SB5 sides organize saturation campaigns

By Laura A. BISCHOFF

Dayton Daily News

COLUMBUS

As the multimillion dollar Senate Bill 5 campaigns ramp up, Ohioans will be bombarded with claims and counterclaims, pleas and appeals, images and sound bites.

Voters can expect robo-calls and glossy literature about what the collective-bargaining reforms could do for Ohio or to public employees.

Business leaders and Republicans say that Senate Bill 5 contains reasonable reforms such as requiring workers to pay their entire pension contribution and at least 15 percent of their health-care premiums, and switching to pay based on merit similar to pay structures for private workers.

Union leaders warn that the bill so dramatically curtails worker rights that collective bargaining will become “collective begging,” public workers likely will see pay cuts, workplace safety will be compromised, and Ohio could return to the days of labor unrest when illegal strikes were common.

Spokesmen for both sides are making their final arguments.

“We are going to focus on what the bill will do to local communities. It is unfair, unsafe, and it hurts middle- class families,” said Melissa Fazekas, spokeswoman for We Are Ohio, the campaign to defeat Senate Bill 5.

“This is arguably a once-in-a lifetime opportunity to deliver some very reasonable, but fundamental, reforms that could significantly improve Ohio’s economy. It is a course correction,” said Jason Mauk, spokesman for Building a Better Ohio, the campaign supporting Senate Bill 5, which is Issue 2 on the Ohio ballot Nov. 8.

“This will be a very close election. The polling indicates that people are supportive of reforming Ohio’s government employment policies. This is something we have not done in nearly 30 years ,” Mauk said.

One thing is certain: Senate Bill 5 is far-reaching. If enacted by voters, it will impact more than 180,000 school teachers and 123,000 school-district workers, 30,000 cops and firefighters, 57,000 state workers and more than 300,000 general government employees. The combined state and local government payroll

totals $29.7 billion a year. The new law has the potential to affect 11 million Ohioans who pay taxes to operate 3,700 government jurisdictions.

Senate Bill 5 limits collective bargaining to wages, hours and terms of employment as well as personal safety equipment.

If passed, it would also:

• Ban strikes.
• Allow management to impose its last offer as a three-year contract if both sides reach impasse.
• Require workers to pay all of their pension contribution and at least 15 percent of their health care premiums.
• Switch to a merit-pay system for most government employees.
• Limit leave time for vacation and illness and caps how much time may be banked by workers.
• Restore management rights over issues such as shifts, work assignments, transfers, promotions and layoffs; and eliminates seniority as the sole factor in deciding who gets laid off.

Supporters of Senate Bill 5 say these tools will allow cities, school districts, counties and other local jurisdictions to manage their personnel costs, operate more efficiently and save taxpayers money.

Exactly how much money could be saved is subject to how far elected bodies push to make changes once current contracts expire. Savings also depend on how merit-pay provisions would be implemented.

For example, would the Youngstown City Council impose pay cuts on workers? Would principals in Boardman schools be lenient in how they evaluate classroom teachers and determine that a large number deserved hefty merit-pay bonuses? Would Trumbull County tell its employees that they must use all their sick and vacation time in the calendar year in which it was accrued?

“Local governments and state government need to have the fortitude to use these tools,” said Chris Kershner, vice president of the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce, which endorsed Senate Bill 5.

Dan Kaman of the Ohio Department of Administrative Services estimates that the state could save $216.9 million a year if it eliminated step increases and longevity pay and bumped up the percentage of health-care costs that workers pay. Local governments could save $1.1 billion a year by taking advantage of the same tools, he wrote in an analysis .

Ohio Gov. John Kasich is among a handful of closely watched freshmen Republican governors across the nation who took on public employee unions this year.

A loss on Senate Bill 5 would hurt Kasich’s political profile but a victory would be positive for the governor for his national ambitions.

and it could help him eventually obtain national office,” University of Akron political scientist John Green said.

The referendum will also test union power, which has been waning in the private sector but remains steady in the public sector.

The percentage of unionized private sector workers dropped from 20.1 percent in 1980 to 6.1 percent in 2010, according to researchers Barry Hirsch and David Macpherson. But in the same time period, the percentage of public sector unionized workers increased from 35.9 to 36.2 percent.

Green said public unions are the most vital part of organized labor, so curtailment of the ability to bargain would be a negative for organized labor. A loss on Senate Bill 5 would reduce union influence at the bargaining table and in politics, he said.

Senate Bill 5 would take away the biggest hammer public unions have: the threat of a strike. It also could choke off considerable amounts of cash and political activity.

Senate Bill 5 would ban worker donations going directly to union political action committees without express written consent of the employee and it would ban imposing ‘fair share’ fees on non-members.

Currently, workers who don’t want to join a union can be forced to pay ‘fair share’ fees that amount to their share of the contract negotiation and maintenance costs. This change alone would cut off $3.8 million a year that flows from 6,000 fair share payers to state employee unions.

The ranks of the union membership might thin too. Faced with paying more for health care and losing longevity pay, more government workers may leave the union and its required dues payments, particularly since they won’t face fair share fees either.

Business groups are lining up behind Senate Bill 5. It is endorsed by:

‘The Ohio Chamber of Commerce, local chambers in Dayton, Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland;

‘ The National Federation of Independent Businesses - Ohio;

‘ The Ohio Farm Bureau;

‘ The Ohio Manufacturers Association.