Ohio Code 4117.23 – Unauthorized strikes
(A) In the case of a strike that is not authorized in accordance with this chapter, the public employer may notify the state employment relations board of the strike and request the board to determine whether the strike is authorized under Chapter 4117 of the Revised Code. The board shall make its decision within seventy-two hours of receiving the request from the public employer.
Terms Used In Ohio Code 4117.23
- Day: means calendar day. See Ohio Code 4117.01
- Public employee: means any person holding a position by appointment or employment in the service of a public employer, including any person working pursuant to a contract between a public employer and a private employer and over whom the national labor relations board has declined jurisdiction on the basis that the involved employees are employees of a public employer, except:
(1) Persons holding elective office;
(2) Employees of the general assembly and employees of any other legislative body of the public employer whose principal duties are directly related to the legislative functions of the body;
(3) Employees on the staff of the governor or the chief executive of the public employer whose principal duties are directly related to the performance of the executive functions of the governor or the chief executive;
(4) Persons who are members of the Ohio organized militia, while training or performing duty under section 5919. See Ohio Code 4117.01
- Public employer: means the state or any political subdivision of the state located entirely within the state, including, without limitation, any municipal corporation with a population of at least five thousand according to the most recent federal decennial census; county; township with a population of at least five thousand in the unincorporated area of the township according to the most recent federal decennial census; school district; governing authority of a community school established under Chapter 3314 of the Revised Code; college preparatory boarding school established under Chapter 3328 of the Revised Code or its operator; state institution of higher learning; public or special district; state agency, authority, commission, or board; or other branch of public employment. See Ohio Code 4117.01
- state: means the state of Ohio. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Strike: means continuous concerted action in failing to report to duty; willful absence from one's position; or stoppage of work in whole from the full, faithful, and proper performance of the duties of employment, for the purpose of inducing, influencing, or coercing a change in wages, hours, terms, and other conditions of employment. See Ohio Code 4117.01
- Unauthorized strike: includes , but is not limited to, concerted action during the term or extended term of a collective bargaining agreement or during the pendency of the settlement procedures set forth in section 4117. See Ohio Code 4117.01
- Wages: means hourly rates of pay, salaries, or other forms of compensation for services rendered. See Ohio Code 4117.01
(B) If the board determines that the strike is not authorized then the public employer:
(1) May remove or suspend those employees who one day after notification by the public employer of the board decision that a strike is not authorized continue to engage in the nonauthorized strike; and
(2) If the employee is appointed or reappointed, employed, or reemployed, as a public employee, within the same appointing authority, may impose the following conditions:
(a) The employee’s compensation shall in no event exceed that received by him immediately prior to the time of the violation.
(b) The employee’s compensation is not increased until after the expiration of one year from the appointment or reappointment, employment, or reemployment.
(3) Shall deduct from each striking employee’s wages, if the board also determines that the public employer did not provoke the strike, the equivalent of two days’ wages for each day the employee remains on strike commencing one day after receiving the notice called for in division (B)(1) of this section. The employer shall give the employee credit for wages not paid after that point in time due to the employee’s absence from his place of employment because he is on strike.
Any penalty that is imposed upon the employee, except for the penalty imposed under division (B)(3) of this section, may be appealed to the board. The board may modify, suspend, or reverse the penalty imposed by the public employer, if the board does not find that the penalties are appropriate to the situation; the imposition of a penalty is appealable to the court.
Notwithstanding the provision in this section that authorizes certain penalties to commence one day after a public employee is notified that the board has determined the employee is engaged in an unauthorized strike, the board may authorize the public employer, if the public employer requests it, to impose the penalties contained in this section retroactive to the date the unauthorized strike commences.