Not long ago, Ohio was considered a political microcosm of the United States. Ohioans, particularly those working in manufacturing, once helped turn the United States into the strongest economy in the world. The betrayal of NAFTA and the subsequent economic and social decline of most Ohio communities gave many working-class people a deep mistrust for the promises of the Democratic Party. In November 2024, Ohioans voted overwhelmingly for Donald Trump, and even long-time champion of the working class Senator Sherrod Brown was narrowly ousted in favor of multimillionaire international businessman Bernie Moreno. Outside of the sapphire-blue “3 C’s” (Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati), Ohioans have also gravitated towards Republican representation in state and local government. Republicans’ promised “reforms” at every level of goverment are coming at high cost to many Ohioans, including Ohio’s children and the UE members who dedicate their lives to the public education system.
Ohio school districts began to panic in early 2025, when it became apparent the education system would be a target of the Trump administration’s cuts. Eliminating the Department of Education does not just affect policy makers in DC. Ohio public schools rely on more than $3 billion of federal funding distributed by the Department of Education annually, making up 11.6 percent of public school revenue. The Trump executive order in March designed to attack teachers’ unions and offset a federal tax cut package that benefits the wealthiest 10 percent of Americans included cuts to every school district in Ohio.
Both Highland Local Schools in Morrow County, where UE Local 741 members work as paraprofessionals, bus drivers, food service workers, custodians, groundskeepers, bus drivers, mechanics, administrative assistants, and maintenance workers, and Delaware City Schools, where UE Local 799 members work as bus drivers, food service workers, custodians, dispatchers, mechanics, and maintenance workers, are expected to lose federal funding for Title 1 (assistance for low-income students), IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) funds for special education, and millions of dollars in federal school meal funding. In addition to making life harder for the most vulnerable students and potentially causing a 9-15 percent budget deficit for the districts, funding cuts threaten UE members’ jobs.
The budget situation in the Ohio Statehouse was as bad or worse for working families than it was at the federal level. Delaware City Schools Board of Education considers what the state does “out of our hands,” but UE Local 799 members contacted the Ohio House Finance Committee in hopes of convincing them to rethink cuts to public school funding. UE Local 741 bargaining committee members questioned Highland Superintendent Nate Huffman extensively about state funding at the table, and learned that he was actively working with lawmakers from both parties to protect schools.
Nevertheless, Ohio Republican lawmakers passed a budget (with no Democratic support) that shortchanged Ohio’s public schools by $2.86 billion while providing a $1.7 billion annual tax break to Ohioans earning over $100,000 and $600 million to help build a new Browns stadium. This continuation of unfair and unconstitutional funding for Ohio public schools grossly distorted a bipartisan Fair School Funding Plan that was originally designed with educators and community leaders to benefit students with the greatest needs. The budget now unequally distributes funds (including a temporary benefit for a small number of districts), and Ohio unions and community activists widely consider it to have further destabilized school funding in the long run.
Despite the dire financial situation, school districts are legally obligated to provide the services UE Local 741 and 799 members perform in schools every day (often while making far below a living wage). Both districts had issues maintaining appropriate levels of support staff throughout the life of the previous three-year contracts. Students and school communities deserve the best employees, but school administrators often consider these difficult jobs that require a clean background check, specialized training, and physical stamina less important than teaching positions. While support staff may or may not have college degrees, they are responsible for making choices that affect hundreds of students' health and safety daily.
Wins at the Bargaining Table, Despite Challenging Dynamics
Both districts claimed, likely honestly, that they did not have the resources to offer generous economic packages. They were also hesitant to allow UE members more significant gains than other bargaining units, making for challenging dynamics. Their past stinginess was a burden to both sides when attempting to schedule bargaining dates. Due to low staffing in both transportation departments, substitutes were not available to cover for bus drivers on the committees, so members had to bargain between working their routes. With other time limits imposed by members' lives (including second jobs, childcare, and farm work), it was difficult to schedule lengthy bargaining sessions, necessitating additional bargaining dates.
Radio the cow, owned by Local 741 bargaining committee members Taylor and Toni Stepp, has been known to stage a walkout when her scheduling needs aren’t meant. Radio was relieved when the contract was settled.
Highland Local Schools is a rural district near Sparta, OH, with just under 500 students. Local 741 was hyper-focused on economics in bargaining. While support staff compensation throughout the state is generally inadequate due to funding issues, decades of low percentage increases had members’ wages far below comparable Ohio school districts. The bargaining committee found that members were understandably livid about this during bargaining surveys. The committee fought off all of the District’s proposed economic concessions and engaged members with a wage demand petition, ultimately winning a historically high five percent increase to the base wage and improvements to the wage schedule to make step raises more uniform and even out disparities between job titles with similar duties. Bargaining committee member Matt Loughman said, “This contract benefited every member, from the newest employee to the most senior. Every member got something out of it. I have not heard one negative thing about this contract, which is amazing. I've been thanked numerous times by custodians, paraprofessionals and cooks.”
The Local 741 bargaining committee. Left to right: Vice President Toni Stepp, Chief Steward Christie Carson, President Taylor Stepp, Recording Secretary Em Hess, Matt Loughman.
The union also won $1,000 retroactive longevity bonuses for employees upon completion of 20 and 25 years of service, increased bonuses for bargaining unit members who choose not to use personal and sick time, pay for Christmas Eve and Juneteenth, and $0.25 increases to the shift differential and bus trip rates. Due to language changes, members will be able to reach overtime more quickly if they use vacation time, personal leave, or comp time. These gains will positively impact members' lives, but sadly only brings them up to the low standards of other area districts. Highland insisted on signing a one-year agreement, citing financial uncertainty and warning that layoffs could be in the future if federal and state trends continue. President Taylor Stepp said “With the finalization of our contract, overall I think the outcome was positive. While we hoped for a larger pay increase, what we secured represents the most significant progress that we have made so far. It’s not everything we wanted, but it’s a solid step forward and a reflection of the hard work and unity of our members.”
Delaware City Schools serves about 5,600 students in a suburban community 20 minutes north of Columbus. Local 799 won a historic five percent wage increase in their 2024 reopener, and falls near the middle of their comparable school districts on economic issues. When surveyed, members were very aware of constraints on bargaining, set in part having to bargain after other district unions who had no interest in fighting for a fair deal. The UE bargaining committee proved much more committed to its members, putting in long planning meetings and more bargaining sessions than all the other unions combined. Member pushback prevented DCS from taking away paid dental coverage and the perfect-attendance bonus. The district ultimately forced relatively low wage increases of 2.5, 2.5 and 3 percent over the three years of the contract, but met member demands to reward senior employees with an additional 1.5 percent increase for Steps 15-18 in 2025 and corrections to historic wage issues for members who successfully bid on promotions. Food Service Steward Mary Willis said, “I think it was a very successful negotiation process. We fixed a lot of troubled areas in the previous contract to rectify injustices.”
The Local 799 bargaining committee. Left to right: Food Service Steward Mary Willis, Vice President Jeff Wilcox, Chief Steward Kathy Goddard, President Dennis Palmquist, Financial Secretary Tami Gardiner, Recording Secretary Don Shannon.
The union was also able to move the existing annual longevity bonus to start at year 19 (at or before when step wage increases end), and win several job-code-specific economic benefits. Building on their 2022 win, where a $100 safety shoe allowance was gained for all members, 799 was able to secure a $200 allowance for members whose jobs require safety toe boots. In exchange for agreeing to try a voluntary sick leave donation bank, members gained the right to use sick leave for all appointments with a healthcare professional. The bargaining committee was especially pleased with a non-economic win they have been fighting for since their first contract: full arbitration rights. The contract also cements positive aspects of the relationship between the district and the local, which will be important as several leaders on both sides of the table announced impending retirements. Recording Secretary Don Shannon said, “This was a real collaborative effort and I feel we got more than we gave. You never get everything you want, but this was a good deal.”
Vice President Jeff Wilcox summed up the bargaining experience more succinctly: “We kicked a**!”
Both bargaining committees implored members to get involved with the union to win better contracts in the future. Member engagement and retention is an issue for both locals, who were hit hard with extra organizational work following the anti-union 2018 Janus decision making the public sector right-to-work, and sometimes struggle to convince members at the bottom of the pay scale that they can even afford to be union members. As Ohio’s education system continues to decline, it may soon become apparent that they can’t afford not to be.
The Local 741 bargaining committee consisted of President Taylor Stepp, Vice President Toni Stepp, Recording Secretary Em Hess, Chief Steward Christie Carson, and Matt Loughman.
The Local 799 bargaining committee consisted of President Dennis Palmquist, Vice President Jeff Wilcox, Financial Secretary Tami Gardner, Recording Secretary Don Shannon, Chief Steward Kathy Goddard, and Food Service Steward Mary Willis.
Both locals were assisted by Field Organizer Heather Hillenbrand.