Many vow to repeal SB 5

Photo by: Jay LaPrete

AP

Photo

Protestors against Senate Bill 5, Ohio's new state law that curtails the collective bargaining rights of more than 350,000 public workers, gather at the Ohio Statehouse for a rally launching the We Are Ohio campaign Saturday, April 9, 2011, in Columbus, Ohio. The We Are Ohio campaign, which bills itself as a grass-roots, bipartisan group, is signing up people to circulate petitions in pursuit of a referendum on the measure.

Photo by: Jay LaPrete

AP

Photo

Firefighters stand on the Ohio Statehouse steps as protestors against Ohio's new state law that curtails the collective bargaining rights of more than 350,000 public workers gather for a rally launching the We Are Ohio campaign Saturday, April 9, 2011, in Columbus, Ohio. The We Are Ohio campaign, which bills itself as a grass-roots, bipartisan group, is signing up people to circulate petitions in pursuit of a referendum on the measure.

SEE ALSO: YSU prez is right on SB 5

By Marc Kovac

news@vindy.com

COLUMBUS

Michael Weinman was about a year into his career as a police officer when he was shot and paralyzed in the line of duty.

He’s also a U.S. Air Force veteran and a Republican. And he’s not supporting Senate Bill 5, the controversial legislation signed into law last month by Republican Gov. John Kasich, which bans strikes and limits collective bargaining by public employees.

“Senate Bill 5 is an attack on police unions,” Weinman told a crowd at the Ohio Statehouse Saturday. “Repealing Senate Bill 5 is important for us to protect you. Please allow us the right to protect ourselve.

Weinman was one of more than 10,000 union members and others opposed to Senate Bill 5 who rallied in Columbus, kicking off a referendum effort to place the new law on the ballot in November.

Though attendees could not sign petitions — the language and initial signatures have not been certified yet by the Ohio secretary of state and attorney general — many did pledge to work to gather the names of like-minded Ohioans to ensure the legislation never takes effect.

“It’s just a continuation of what’s been going on since the attack on workers’ rights began, not only in Ohio, but across the country,” said Youngstown Postal Union President John Dyce, who has attended many of the protests and committee hearings on Senate Bill 5. “... I think by all indications not only the citizens of Ohio but citizens across this country of ours are realizing what the agenda of many elected leaders is and they’re against it. And I think the referendum’s going to pass and the state will see that we want to respect workers and the right to negotiate.”

The new law places limits on collective bargaining, changing the way public workers have negotiated contract terms for nearly three decades.

It will allow more than 350,000 public employees to negotiate for wages, hours, safety equipment needs and working terms and conditions, but not other issues. It will prohibit those workers from striking, cap employer contributions to health-care premiums at 85 percent and require employee pay to be based on their performance, not solely on seniority.

The bill passed the Ohio House and Senate on mostly party-line votes and was signed into law by Kasich late last month.

Opponents have 90 days to complete the referendum process to place the legislation on the November ballot.

A coalition of union groups and other opponents calling itself We Are Ohio started the process last week, filing about 6,000 signatures and petition language.

The secretary of state and attorney general have until the end of the week to review the signatures and petitions.

Dennis Willard, a spokesman for We Are Ohio, said the group stands ready to gather more signatures and make any adjustments to petition language if issues arise.

Afterward, the group will have until late June to collect more than 213,000 signatures to place the repeal on the general election ballot.

Those on hand for Saturday’s Statehouse rally said the latter should not be a problem.

Scott R. Howell, an Alliance mail carrier who serves as the state legislative liaison for the National Association of Letter Carriers, called Senate Bill 5 “nonsense.”

“I would say that right now, from the kind of response that I’m getting back from the community in general, it’s not going to be a problem getting it on the ballot,” he said.

Peggy Giuliano, president of the Newton Falls Classroom Teachers Association, said about 20 teachers from the district and other surrounding schools were on hand to show their support for the referendum effort.

“It’s going to hurt us, it’s going to hurt our community, it’s going to hurt the nation,” Giuliano said of Senate Bill 5. “It will affect our insurance rates, what kind of insurance we can have. It will affect our bargaining rights with our employers. It will affect our severance pay. Anything that deals with our contract it will affect.”

Lupe Williams, who is active in Democratic political circles in Wooster, added, “This is just the beginning. This is a movement when we start defeating this bill that is going to damage everybody — not only labor but everybody. ... We are going to show that in Ohio, the people have the last word. We are the ones who are going to tell Kasich that this is not Wall Street, that we have to negotiate. Legislation is negotiation. And he forgot about that or he doesn’t know about it. But we are going to teach him.”