As many as 5,000 workers from across the state filled the
Ohio Statehouse on Feb. 17 to stand against Senate Bill 5, a rabidly anti-worker
bill that would eliminate collective bargaining and the right to strike for
Ohio public employees.
It would also make public workers pay 20 percent of their
health care costs. Teachers would lose automatic step increases and the bill
would end binding arbitration to resolve deadlocks in union-management
negotiations. The bill has the support of Ohio’s new Republican governor, John
Kasich.
Union workers, students and other activists packed the
Statehouse where testimony on the bill was taking place. Workers also
surrounded the Statehouse and filled the steps outside to stand against the
bill.
The protesters consisted of workers from many different
professions, united in a fight to save not only their right to collective
bargaining and to strike, but also their pension and retirement
funds. Workers are outraged to see their wages and benefits cut while
corporations receive generous tax cuts.
The bill’s proponents in the Ohio legislature claim the
bill is an attempt to save Ohio from bankruptcy. Regardless, the thousands
of workers in attendance shouted in protest as legislators attempted to
rationalize Senate Bill 5.
Even the corporate media could not deny the lack of public
support for the unpopular bill. Outside the Statehouse, a tiny group of
Tea Party members stood in support of the bill. The Tea Party decried the
unsustainable budget as they have done across the country, yet support
anti-worker and anti-union practices instead of calling for taxing the
corporations and the banks.
Members of the Ohio AFL-CIO, firefighters and other
workers all wore red shirts that said “Kill the bill” and “No on SB5.”
“What I’m seeing here today is
that management is trying to be seen as the victim here,” said one of the
anti-Senate Bill 5 activists. ”My concern as a state worker is that we
would be unilaterally taken out of collective bargaining and it is being done
without any word or input from the union or the employees.” (Cleveland.com, Feb. 17)
The Ohio Civil Service
Employees Association, AFSCME Local 11, representing 35,000 state employees,
was a major organizer of the action. AFSCME Council 8, representing city,
state, township, and health workers, had a strong presence as did the
Communications Workers, representing workers at Ohio State University. Both the
Ohio Federation of Teachers and the Ohio Education Association were represented,
as were many Teamsters.
The workers of Ohio are
following the example of the people of Wisconsin. The protests against
Senate Bill 5 will continue. Local unions have announced that strikes will be
scheduled if the bill continues to be pushed through. It is time to end
business as usual and to fight the attacks on the working class.
