Ohio Volunteers Determined to Bury Anti-Collective Bargaining Law

Rosen: 'CWA Is Putting Everything We Have into These Last Few Days'

Niki Snead, Local 4320, and Jodie Deshong, Local 4310, knock on doors to urge voters to defeat Ohio's anti-collective bargaining law.

With just days to go until Ohio voters decide the fate of their state's anti-collective bargaining law, CWA members are among thousands of volunteers continuing to knock on doors and make phone calls to get out the vote.

The campaign to defeat Issue 2 has long included many working Republicans disgusted by the law's attack on public workers and the way Governor John Kasich and GOP leaders rushed the bill through the legislature early this year. But now some high-profile Republicans are also speaking out against it.

Former Ohio Supreme Court Justice Andy Douglas recalled how Ohio led the nation in work stoppages by public safety employees in the decade before the state's 1984 collective bargaining law. No such stoppages have occurred since.

"When a city and its safety forces had a dispute concerning wages, working conditions, and adequate staffing, there was no way to resolve the dispute," Douglas said. "That is why we passed the collective bargaining law. The law has worked. It would be tragic for our communities to return to those dark days. That is what Senate Bill 5 — if it becomes law — would do. To fully protect our citizens and police officers and firefighters, (it) must be rejected."

Senate Bill 5 was the legislation creating the law stripping collective bargaining rights from Ohio's public workers. Voters can repeal it by voting "No" on Issue 2 on November 8's ballot.

Another GOP opponent is Lancaster Mayor David Smith, who says it's Gov. Kasich's budget cuts, not collective bargaining, that is hurting his city's ability to afford enough police and firefighters.

Smith recently had to lay off 13 firefighters and close a fire station, despite the fact that fire and police forces agreed to forgo raises for the past two years and made other concessions. "Fire and police had closed contracts, but they opened them up to allow us to work with them on a number of issues," Smith said. But that couldn't make up for the huge loss of Ohio tax revenue that Kasich has diverted from local communities to balance the state budget.

The support and public polls are encouraging, but with corporations and anti-union groups spending millions of dollars to stop the repeal, CWA members and other campaign volunteers won't rest until the polls close Tuesday night.

"Over the past year, Ohio citizens have spoken loud and clear that our elected officials should focus on creating good jobs and building strong communities, not attacking the rights of our public employees," CWA District 4 Vice President Seth Rosen said.

"This election will be the culmination of a year-long effort by a broad cross-section of Ohioans — from the tens of thousands who gathered at the state house, to the 1.3 million who signed our petition, to the tens of thousands who are now out talking to their friends and neighbors," he said. "CWA is putting everything we have into these last few days to win a victory on this important issue."