Ohio votes to restrain union bargaining

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NY Times:

Ohio took its first step Wednesday toward passing sweeping legislation that would curtail collective bargaining rights for public sector workers, banning strikes and putting the power of breaking labor impasses into the hands of town councils.

Amid boos and shouts of “shame on you,” Ohio’s Senate voted 17 to 16 in favor of the bill, which has sparked heated debate over the rights of public employees in Ohio.

Unions called it the biggest blow to public sector workers since the legal framework was put in place to protect them in 1983. Republican lawmakers argued that it was required in order to keep local governments solvent.

“This is the first big step in restoring fiscal responsibility in Ohio,” said Kevin Bacon, a Republican senator.

The battle in Ohio has unfolded over the past month, along with others in Wisconsin and Indiana. But unlike those states, where Democrats are needed for a quorum, Ohio Republicans make a quorum on their own, and Wednesday’s passage was expected to be repeated in the House, also controlled by Republicans, next week. Democratic lawmakers said they would take the matter to a public ballot this fall.

At its heart, the bill seeks to redraw rules on how several hundred thousand public workers bargain with the governments that employ them. Among the most objectionable parts for workers were new rules giving local legislatures, instead of neutral third parties, the final say in breaking labor impasses.

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The problem with the so called neutral third party deciding how impasses will be resolved is they leave town after the decision and the tax payers who were not a direct party wind up having to pay. Tax payers deserve to be able to hold someone responsible for the cost of government.

Those who voted for these changes should be applauded for helping communities impose fiscal responsibility. Democrats are clearly disappointed, but their big spending ways and their high taxes have driven employers and taxpayers out of the state of Ohio for years. They are the ones who should be ashamed.

Related articles

• Ohio Likely to Ban Strikes by All Public Workers (theawl.com)
• Ohio committee sends collective bargaining bill to Senate floor (cnn.com)
• Poll: Some Americans would welcome a shutdown (politico.com)
• Missing Wisconsin Democrats set to face $100 per day fine (cnn.com)
• Ohio Senate passes bill to restrict public unions (sfgate.com)