Ohio Republicans want a compromise with unions on collective bargaining
Ohio’s Republican legislative leaders and governor want a compromise with the state’s public sector unions in an effort to prevent the repeal via ballot
Jul 31, 202012.6K Shares421.7K Views
Ohio’s Republican legislative leaders and governor wanta compromise with the state’s public sector unions in an effort to prevent the repeal via ballot initiative of a new collective bargaining law. Gov. John Kasich joined House Speaker William Batchelder and Senate President Tom Niehaus in a letter asking the unions to support a compromise bill on the condition that the issue would not be on the ballot in November.
In response, union leaders have rejected any compromise short of repealing the bill. The president of the Ohio Fraternal Order of Police told the Dayton Daily News, “Absolutely, we are willing to go to the table but we are asking that they repeal the bill first.”
Speaker Batchelder said he’d be willing to recall the Legislature to repeal the law if it prevented the acrimony of a fight over a public referendum.
SB 5, a law passed in the legislative session that followed a Republican takeover of the State House and the defeat of incumbent Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland by Kasich in the November 2010 election, affects public sector workers in numerous ways. These include a ban on striking, a requirement that workers pay for 15 percent of their health care benefits, and the curtailing of collective bargaining rights.
A July 20 Quinnipiac pollshowed that 56 percent of Ohio voters plan on voting to repeal the collective bargaining bill, suggesting that the unions would be in a strong position at the bargaining table. That same poll had Kasich’s approval rating at only 35 percent.
Paula M. Graham
Reviewer
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