Union members with common lament dominate demonstrations in Columbus

By Marc Kovac

news@vindy.com

COLUMBUS

Todd Michl called himself one of the higher paid people in his AFSCME local union at Kent State University.

He said he makes about $36,000 a year.

“Is that a hell of a lot of money? I don’t think so,” Michl shouted Tuesday, speaking over music of a live band and the roar of thousands of protesters who crowded the west lawn of the Ohio Statehouse Tuesday.

Michl, like the other union representatives in the crowd, was on hand to counter assertions that they’re earning big bucks on the public payroll — and to show their opposition to Republican-backed changes to Ohio’s collective-bargaining laws.

“It’s taking all of our collective-bargaining rights away, the way we make a living,” he said. “And I’ll tell you what, we don’t make a real good living as it is.”

More than 8,500 people gathered on Capitol Square on Tuesday, the fifth and largest of public protests that were launched in response to hearings on Senate Bill 5, legislation that would make sweeping reforms to the way public-employee unions negotiate pay and benefits.

Republicans, including Gov. John Kasich, have called for the changes to help the state and local governments better control their costs and reduce spending, particularly in light of an estimated $8 billion hole in the coming biennial budget.

Most of the Statehouse demonstrations have been dominated by union representatives, though tea-party members and some Senate Bill 5 supporters also have been on hand. The latter has scheduled its own rally in Columbus today, with Americans for Prosperity, the Ohio Liberty Council and others urging the Senate to adopt the legislation.

“We must reform Ohio’s outdated laws to give Ohio the flexibility to efficiently and effectively manage its work force,” Rebecca Heimlich, Ohio director for Americans for Prosperity, said in a released statement.

“Ohio and its taxpayers can no longer afford the overly-generous benefit packages that were negotiated in boom times and that are way out of line with benefits in the private sector. Ohio must reform its laws so that it can hire, pay and promote based on merit, and so it can shine a bright light on collective-bargaining negotiations.”

But union representatives at Tuesday’s protest said Senate Bill 5 will hurt their ability to ensure safe working conditions and fair compensation packages.

“They’re trying to take our rights away from us,” said Les Teichmer, a Wooster firefighter and union president. “They don’t want to ask, they want to dictate.”

Teichmer said his members have offered concessions in recent years and have been open to working with the city to deal with budget issues.

John Dyce, a longtime Youngstown postal worker and president of the state’s letter carriers union, said there’s a give-and-take in collective bargaining, with both workers and management compromising on wages and other issues.

“All these state workers that are being attacked have made a bargain with their employers, the state of Ohio, for many, many years,” Dyce said. “They gave up many things for what they have. They weren’t given them — there were tradeoffs. And now the state just wants to take it all away from them. That’s not the way things are done in America.”

Ken Vernon, union president at the Salem fire department said: “It could be our job, it’s food off our table; we all have families, kids. We’re just trying to make a living.”

Pete DeAngelo, a policeman in Liberty Township said he thinks “It’s going to destroy the working class. ... We’re not getting rich being policemen, being schoolteachers, being firemen. ... What we want is a fair wage.”

Fawnda Barker, a middle school teacher from Niles said: “We have a deficit in this state, and yes it does need to be addressed. But we shouldn’t try to push this through the way those in our federal [government] pushed through the health bill. ... We really aren’t looking at it and the impact of it, and we’re just trying to push it through.”

Karen McGrath, a correctional officer at the Noble Correctional Institution, added, “You start taking away people’s rights, where does it stop? We’re here to show that it’s wrong.”

And Michl had another idea for dealing with the state’s budget issues.

“I’d like to see some of these state politicians pay 20 percent of their health care and take a pay cut. Start at the top, set an example.”