Fair changes can be made

Fair changes can be made

Now that the hoopla over S.B. 5 is over, maybe this egregious episode can be put to rest for what it was all about. Succinctly it looked, by those so inclined, to be the time to come down hard on unions. Unemployment was bad, state income was not good, and the economy as a whole was “depressed.” Let’s blame it on the public employees, and some of the benefits that public employees receive. Sick time, vacation time, paid holidays, and last but not least, public employee pensions. The existence of these items was attributed to the public employees’ unions. A convenient scapegoat.

All these subjects are, in point of fact, part of the Ohio Revised Code. Unions can and do, in negotiation with any public entity, ask for and receive certain changes in each of the items mentioned. The Ohio Revised Code is an instrument of the Ohio Assembly. It can be fined tuned to do the job that should be done. Banning negotiations was not the way.

Union contracts can be legal, but can circumvent the intent of the law as envisioned by the Ohio Assembly. That is where change can and should be made. As an example: Contributions to the pension plan was 8.25 percent by the employee, and matched by the employer at 8.25 percent. However, in the negotiations the union bargained for a reduction on the employee’s portion to 4.25 percen, which meant the employer now made a contribution of 12.25 percent. This is not what was intended and could be corrected in the General Assembly.

There are leeches in all sectors of our population, both private and public.

When a lawman gets a 911 call he is putting his life on the line., when a fireman gets a call he his laying his life on the line. Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water. Changes can be made and should.

Leonard J. Sainato, Warren