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Toledo
Blade...
Ohio Senate OKs bill
curbing union bargaining rights
6 GOP vote ‘no’ in final
17-16 tally
By Jim Provance
COLUMBUS -- Angry union members chanted “Shame on you!” as they headed
for the door after a sharply divided Ohio Senate Wednesday voted 17-16
to approve a controversial bill restricting the collective bargaining
rights of public employees.
In the end, six Republicans defected from their caucus to join all 10
Democrats in opposing the measure, which would preserve union
negotiations but limit what they could be about, prohibit all public
employees from striking, and establish a new process to bring final
resolution to contract disputes.
The crowd of about 400 at the Statehouse included protesting
firefighters, police officers, teachers, and other public employees, as
well as some Tea Party members demonstrating support for the bill.
The crowd’s size paled in comparison to the roughly 8,500 people who
crowded the building and its grounds the day before, but protesters
tried to make up for it in the volume of their cheers and jeers during
Senate debate.
“We refuse to be silenced,” said Eddie L. Parks, president of the Ohio
Civil Service Employees Association, the largest of the state worker
unions. “The vote today will just mean our voices will be raised even
louder tomorrow.”
The measure now moves to the House, which will begin hearings next
week. With Democrats conceding that House Republicans likely have the
votes to approve the measure, talk is turning to court challenges and a
November ballot repeal effort.
Gov. John Kasich, a Republican, is a supporter of the bill, offering
the changes to local governments as a consolation prize given the
expected budget cuts he’s likely to propose in two weeks.
Of the northwest Ohio delegation, the three Republicans -- Sens. Mark
Wagoner (R., Ottawa Hills), Cliff Hite (R., Findlay), and Karen Gillmor
(R., Tiffin) -- voted for the bill while Sen. Edna Brown (D., Toledo)
joined all her fellow Democrats in opposition.
“As taxpayers, Ohioans are at their limit,” Sen. Keith Faber (R.,
Celina) said. “To me, Senate Bill 5 is simply about leveling the
playing field. It is not about ending collective bargaining.”
Ms. Brown countered that the bill will put a “muzzle” on public
employees.
“They’re not going to be able to negotiate safety issues for police and
fire equipment. …,” she said. “It’s going to revert back, in my
opinion, to the days when management had employees totally at the mercy
of supervisors. … We’re going to see more nepotism, a lot of
discrimination in this merit-pay business.”
Despite the prohibition on strikes, she said she believes they could
still happen.
The number of protesters in the Ohio Statehouse shrunk to about 400,
but those for or against the measure kept their volume turned up. The
number of protesters in the Ohio Statehouse shrunk to about 400, but
those for or against the measure kept their volume turned up.
Read the full story at the Toledo Blade
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