UPDATE 2-Ohio legislature passes bill curbing union rights

Wed Mar 30, 2011 10:55pm EDT

* Ohio Republicans take aim at public sector unions

* Republican governor says he will sign it into law (Updates with Senate passage, Kasich to sign into law)

By Jo Ingles and Mary Wisniewski

COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 30 (Reuters) - Ohio's legislature on Wednesday passed a Republican measure to curb the collective bargaining rights of about 350,000 state employees, and Governor John Kasich said he will sign it into law.

Its passage marks another success for Republicans who are pursuing measures in several U.S. states to limit the rights of public-sector unions. Unions are a key constituency of the Democratic Party.

The bill, which also bans strikes by unions for public employees, was approved in the Ohio Senate late on Wednesday following its passage in the state House of Representatives earlier in the day.

Kasich, a Republican, did not indicate when he would sign the bill but he is expected to do so by Friday. When the bill is enacted, Ohio would become the most populous U.S. state this year to impose sweeping collective bargaining curbs on public sector unions.

Kasich said the bill will put taxpayers and public employees on a more equal footing regarding pay and benefits.

Similar measures have spurred protests in Wisconsin, Tennessee, Michigan and other states.

Ohio Democrats hope to put the new law on the ballot for a referendum vote in November in an effort to overturn it.

"The wheels are in motion" for a referendum battle, said State Senator Joe Schiavoni, a Democrat. "They're trying to take away these union members' rights."

"I'm hopeful and I feel confident that at the end of the day the referendum will overturn the law," he said.

During the debate, some Republicans said changes from an earlier version of the bill, including a modification that allowed police and firefighters to bargain collectively for safety equipment, improved it.

"The bill we have on the floor today has some blemishes but addresses major problems in the collective bargaining process," said State Representative Michael Henne, a Republican.

The amended bill removed jail time as a possible penalty for workers who strike. But it is in some ways tougher on unions -- it prevents nonunion employees affected by contracts from paying fees to unions and makes it easier to decertify a union.

Democrats decried such measures as proof the bill is a politically motivated attack dressed up as a budget measure.

The Wisconsin and Idaho legislatures have passed laws that limit collective bargaining rights for state union workers. Tennessee is reviewing legislation that would limit collective bargaining rights for teachers.

While Wisconsin has gained more national attention, Ohio is far more important to unions. It has the sixth largest number of public sector union members among all the 50 U.S. states, twice the number of Wisconsin. With many auto and steel and manufacturing plants, Ohio is also a union bellwether. (Reporting by Jo Ingles and Mary Wisniewski; Writing by Mary Wisniewski; Editing by Will Dunham)

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Comments (4)
NYTony wrote:
I’m still not buying this “it will save money” bit. I was reading another article about this bill and it said that for example, a school district would have to negotiate on an individual basis for things such as work hours per week (and per day), sick time, working conditions, class size, etc, etc. When before they just had one contract to contend with, now there’s the possibility of needing to keep straight hundreds of individual contracts. How exactly is that going to SAVE any money, when most likely the district will have to hire somebody just to keep it straight? If it was about money . .the law would be reversed . . let them negotiate about all those things collectively, and deny them the ability to collectively negotiate pay. Then . .districts or counties or whatever can be free to pay good workers more, and under performing workers less, or offer incentives to keep great people. But no . . instead they want to take away worker’s voices; they want to prevent people from complaining about 50 60 or 70 hour weeks, stop teachers from preventing 40 kids in a kindergarten classroom or 60 kids in a high school room. They want to be able to arbitrarily fire somebody that’;s been on the job for 20 or 25 years even IF they do a good job just to save a few bucks. Don’t think it won’t happen. I’ve seen other companies find reasons to get rid of decent workers just because they have been there for a long time and are now a little pricey. Age discrimination will be much more rampant. But that’s OK I guess. They can always get a job standing in the entrance of Walmart passing out shopping carts and putting stickers on return items for minimum wage.

Mar 30, 2011 11:55pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
mwade002 wrote:
The state granted workers the right to collectively bargain, the US supreme court upheld that right. Politicians consume huge amounts of tax dollars. They divert funding for social programs to their own personal gain.

Mar 30, 2011 12:06am EDT  --  Report as abuse
Jackwagon wrote:
Hey NYTony, guess what…a lot of people in the REAL WORLD (the non-union world who is not protected and allowed to do less for more) work 50, 60 and 70 hours a week for a non-hourly, base salary. And guess what else; everyone else in the REAL WORLD has to deal with the fear of being arbitrarily fired. It’s why we 1) save our money for a rainy day and 2) make sure we do good work and ADD VALUE to the organization. News Flash NYTony, nothing in this life is guaranteed except taxes and death. It is absolutely ridiculous for you to think that you are guaranteed a job. What a sense of entitlement. The last thing we need is to be holding on to underperforming teachers and underperforming, out of shape cops or firemen just because they are union.

Mar 31, 2011 8:35am EDT  --  Report as abuse
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