Protests continue in Columbus, OH. (photo: mmbooklover)
Today, there's another public committee hearing in Columbus, Ohio, on SB 5, a bill that would strip collective bargaining rights, in a variety of dimensions, from all public employees. Unlike in Wisconsin, police and firefighters are not exempted from this bill. I wrote about it and talked to the ranking Senate Democrat on the committee hearing the bill last week:
I talked to Sen. Joe Schiavoni (D-Youngstown), the ranking member of the Insurance, Commerce and Labor Committee, which has jurisdiction over SB 5. The bill has had hearings in committee but has not yet passed through it, with Republicans vowing changes. Schiavoni told me that there are different provisions in the bill for different types of public employees. Some, including corrections officers, would have all their rights stripped. Teachers would only be allowed to bargain on salary and grievance issues. And police and fire would have their right to strike and binding arbitration taken away. "If you take away the right to strike, Schiavoni said, "you have no bargaining leverage. You have no threat." [...]
Public employees in Ohio made $250 million in concessions to help balance the budget in 2009, including cuts to their wages. "Our middle class is afraid that they're being kicked while they're down," Schiavoni said. "They gave up $250 million two years ago, and now they want to take away their rights? It's completely unfair. Public employees didn't cause these budget problems. We have an $8 billion deficit on a budget due July 1, and we're wasting our time with this bill to take away worker's rights."
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