Since the 2018 Janus vs AFSCME Supreme Court decision, the landscape for OSEA and all labor unions has shifted significantly, making it crucial for workers to come together and advocate for their rights. We have become more aware than ever how significant organizing is to build membership and strength in numbers. Organizing efforts can help:
- Solidarity: Building a strong, united front can ensure that workers feel supported in their needs.
- Awareness: Educating workers about their rights and the benefits of union membership is essential.
- Advocacy: A well-organized union can more effectively negotiate for better wages, benefits, and working conditions.
- Community Building: Strong unions foster a sense of community and belonging among workers.
Collective action and grassroots organizing are vital to protect and advance workers' rights. As we continue to increase our organizing efforts, our Field Department has grown to 20 staff supporting negotiations; representation; grievance processing; contract administration; leader identification; running worksite organizer, chapter leader and steward trainings; and, of course, chapter building and organizing!
In order to support our Field Staff’s work, our Board of Directors and 2024 Conference delegates approved a second Director of Field Operations (DFO) in this year’s operating budget. Starting this week, our current DFO Cydnie Meyer, who began working at OSEA in 2015 and has served in the DFO position since 2022, will be working with our new second DFO Rob Wheaton!
Rob brings more than 25 years of experience in union building from the ground up. He first joined a union in Las Vegas as an apprentice – the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). He moved on from electrical work and found himself at a non-unionized job in Eugene where he saw plenty of workplace issues.
“That made me say ‘this wouldn’t fly at my last job where we had a union,'” he said. He and his fellow workers organized themselves into a union, who then elected Rob into a leadership position at 19 years old. He hasn’t looked back.
He’s since worked with AFSCME, the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF), the Industrial Workers of the World (Wobblies), and LiUNA 43. He comes to us from the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA). Rob has some family experience with classified school employees – his mother was an early childhood educator and his sister is an educational assistant (EA).
“I am excited and proud to help OSEA improve the lives of people, like my mom and sister, who give so much for their communities and schools,” he said.
Rob is originally from Arizona, spent a few early adult years in Las Vegas and then came to Oregon by way of Eugene. He’s an avid white-water rafter and even saw the 2017 solar eclipse while rafting in the Middle Fork of the Salmon River. He lives in Portland with his wife, Lalleh.