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Valley mayors unite to oppose SB 5 issue
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
The mayors of five Mahoning Valley communities proclaimed their opposition Friday to Ohio’s Senate Bill 5 and urged Ohioans to vote no Nov. 8 on Issue 2.
The mayors — Michael O’Brien of Warren, Ralph Infante of Niles, Glenn Holmes of McDonald, Terry Stocker of Struthers and Jim Iudiciani of Lowellville — focused on the sacrifices their employees have made in recent years.
“We feel it’s unfair, unsafe and will hurt our cities, our counties and the State of Ohio,” O’Brien said, sitting with the four other mayors in Warren’s council chambers.
“Employees across the Valley have made sacrifices,” O’Brien said, adding that approving SB 5 would “take away the voice of public servants at the bargaining table.”
O’Brien and other mayors described negotiations with public-sector unions in recent years as successful in achieving concessionary contracts. “Our employees have stepped up to the plate,” O’Brien said.
SB 5 would place limits on collective bargaining, changing the way about 350,000 public workers negotiate contract terms.
Opponents of the law say it will result in reductions in the ranks of teachers, police officers, firefighters and other public servants.
Proponents say the changes are needed to enable public offices to better control their costs.
Infante said he’s negotiated dozens of contracts as mayor, and the number of Niles workers has fallen from 200 to 170.
“We have a good working relationship with our employees,” Infante said. “I like to sit across the table from them. They know they have to take concessions. They know how tough it is economically. They’ve done more with less.”
Holmes said McDonald employees have “bought into the system” of reducing the city’s labor costs, adding “I’d rather negotiate than dictate.”
Iudiciani called SB5 “an attack on the middle class.”
Stocker said, “We don’t feel taking away bargaining rights is going to improve anything.”
A letter signed by Campbell Mayor William J. VanSuch said SB5 “hurts Ohio families.” He added, “We cannot afford to sacrifice the livelihood of our fireman, policemen, public employees, teachers, nurses, small business owners and basically people from all walks of life.”
O’Brien said Youngstown Mayor Chuck Sammarone, who did not attend Friday’s press conference, also supports the five mayors’ position on SB5.
Sammarone confirmed Friday that he opposes SB5 and says he expressed that opinion at Wednesday’s Youngstown City Council meeting. Sammarone said he believes the 1983 law should be modified to meet today’s needs but he opposes taking away public-employee collective bargaining, which he believes SB5 does.
Building a Better Ohio, a group supporting SB5, says SB5 doesn’t take away collective bargaining but limits what terms and conditions must be negotiated.
Among the issues that governments could eliminate from negotiations under SB5 are health care benefits and the employer share of a worker’s pension contribution, according to The Plain Dealer.