Cleveland Plain Dealer...
GOP leader says no chance Ohio legislature will repeal controversial collective bargaining law
By Mark Naymik
Thursday, August 25, 2011 

Ohio Republican leaders have no plans to scrap a controversial collective bargaining law as a way to kick-start a compromise with the public sector unions trying to repeal it. 

Ohio Senate President Tom Niehaus said in an interview Wednesday with Plain Dealer editors and reporters that while he wants to avoid a costly and nasty fight over the law, pulling it and starting over is unnecessary because he believes voters will support the legislation, known as Senate Bill 5. 

The referendum on the bill is Issue 2 on the November ballot. 

“I believe Senate Bill 5 will be upheld,” said Niehaus, a Southwest Ohio Republican. 

Gov. John Kasich, House Speaker William G. Batchelder and Niehaus last week offered to meet with union leaders to discuss making changes to the bill in an effort to settle the issue before November. 

We Are Ohio, the coalition of largely unions running the campaign to repeal the bill, said it would only discuss a compromise if the lawmakers used their authority to first repeal the bill.

niehaus.jpgView full sizeAP Photo/Ohio SenateSenate President Tom Niehaus 

Niehaus said such a demand makes no sense because the union leaders failed to offer constructive ideas during hearings on the bill and continue to cry “kill the bill.” 

“Their almost universal response during the hearings was ‘if it’s not broke, don’t fix it,’ and ‘this bill is not amendable.’” 

He said the only exception was the Fraternal Order of Police, which asked for and received stronger language ensuring that police could negotiate for safety equipment such as police vests. 

We Are Ohio spokeswoman Melissa Fazekas said the labor officials did offer other ideas and GOP leadership even rejected amendments raised by Republicans opposed to the bill. 

“Unions were vastly ignored and shut out,” she said. “Repealing the bill first would be a good faith step.” 

The bill sharply restricts collective bargaining, ends binding arbitration and bans worker strikes for all state and local public employees. GOP leaders say the bill will help local governments rein in the costs for salaries and benefits of their workers, paid for by taxpaying private-sector workers. 

Hearings on the bill drew the most boisterous and intense rallies to the Statehouse in years. One rally attracted more than 8,000 people with signs and bullhorns to a rally on the Statehouse lawn. At one point, the Statehouse doors were locked to keep opponents out. Security was more than tripled. The events drew national media attention. 

“It’s hard to negotiate when you are locked out,” Fazekas said. 

Niehaus told The Plain Dealer that “the Senate didn’t lock anyone out.” 

“The Highway Patrol made the call,” he said, noting that it oversees security at the Capitol. “We never asked them to close the doors.” 

We Are Ohio, which collected more than 900,000 valid signatures to place the referendum on the ballot, has characterized the governor’s willingness to negotiate as a sign he believed voters will reject the bill. 

Niehaus said any suggestion that governor is “scared” is “bull.” 

He discounted a July Quinnipiac University poll showing a majority of Ohio voters oppose the bill, noting that the campaign to support the bill, known as Building A Better Ohio, has yet to launch its public campaign. 

Niehaus, who is raising money for the effort, said he expects the campaign to raise $10 million. 

Read it at the Cleveland Plain Dealer