Ohio State House and Senate Passes SB5
March 31, 2011
The Ohio State House of Representatives and State Senate have voted to pass Senate Bill 5, a bill containing drastic cuts to collective bargaining rights for Ohio’s public employees.
Despite the bill’s passage, the IAEP is joining SEIU 1199 and numerous other labor organizations in attempting to force the legislature to place the measure on a ballot in November before it can become law. The IAEP urges every member in Ohio to stand alongside your brothers and sisters and sign a petition or volunteer to help the ongoing efforts to give you the opportunity to overturn SB 5 when you vote in November.
Here are just a few examples of how SB 5 will 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 to both themselves and workers, and employees would have to cover at least 20 percent of the cost.
• 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. Click here to get involved and help your fellow EMS professionals fight for their rights.