Campaign Underway to Repeal Ohio's Anti-Union Law

New Allies Emerge to Fight Back as Governor's Agenda Gets More Extreme

Launching a campaign to repeal Ohio's new anti-union law, CWA members were among thousands of people rallying outside the statehouse Saturday. Photo courtesy of ProgressOhio.org.

More than 11,000 people rallied outside Ohio's statehouse Saturday, officially kicking off the campaign to repeal the state's new law stripping public workers of their collective bargaining rights.

An army of opponents is ready to begin gathering 231,000 valid signatures to put the repeal on November's ballot. And it won't just be CWA, other union members and progressive allies circulating petitions. A growing number of Republicans are furious, too.

A police sergeant interviewed by the Columbus Dispatch said he plans to use vacation time to collect signatures on petitions. While most police officers he knows used to lean Republican, "Not anymore," he said. "I don't know of one cop now who admits he's Republican."

Opposition is even coming from the business community, where some companies have resigned from the Chamber of Commerce over its support for the union-busting law.

Shrugging off the backlash, Gov. John Kasich has actually intensified his anti-worker agenda. Hidden deep in his budget proposal is a provision that would allow his administration to contract out — for 75 years — any and all state services to any business chosen by the state budget director. Contractors would pay no business tax on gross receipts or on any income derived from providing public services.

"There is no requirement that the favored bidder be current on taxes, operate a safe workplace, pay a legal wage or even be an Ohio company that employs Ohioans," reports Innovation Ohio, a think tank that discovered language buried between pages 261 and 266 of the budget bill.

Imagine this scenario, Innovation Ohio said: "A generous Kasich campaign donor behind on his taxes — who operates a call center in Bangladesh paying workers $4.00 per day — would pay no business taxes on income from a state contract providing job re-training advice to unemployed Ohioans over the phone."

CWA District 4 Vice President Seth Rosen, who was at Saturday's rally with about 650 CWA members, said the budget revelation and the rest of Kasich's attacks on working people are fueling the anger of Ohioans and their resolve to stop his agenda.

"The good news is that we have a broad, growing movement fighting for good jobs and strong communities, and we're gaining support every day," Rosen said.