Ohio Public Employees Fight to Preserve Collective Bargaining Rights
February 16, 2011
Ohio public employees are fighting efforts by newly elected Governor John Kasich to repeal their collective bargaining rights through the introduction of Senate Bill 5.
“Governor Kasich is blaming public employees for an approximate $8 billion budget deficit,” said IAEP National Representative Ken Skaggs. “Under this guise he is attacking workers who provide important and often life-saving services to the residents of Ohio.”
Here are just a few examples of how SB 5 could affect Ohio’s public employees:
• Removes the requirement that deadlocked negotiations with safety forces go to binding arbitration, instead extending the prior union contract for one year.
• Allows employers to hire permanent replacement workers during a strike.
• Removes health insurance from collective bargaining. Management would pick a uniform insurance policy that would apply both to themselves and workers, and employees would have to cover at least 20 percent.
• No longer requires that once a subject is included in a contract that it becomes a mandatory part of future bargaining.
• No longer makes length of service the key factor when deciding on layoffs.
• Allows schools or local governments in fiscal emergency to terminate or modify a collective-bargaining agreement.
The IAEP is asking for your help in fighting this attack on public employees in Ohio. As an affiliated local of SEIU, we are joining our brothers and sisters at SEIU Local 1199 in fighting against SB 5. Click here to get involved and help your fellow EMS professionals fight for their rights.