117,423 members, [1] the OEA is Ohio's largest public employee labor union, representing teachers, librarians, bus drivers, custodians, secretaries, and food service workers. The OEA had 240 full-time employees in 1997. [2]

Staff compensation grows

While the average teacher's salary and benefits grew 2.6 percent to $49,354, [3] the top 25 OEA staff members [4] increased their cash compensation and benefits by 23.5 percent to $131,822. The average OEA staff member's cash compensation and benefits grew 7.8 percent to $91,670 in the same period. [5,6]

Additionally, the number of OEA staff members receiving over $100,000 in cash compensation and benefits grew from 9 to 28 between 1996 and 1997. [7]

Salaries of OEA professional staff (which excludes support staff, such as secretaries) grew 6.1 percent per year on average from 1993 through 1995, from $66,046 to $74,403. [8]

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More union dues go to staff

While Ohio teachers and other members of the OEA paid $27,416,231 in union dues in 1997, the percentage going toward cash compensation and benefits for OEA staff grew from 76.5 percent in 1996 to 81.5 percent in 1997. In 1997, $22,330,760 went to OEA staff salaries, expenses, and benefits, up 9.9 percent from the previous year. [9]

Notes

[1] Education Intelligence Agency, Piles of Wealth: Teacher Union Staff Compensation (Carmichael, California, June 1998), p. 17, citing Report Form LM-2, "Labor Organization Annual Report," U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Labor Management Standards (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1997).

[2] Ibid, and Education Intelligence Agency, Teacher Union Staff Compensation (Carmichael, California, June 1997), p. 17, citing Report Form LM-2, "Labor Organization Annual Report," U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Labor Management Standards (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1996).

[3] Based on salaries reported by the National Education Association, 1997 (http://www.nea.org).

[4] Education Intelligence Agency (June 1998), p. 17. During 1997, the highest paid (in gross salaries and expenses) OEA staff members, lobbyists, and labor negotiators/political organizers ("UniServ consultants") were:

1. Michael Billirakis president $166,733

2. William P. Sundermeyer executive director $164,347

3. William Dorsey secretary-treasurer $148,208

4. Gary Allen vice president $145,988

5. Benjamin Gerber UniServ consultant $145,112

6. Edward Spiezio UniServ consultant $144,309

7. Dennis Coughlan UniServ consultant $140,990

8. William Canacci UniServ consultant $140,537

9. James Romick UniServ consultant $140,241

10. Alan Adair, Jr. UniServ consultant $137,906

11. Dorothy Fay UniServ consultant $137,590

12. Thomas Scarpelli UniServ consultant $137,256

13. Charles Williams UniServ consultant $134,095

14. Mary Jo Shannon Slick UniServ consultant $132,971

15. Michael Shanesy UniServ consultant $131,912

16. Donald Looker UniServ consultant $125,058

17. Richard Bourgault executive director $120,608

18. Barry Bartelt computer services consultant $119,907

19. Richard Baker magazine editor $119,082

20. Jerome T. Rampelt director $116,272

21. Christopher Turner director $115,647

22. Daniel Burke computer services consultant $113,305

23. Jane Currey UniServ consultant $107,973

24. Dennis M. Reardon executive manager $104,786

25. Ellen Currie director $104,705

[5] Ibid.

[6] Cash compensation includes salary and expenses and excludes benefits. Staff benefits include group health and life insurance, a pension, postretirement health care, and other unspecified benefits.

[7] Ibid. The increase in employees earning more than $100,000 is due to a significant increase in salaries for UniServ consultants from 1996 to 1997. The OEA?s UniServ consultants, who have their own collective bargaining agreement with the OEA, went on strike against the union, charging unfair labor practices. The settlement of the strike resulted in higher UniServ salaries and benefits.

[8] Ibid.

[9] Ibid.