Joseph P. Rugola has served as the Executive Director of the Ohio Association of Public School Employees (OAPSE) for nineteen years.  Prior to his appointment as Executive Director, Joe served as the union’s Field Director and as a Field Representative from the time of his employment in 1978.  Under his leadership OAPSE has grown from just over 25,000 members to more than 38,000 today; one of the most successful organizing records in the labor movement today.  

Joe also serves as an International Vice President of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), which represents 1.4 million public and non-profit workers.  He is a member of AFSCME’s Organizing Committee, and the 2008 Presidential Search Committee.  Until recently he served as Vice President of the Ohio AFL-CIO, having served since 1988, and in October 2002, was named to chair the federation’s Task Force on Political Action.  In that capacity, he created the “Take Back Ohio” program, designed to reshape the way labor influences electoral politics and to fully engage union members in Ohio’s grass roots political process.  As a result, thousands of union members helped elect Governor Ted Strickland, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann, Ohio Treasurer Richard Cordray, Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, and a host of local and state senate and house candidates.  On April 27, 2007 Joe was elected to the Presidency of the Ohio AFL-CIO by acclamation, he will also continue on as Executive Director of OAPSE.

Joe is recognized in the trade union movement and among educators as one of Ohio’s most vocal and effective advocates for strong public education, MR/DDs, Public Libraries and Head Start Programs.  He has campaigned on the hill in Washington and in Ohio for school breakfast and lunch programs to improve school children’s ability to learn; against the negative effects of the Government Pension Offset which impacts thousands of public employee retirees; and against the privatization of public services.  Joe represents OAPSE on a number of different education coalitions which deal with the issues of school funding, education reform, school vouchers and charter schools.  He is also a member of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU).

            He is an alumnus of The Ohio State University where he graduated with a degree in Political Science in 1972.  Joe and his wife, Veda, have three children and three grandchildren