RH Jones: My retiring from some email OhSTRS & union messages

From RH (Bob) Jones, June 7, 2013

To all:

In a speech at our last OhSTRS at the meeting of May 23, 2013, I gave them a list of 8 common sense ideas, which, if acted upon, would make OhSTRS improvements. The attending union “leadership” also heard my comments and would also move forward if they would work with OhSTRS to make these ideas a reality. Since this meeting, of which I spoke as an individual and drove to Columbus and back [from Akron] at my own expense, and passed out many copies of my speech, also at my own expense, I have decided to limit some of my future participation in monitoring my OhSTRS. Also, at that May 23 meeting, pushing to keep the very fairly calculated 13th check’s memory alive, K. Fluke, PhD gave an wonderful “off the cuff” speech. Some retirees do not know that this is still in the Ohio Revised Code (ORC)!

My plan now is to once again volunteer to return to the Honor Guard of my Local Chapter 138 (I helped its founding) of the Korean War Veterans Association (KWVA). Previously, I had participated as Honor Guard at 70 funerals to honor the service men and women of WWII and the awful “forgotten war” that followed. It has been, and is nice to be in the company of those war heroes, who are dying off in increasingly greater numbers.

Since retiring from common public school teaching, it has also been a privilege to volunteer with the many wonderful heroes of the CORE group, that no longer exists; however, new, and even more aggressive, retired educator heroes are beginning to “step up to the plate”, especially on the electronic Internet, to “go to bat” for their fellow retired OhSTRS members - especially those retired the longest. Hopefully, additional heroic volunteers will emerge as some of the old problems are beginning to multiply; for never before in the history of our OhSTRS (founded in 1920) have retired educators received such negative reductions of the ORC-promised entitlements as we have just experienced.

The lack of resistance and intensity of our unions in negotiations with our OhSTRS has resulted in OEA's changing leadership positions. The voting into OEA office new active members who hopefully will better represent their retired Life Members as well as their active members. In my opinion, the same should happen with OEA-R and ORTA. Although, with these two “unions” the “leadership” is so entrenched that not much is expected from them. Is it no wonder, then, that we can only expect the same from them? To break out of the absence of perceptible qualities, may I recommend that new leadership be voted into office, as was done with OEA. The financial health of our OhSTRS has been put in jeopardy by the present “leaders” who have been so approving of our benefit cuts, and have so supported the present Ohio political establishment which has been so negative toward common public school districts and our retired teacher defined benefit pension.

To conclude: In your volunteering efforts to get something done for the good of your fellow retiree, try volunteering your time for your OEA-R and ORTA. Both are in need of persons with fresh ideas and new enthusiasm.

RHJ, retired teacher