Dayton
Daily News...
Opponents of
collective bargaining bill have 3 times as many signatures needed to
put repeal on the ballot
By Laura Bischoff
Friday, June 17, 2011
The campaign to repeal Senate Bill 5 announced Friday that they have
collected 714,137 signatures in two months to put the issue before
voters in November.
More than 10,000 volunteers have been circulating the petitions for We
Are Ohio, a coalition of labor unions and other worker groups opposed
to the collective bargaining reform bill.
To qualify for the ballot, the group needs 231,149 valid signatures
from registered voters. The petitions must be turned into the Ohio
Secretary of State by June 30. We Are Ohio plans to continue collecting
signatures over the next two weeks.
The campaigns to repeal and retain Senate Bill 5 are expected to spend
more than $20 million this year trying to win over voters.
The new law, which has yet to take effect, weakens collective
bargaining rights for 360,000 teachers, police officers, firefighters,
prison guards and other public workers in Ohio. It outlaws strikes,
bans binding arbitration, requires workers to pay at least 15 percent
of health care costs, and prohibits employers from picking up the
worker’s share of the pension contribution. Unions may still negotiate
for wages and conditions but if they reach an impasse, management has
the right to impose its last offer.
Supporters of the reform package say it is needed to help government
control its costs.
State Sen. Shannon Jones, R-Clearcreek Twp., the primary sponsor of
Senate Bill 5, said, “We expect the referendum to be on the November
ballot, and, if it is, I’m confident there will be a broad, grassroots
campaign in support of the reasonable reforms we’re asking of our
public employees. We can get the cost of government under control and
and return fairness and flexibility to middle class taxpayers, or we
can continue the same failed policies that have taken Ohio in the wrong
direction for far too long. That’s the choice Ohioans will be asked to
make.”
Read it at the Dayton Daily News
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