Destroying workers rights in Ohio

~ susie

Remember: When a Republican says, “We have no other choice,” what he means is “Because I would never in a million years tax the rich instead.”

I wish I could understand why people are so willing to cooperate in the stripping away of workers rights, instead of insisting that they have them, too. That kind of thinking is a sorry part of human nature — “If we can’t have a good job, nobody should!” Oh well:

Gov. John Kasich and Republican lawmakers made it clear this week that big changes are coming to the public employees collective bargaining law as the state looks to close an $8 billion budget gap. “All of this is an effort to reduce the cost of government to reduce the tax burden on families and job creators,” said Rob Nichols, spokesman for Kasich.

Kasich said Thursday if lawmakers don’t dismantle public employees collective bargaining then he will. “All this is rooted in job creation.”

It’s a fight shaping up with unions in states across the country, particularly those with Republican-dominated governments that are in fiscal trouble. Indiana, Idaho and Tennessee all have legislation in the works that would scale back or eliminate collective bargaining.

A study by the Buckeye Institute, a conservative think tank*, found Ohio’s public workers made more than private sector counterparts. Liberal counterpart, Policy Matters Ohio, released a report Thursday that found Ohio’s public employees are paid less than those in the private sector. More than 300,000 public employees in Ohio belong to unions, including teachers, police, firefighters, municipal employees and state workers.

* “Conservative think tank” — as always, a contradiction in terms.

Published by susie

4 thoughts on “Destroying workers rights in Ohio”

  1. Wisconsin’s new governor, Scott Walker, is trying the same thing, and announced he has already alerted the National Guard to be ready to put any recalcitrant state workers in their places (jail?) if they try to protest.

    Walk like an Egyptian? Might be very difficult in this form of democracy here in the US.

    Would our soldiers hold back on using force, guns??? Even National Guard soldiers?

  2. Walker and alerting National Guard.

    Walker may take axe to public unions, NYTimes today.

    Citing Wisconsin’s gaping budget shortfall for this year and even larger ones expected in the years ahead, Gov. Scott Walker proposed a sweeping plan on Friday to cut benefits for public employees in the state and to take away most of their unions’ ability to bargain.

    The proposal by Mr. Walker, a Republican who was elected in November after pledging that he would get public workers’ compensation “into line” with everyone else’s, is expected to receive support next week in the State Legislature, where Republicans also won control of both chambers in the fall.

    The prospect left union leaders, state and local employees and some Democrats stunned over the plan’s scope and what it might signal for public-sector unions in the state. Union leaders began planning rallies in Madison and contacting lawmakers, pressing them to reject the idea.

    Mr. Walker said Wisconsin was prepared for any fallout, noting in an interview that the National Guard was ready to step in to handle state duties, if need be.
    SNIP
    Citing Wisconsin’s gaping budget shortfall for this year and even larger ones expected in the years ahead, Gov. Scott Walker proposed a sweeping plan on Friday to cut benefits for public employees in the state and to take away most of their unions’ ability to bargain.

    The proposal by Mr. Walker, a Republican who was elected in November after pledging that he would get public workers’ compensation “into line” with everyone else’s, is expected to receive support next week in the State Legislature, where Republicans also won control of both chambers in the fall.

    The prospect left union leaders, state and local employees and some Democrats stunned over the plan’s scope and what it might signal for public-sector unions in the state. Union leaders began planning rallies in Madison and contacting lawmakers, pressing them to reject the idea.

    Mr. Walker said Wisconsin was prepared for any fallout, noting in an interview that the National Guard was ready to step in to handle state duties, if need be.

    “I’m just trying to balance my budget,” Mr. Walker said. “To those who say why didn’t I negotiate on this? I don’t have anything to negotiate with. We don’t have anything to give. Like practically every other state in the country, we’re broke. And it’s time to pay up.”

    State leaders across the country have talked about solving budget woes with actions that in other climates might have been politically impossible: cutting the salaries and pensions of government workers and limiting the power of labor unions.

    But the plan in Wisconsin, which faces a $137 million shortfall in the current budget and a gap in the billions for the coming cycle, is among the most far-reaching of such proposals to be delivered to lawmakers. Mr. Walker expects swift approval.

    Among key provisions of Mr. Walker’s plan: limiting collective bargaining for most state and local government employees to the issue of wages (instead of an array of issues, like health coverage or vacations); requiring government workers to contribute 5.8 percent of their pay to their pensions, much more than now; and requiring state employees to pay at least 12.6 percent of health care premiums (most pay about 6 percent now).

    Mike Imbrogno, a cook at the University of Wisconsin in Madison who belongs to a union and said he earns $28,000 a year, described the move as an “attack” on working people.

    “He’s basically trying to smash the last remaining organized upward pressure on wages and benefits in Wisconsin,” Mr. Imbrogno said. Governor Walker’s proposal would specifically remove the right of the university’s faculty and staff to bargain collectively.

    Mr. Walker made several proposals that will weaken not just unions’ ability to bargain contracts, but also their finances and political clout.

    His proposal would make it harder for unions to collect dues because the state would stop collecting the money from employee paychecks.

    He would further weaken union treasuries by giving members of public-sector unions the right not to pay dues. In an unusual move, he would require secret-ballot votes each year at every public-sector union to determine whether a majority of workers still want to be unionized.

    He would require public-employee unions to negotiate new contracts every year, an often lengthy process. And he would limit the raises of state employees and teachers to the consumer price index, unless the public approves higher raises through a referendum. Exempted from those changes would be firefighters and law enforcement personnel.

    Is this legal? Can they really do this?

    Walker says he won’t negotiate with unions.

    Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said Friday he wants to end collective bargaining for nearly all public employees because the state is broke and there’s no point negotiating with the unions when there is nothing to offer.

    Union leaders and Democrats, powerless to stop Walker’s plan from passing the Republican-controlled Legislature next week, were reeling. They blasted the proposal as a naked power grab that will gut Wisconsin’s deep organized labor tradition and result in layoffs that devastate the economy.

    Uh, voters, take note: Elections do have consequences. Some more than others.

    But, again, are Walker’s and other Repub Govs’ approach LEGAL? Are there no national laws protecting collective bargaining which are applicable or have they been gutted as well?

  3. I recently discovered a site that’s doing a fabulous (if miserably depressing) job of documenting our new governor’s efforts to destroy my adopted state: http://www.plunderbund.com.

    I hope this comment goes through. The one I left a few posts above saying the video of the Egyptians celebrating in Queens brought tears to my eyes got lost in the ether.

  4. Thanks Ohio Mom for the link. I too live in Ohio, and was listening the other morning, to a nutjob on 700 WLW, saying this had to be done to save the state. He had some teatard on with him, encouraging all tea party members to go support this, by attending the hearings on this.

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