Buckeye state voters have their say on collective bargaining

Ohio voters today are ready to use their citizens’ veto to send Gov. John Kasich, statehouse Republicans, the state Chamber of Commerce and the Koch Brothers a message:

Don’t attack those who keep us safe and healthy, teach our kids, staff the prisons and serve in countless other often thankless government jobs. Don’t dress up Issue 2 as if it is some kind of magical wonder to cure local and state budget woes when it really is a naked attempt to dilute the economic and political power of working families.

Issue 2 started as Senate Bill 5, was passed by the GOP-dominated statehouse and signed into law by Koch Brothers-backed Gov. John Kasich over the objections of union workers and others.  Those objecting know that the cause of government budget woes are declining revenues because of the Wall Street financial fiasco, not because of state and municipal worker salaries and benefits. Indeed, government unions have come to the table repeatedly with billions in givebacks to help balance budgets. But Kasich, a Wall Street tycoon heavily financed by the Koch Brothers, and state Republicans saw an opportunity to blame the crisis on union workers and eventually as an opportunity to defund the Democratic Party.

“They underestimated the intelligence of Ohio voters,” UAW Region 2B Director Ken Lortz said. “No one is falling for them trying to pin the economic crisis on the backs of hard-working police officers, firefighters, nurses, librarians and others who serve the public. We don’t turn our backs on the people who watch ours. We’re going to defeat Issue 2 because voters see it for exactly what it is -- a blatant attempt at securing power and weakening unions.”

A vote against Issue 2 is a vote for Ohio’s hurting middle class and against those who believe its fine to take from the middle class and provide tax breaks for the wealthy. It’s a vote for democracy allowing the people who tend to the sick, protect neighborhoods, serve those in need and run into burning buildings a voice through collective bargaining.

Every poll done since Republicans slammed Senate Bill 5 through the legislative process over the objections of broad-based opposition has consistently shown that Ohioans are firmly against this power grab.

But polls mean little on Election Day. That’s why you need to vote, you need to get your friends and neighbors to vote, and defeat this wrong-headed law.

“That will really be a victory for the people of Ohio,” Lortz said. “When teachers have a voice in the workplace, they are better advocates for children. Families are healthier when nurses can speak out for better care and more staffing. Communities are safer when firefighters and police have a say when it comes to staffing to reduce response times or needed safety equipment like defibrillators. By defeating Issue Two, Ohio voters will protect their public employees and everyone they serve by protecting collective bargaining rights.”

The GOP leadership knows what this will mean as well as we do: The middle class has rejected their agenda. They know that it was Wall Stree, not firefighters, teachers and nurses, who tanked the economy. And they also know that public employees have been doing their part to get it back on the right course.

There is a price to pay for turning your back on the middle class. Ohio voters will make that clear when the votes are counted.

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