Maysville Schools’ Support Professionals Vote to Unionize, Join OEA
(Dec. 18, 2018) | For Immediate Release | Contact: Gabriel Weatherspoon Jr. | 740 624-3905
Confirmed by an official ballot count by the State Employment Relations Board, nearly 100 nonunion education support professionals of the Maysville Local School District voted to become an affiliate of the Ohio Education Association (OEA). The Maysville Local School District is located in Muskingum County, near Zanesville.
These education support professionals, which include school bus drivers, custodians, aides, paraprofessionals, secretaries, as well as food service workers will be collectively known as the Maysville Classified Employees Association (MCEA).
“Our primary reason for organizing is to secure fair working standards across the district,” said MCEA spokesperson Gabriel Weatherspoon.
“Regardless of position or title, we ALL deserve to be heard at work and be treated with dignity.”
Emphasizing the role that everyone has in maintaining a safe and robust learning environment for Maysville students, Weatherspoon added: “Regardless of position or title, we ALL deserve to be heard at work and be treated with dignity.”
Similarly, since 1991, the OEA has represented the professional interest of the school district’s approximately 140 teachers and similar certified staff members as the Maysville Education Association.
Today’s vote was the culmination of a months-long organizing campaign.
The Maysville Classified Education Association will now begin the process of negotiating its initial contract with the Maysville Local School Board
“We are looking forward to sitting down with the district and discussing a fair and equitable contract that benefits not only the Maysville classified staff, but also the students we work with every day,” said MCEA Organizing Chair Tammy Smith
Pictured Below: The Newly Formed Maysville Classified Education Association
• Front, l-r: Mitzi Farmer; Trisha Winland; & Melissa Spring.
• Back: l-r: Robin Windsor; Barb Handshy; Tammy Smith, Organizing Chair; Gabe Weatherspoon, MCEA spokesperson; & Beth McGee