Testimony Presented by W. Craig Zimpher, Chair, State Employment Relations Board (February 19, 2025)
Summary
Testimony presented by W. Craig Zimpher, Chair of the State Employment Relations Board (SERB), before the Ohio House of Representatives Development Committee on February 19, 2025, on the proposed biennial budget for SERB. The testimony says the Administration's proposed budget will let SERB maintain existing levels of service, with proposed GRF increases of 3.6% in FY 26 and 2.7% in FY 27. It states that 332,209 public employees are covered by 1,546 negotiated contracts throughout 88 counties. It also says that when SERB was established in 1984 there were 51 full-time employees, and it describes a 53% reduction in staffing since then.
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“Testimony Presented by W. Craig Zimpher, Chair, State Employment Relations Board (February 19, 2025).”
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TESTIMONY PRESENTED
BY:
W. Craig Zimpher, Chair
State Employment Relations Board
BEFORE:
Ohio House of Representatives
Development Committee
February 19, 2025
Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee, good morning. I am Craig Zimpher,
Chair of the State Employment Relations Board, or SERB; I’m pleased and honored to
be with you today to discuss the proposed biennial budget for SERB. SERB exercises
jurisdiction over all aspects of Ohio’s public sector collective bargaining process; our
mission is to effect the efficient, fair, and objective administration and adjudication of the
collective bargaining process. 2024 marked SERB’s 40th anniversary. Mr. Chairman, the
Administration’s proposed budget will provide for SERB to maintain existing levels of
service; we have not requested funding for any additional programs, projects, etc.
Indeed, the proposed increases in SERB’s GRF budget (3.6% in FY 26 and 2.7% in FY
27) will merely allow us to maintain current operations and staffing levels. These modest
increases will simply cover the general wage increases negotiated by the State of Ohio
(4.5% in FY26 and 3% in FY 27) and predictable increases to the costs of office space,
supplies and basic services.
In performing their duties, and achieving our mission, SERB’s associates,
themselves, developed a statement of culture, reflective of how we will achieve that
mission, and which states:
• Integrity and objectivity in the way we conduct ourselves;
• Teamwork as we act with civility and mutual respect, towards achieving the
common goal of our Mission;
• Greatness achieved by never compromising our work, providing excellent
performance in serving our stakeholders, and pursuing continual
improvements; and
• Sharing and celebrating in each other’s successes and viewing challenges
as opportunities.
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State Employment Relations Board
February 19, 2025
Mr. Chairman, SERB’s principal mission is to facilitate and promote orderly and
constructive labor relations for our public employers, and state and local public
employees; this mission must be understood to reflect the interests of all parties. SERB
serves as the neutral, objective mediator or arbiter of matters arising in the collective
bargaining process. The following numbers might illustrate the extent of collective
bargaining throughout our state: 332,209 public employees are covered by 1,546
negotiated contracts, throughout each of our 88 counties. SERB’s 2024 Annual Report,
which is attached, provides a county breakdown. Most importantly, however, our statutory
mission of promoting orderly and constructive labor/management relations is designed to
mitigate conflict through negotiation, mediation, fact-finding and impartial adjudication.
SERB’s responsibilities include investigating and adjudicating unfair labor practice
charges, determining the size and appropriateness of bargaining units, conducting union
representation elections, and providing the parties in more than 1,000 collective
bargaining negotiations annually with comparative wage, benefits, and contract data. The
Bureau of Mediation serves the critical function of assisting employers and employees in
negotiations, to avoid work stoppages and, to resolve or reconcile charges of unfair labor
practices. During the past year our mediators have engaged in 61 mediation sessions
involving the negotiation of 43 collective bargaining agreements.
During the last ten years, we have implemented several processes designed to
reduce the friction costs of adjudication. One hundred and eighty-one Unfair Labor
Practice charges and 225 union representation requests were filed with SERB in the last
year. The resolution of these cases requires thorough investigation, review and analysis
by our professional Investigations staff. I believe all labor/management stakeholders
would agree that, given the regulatory and practical requirements inherent in a fair and
thorough review, our “delivery” timeframes are in the “best practices” category. The
Board finds probable cause to warrant a hearing in approximately 6-7% of the cases.
However, we require the parties to enter into a mediation process prior to the
commencement of a formal, litigious, and often expensive hearing process. 57% of such
referrals have produced a reconciliation of the issues; thereby avoiding the expenses of
litigation.
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State Employment Relations Board
February 19, 2025
In meeting these objectives, Mr. Chairman, we are absolutely committed to
managing the agency in the most frugal and prudent manner possible.
Throughout the previous several biennia, SERB has proactively managed our
budget challenges and maintained successful levels of service. Efficiencies have been
realized by:
• Expanding use of personal service and intermittent contracts for Administrative
Law Judges and Mediators;
• Discontinuing the production of hearing transcripts in all cases except those that
are required by the Courts or specifically requested by the parties;
• Moving toward other paperless operations including: transmitting internal reports
electronically, submitting investigation requests electronically, and using
electronic correspondence wherever else appropriate;
• Engaging in a Kaizen event to identify changes and create efficiencies within
SERB’s Representation processes;
• Implementing electronic contract filings on a voluntary basis, thereby saving
significant staff time required to scan those documents;
• Gaining statutory authority to conduct mail-ballot representation elections instead
of on-site elections;
• Eliminating travel reimbursement except for Mediators.
Public and labor/management stakeholder outreach, education, and training
remain a very important priority for SERB. Annually, we offer a “SERB Academy,” a two-
day in-person training program dedicated to introducing labor and management
practitioners with a practical and beneficial program consisting of both the legal,
regulatory, and very practical aspects of contract negotiations. Firefighters, police
officers, educators and other public service employees and their managers or supervisors
from every county in Ohio participate in these programs. In the last four years alone over
2,600 Ohioans from each of your Districts have attended a SERB or State Personnel
Board of Review seminar. We will also continue, for the thirty-second year, to publish the
very widely utilized Report on the Cost of Health Insurance in Ohio’s Public Sector. This
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State Employment Relations Board
February 19, 2025
report is an analysis of employee health insurance plans offered by Ohio’s public
employers. A copy of the most recent issue is also attached. Equally important is the
maintenance of perhaps the country’s most comprehensive data system that contains
data from all current and historic collective bargaining agreements in Ohio. This database
is heavily utilized by practitioners, with about 206,000 annual visits. It is widely recognized
to be the “Best of Practice” model nationally. It enables our staff to prepare an average
of 1,000 specialized reports annually.
The FY 2026/2027 budget as presented by the Executive Branch, essentially a
“status quo” budget, will allow SERB to continue to:
• Present Unfair Labor Practice cases to the Board within 60 days of filing;
• Place representation cases on the Board agenda well within our target
of 180 days of filing;
• Support proactive mediation to intervene where/when necessary and
appropriate in contract negotiations or other labor/management
situations to avoid work stoppage or other issues;
• Continue to provide timely and responsive reports to stakeholder
requests for information and analysis related to the collective bargaining
process;
• Allow SERB to continue educational and training programs for
labor/management stakeholders.
When SERB was established in 1984, there were 51 full-time employees. Those
early years were reflective of a time when office practices were paper driven, no
computers, no “cut and paste” word processing and limited electronic resources. Over
time, SERB created electronic and other office efficiencies resulting in a 53% reduction
in staffing from 1984 to the present staffing level of twenty-four (24). SERB has
demonstrated a commitment to service, stewardship and prudent expense management,
and will certainly continue to do so.
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State Employment Relations Board
February 19, 2025
Mr. Chairman and members, this concludes my testimony; I very much appreciate
your attention and courtesy and would be happy to respond to any questions.
Thank you.
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