By Rebecca Heimlich
I’m sitting in the Ohio Statehouse Rotunda listening to proponent testimony for Senate Bill 5, which would significantly reform Ohio’s collective bargaining law for public employees. I got to the Statehouse an hour before the hearing and saw several buses and knew our side’s buses weren’t coming until Thursday. The Statehouse is packed with union members who have been bused in from around the state. The Rotunda is the second overflow room for those who came to the hearing. Unfortunately, our red shirts are outnumbered.
We have to pack the Statehouse for Thursday’s hearing with SB 5 supporters in red shirts. I recognize it is more difficult for our activists to to get to Columbus. Most of us can’t get a taxpayer paid day off to come like many union members can, and we don’t have unions to pay for our buses. That said… Senate Bill 5 is crucial to balancing Ohio’s budget and getting us back on track to prosperity.
Under Ohio’s current collective bargaining law, public employers (which are ultimately taxpayers) cannot effectively manage their workforce. These laws take away public employers’ ability to decide how much to pay their employees and don’t allow flexibility in employment decisions.
Ohio must be able to hire, promote and pay based on merit.
Please join us this Thursday at 9am on the West Statehouse Lawn and wear red. Please come earlier if you can. If today is any indication, the union buses will already be at the Statehouse at 9am Thursday.
To read more, go to the Americans for Prosperity Ohio website. http://www.americansforprosperity.org/021511-todays-hearing-senate-bill-5-please-come-statehouse-thursday-red