President
Brandon Guthier
Business Agent/
Secretary Treasurer
Greg Warren
Organizer
Clarie Randall
Trustees
Patti Luken
Larry Oldiges
Shane Ziegler
A Timeline of Our Local
Local 1 in Indianapolis, IN, receives the first clerical federal charter issued by the American Federation of Labor (AFL) representing a union for Stenographers, Typists, Bookkeepers & Assistants.
1906
OPEIU Local 98 starts as a division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 100, representing dairy drivers & deliverymen in Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio, northern Kentucky, & southern Indiana.
1920
Mollie Levitas petitions the AFL calling for the need of a union dedicated to the needs of office workers.
1936
In the early 1940s, Local Representative James T. Luken & his fellow dairy industry workers break away from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters to form the Dairy Employees Union Local 98 (DEU Local 98), focusing on strengthening worker power in the growing dairy industry.
The newly-independent Dairy Employees Union was empowered to grow to include many more local milk & dairy manufacturers, representing delivery drivers, warehousing, & food manufacturing employees in the trade. The Local also took to organizing and representing other outlying industries including cemetery workers, taxi cab drivers, precision tool makers, & others.
1940
OPEIU, then OEIU (Office Employee International Union), is granted its first charter by the AFL at a convention in Cincinnati.
1945
James T. Luken becomes Mayor of Cincinnati.
1976
Seeking strength in solidarity & to offer better benefits to members, Local 98 seeks out opportunities to charter with an international union. On March 24, DEU Local 98 merges with OPEIU Local 388, representing UPS employees performing logistics work in Cincinnati, becoming OPEIU Local 98.
1982
To continue building worker power, OPEIU Local 98 merges with OPEIU Local 1 based out of Indianapolis. United through mutual and overlapping histories, both Locals—now under one name— move together into a brighter future for all who fight for a stronger voice in their workplaces.