Trumka Joins Working Ohioans to Get Out the Vote Against Issue 2
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Deborah Dion with the Ohio AFL-CIO field program sends us this.
Speaking at a Cleveland rally on the eve of Nov. 8, Election Day, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka brought down the house yesterday when he spoke passionately about why we must join together and beat back Issue 2/ S.B. 5. More than 500 union volunteers from 30 different local unions as well as community activists and Columbia University students from New York City rose to their feet repeatedly cheering before hitting the doors to canvass city neighborhoods to spread the message about voting “No” vote on Issue 2/S.B. 5.
“No fight is more important than the one right here in Ohio,” said Trumka.
Because no one, no governor, no state legislature should have the power to rob us of the fundamental right to bargain collectively. [Gov.] John Kasich cannot take that away from us. The people of Ohio have spoken and will not stand for it. They want to take away our rights, our dignity, and the ladder to the middle class.
Ohio Federation of Teachers President Sue Taylor, Laborers Local 310 Business Manager Terry Joyce, North Shore Federation of Labor President Loree Soggs and Executive Secretary Harriet Applegate of the North Shore Federation joined President Trumka at the rally. Says Taylor:
Rally Kicks Off Repeal S.B. 5 Campaign in Ohio
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More than 11,000 people today rallied at the Capitol in Columbus to launch the campaign to overturn a law backed and recently signed by Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) that eliminates the rights of 350,000 public employees to bargain for middle-class jobs.
Today’s crowd was the largest since a series of rallies drew thousands last month when the state legislature was considering S.B. 5. Last week a coalition of union, community, civil rights, student and other activists began gathering signatures to put a referendum on the ballot this fall to overturn the law. (Click here to see a slide show from Progress Ohio of today’s rally.)
Melissa Cropper, a librarian for Georgetown schools in southwestern Ohio told the Columbus Dispatch that overturning the law:
is about saving the middle class and protecting the rights of workers. Corporations are getting all the breaks, and they’re trying to balance the budget on the backs of the workers.
Ohio Workers Stepping Up Struggle for Bargaining Rights
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With the state House expected to take up Senate Bill 5 next week, Ohio working people are stepping up their grassroots opposition to the legislation that takes away the right of public employees to bargain for good middle-class jobs.
In rallies, phone banks and other actions, workers are energizing and encouraging people across the state to contact their state legislator about the bill.
Ohio Workers Determined to Stop Anti-Worker Bill
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Ohio’s working people served notice that they are more energized than ever to defeat S.B. 5, Gov. John Kasich’s anti-worker bill that takes away bargaining rights from public employees. The state Senate passed the bill by one vote in a last-minute, dirty-trick maneuver, and the state House began hearings yesterday.
Working families’ determination was evident yesterday as thousands of protesters converged on the steps of the state Capitol to protest Kasich’s State of the State address.
‘Sad Day for Ohio’ as Anti-Worker Bill Passes 17–16
“Today is a sad day for Ohio’s middle class,” said Ohio AFL-CIO President Tim Burga, after the state Senate passed, by a 17-16 margin, Senate Bill 5, which would remove the freedom of public employees to bargain for a better life.
The bill now goes to the state House.
“Ohio senators have shown they would rather push a partisan agenda to punish the middle class than work on solutions to our jobs crisis,” Burga said.
From the start, this bill has been a one-sided affair. Workers and community members were not consulted at any time during the process. Political games were played with the hearing process which silenced the voice of hundreds of opponents of the bill. Middle-class Ohioans were locked out, literally, from having their voices heard.
Ohio senators were elected to create jobs, but those who have supported this wrongheaded bill have shown that they are more concerned with political payback than revitalizing our struggling economy.
Workers Push Back on Move to Weaken Ohio Bargaining Law
Ohio political observers expect Gov. Elect John Kasich (R) and his Republican allies in the state legislature to take aim the Buckeye States’ 1984 law that protects collective bargaining rights for public employees.
Kasich attacked public employees during the campaign and Cleveland Plain Dealer columnist Brent Larkin writes:
Kasich and the Republican-run legislature might just propose changes to Ohio’s collective-bargaining laws that precipitate an epic fight with Democrats and their allies in organized labor.
But Andy Richards, Ohio AFL-CIO Field Communications staffer, says workers in Middletown last night won one of the first skirmishes in the battle to protect workers’ rights. He files this report.
More than 100 union members and their allies packed the Middletown City Council chambers to show strong opposition and speak out against a resolution calling on the state legislature to weaken the current collective bargaining law. The council voted 6 to 1 to table the resolution. After the meeting, Fire Fighters (IAFF) Local 336 President John Harvey said the council
took a strong stand tonight in support of our community and the middle class. As a proud fire fighter, I work hard everyday to provide the best services to residents in Middletown and Butler County. This resolution would have put our services at risk by taking away a process that has provided stability and cooperation between workers and local, county and state government agencies. Read the rest of this entry »
Ohio Workers Demand Good Jobs Now
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More than 100 working people marched from to the state capitol in Columbus, Ohio, yesterday to call on lawmakers to focus on creating jobs and making Wall Street pay for the economic crisis it created. They sent the message that it is time to help working people and put Main Street back to work.
Ohio’s jobless rate is 10.9 percent. The state has lost millions of jobs due to the decline in manufacturing.
Marchers chanted “Good jobs now, make Wall Street pay,” and carried signs saying, “Dear Wall Street: you destroyed millions of jobs. Fix your mess.” Some dressed as Wall Street executives to highlight the role of greedy executives in creating the economic crisis.
At the rally, sponsored by the AFL-CIO’s community affiliate Working America, speakers said Congress and the White House must take serious and immediate action to invest in jobs
Ohio AFL-CIO President Joe Rugola said corporations and Wall Street executives have destroyed working people’s jobs. He said it is up to working people to hold our elected officials accountable to create a new economy that works for working families.
Working America’s Regional Director Dan Heck said:
Ohio working people have been slaughtered by a bad economy, bad decisions made by the last administration and Wall Street greed. Working people are saying ‘no more’ and marched today to call attention to how bad things are for Main Street.
Union Plus Will Match Your Haiti Relief Donation
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You can double the power of your contribution to Haiti relief. Click here and Union Plus will automatically match your contribution to the Solidarity Center’s AFL-CIO Earthquake Relief for Haitian Workers’ Campaign. You do not need to use a Union Plus credit card for the matching donation.
You also can take action now to help the Haitian survivors by clicking on the AFL-CIO Haitian Disaster Relief site here.
Union Plus has committed $100,000 through this dollar-for-dollar donation match to help Haitian earthquake relief efforts. Says Union Plus President Leslie Tolf:
Despite the millions of dollars raised already, the people of Haiti continue to have an ongoing need for our help. That’s why we are committing $100,000 to double the donations made by union members to the Solidarity Center.
Ohio Workers Make Voices Heard On Health Care
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Union members in Ohio made it clear yesterday at two meetings that working people want real health care reform and they want it now. These and other workers are fighting back against the lie-filled campaigns by extremist groups—some funded by corporate donations and backed by extremist Republican leaders who are vowing to kill health care reform.
In Cleveland, most of the 450 people at a regular report to constituents meeting hosted by Democratic Rep. Marcia Fudge supported health care reform. Outside the hall, more than 115 union members and health care reform activists drowned out about 25 opponents, some singing in German and carrying signs characterizing Obama as “Adolf Hitler.”
