Ohio votes on whether to overturn anti-union law

[Jenna]

But, earlier, at a union hall in Bond Hill, Kasich's union opponents had plenty to say about Issue 2, the ballot issue which could do away with Senate Bill 5, the Kasich-backed bill that would limit collective bargaining rights for public employees.

Doug Sizemore, the executive director of the Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Council, said he is paying no attention to polling.

"The true measure is tomorrow,'' Sizemore said. "That's why we have to work until the very last minute to get out every vote we can."

Public Policy Polling released a poll Monday showing that 59 percent of Ohioans plan to vote "no" on Issue 2, which would repeal the bill, while only 36 percent said they prefer keeping it in place.

A key to the 23 point margin is the fact that, according to the poll, Kasich and the Republicans in the legislature who passed the measure have failed to build rock-solid support for it among fellow Republicans - three of every 10 GOP voters said they will cast a "no" vote.

If Senate Bill 5 goes down, it could be a stinging defeat for Kasich, who staked his reputation - and his low job approval numbers - on passage of this bill.

Rallies, rhetoric mark end of SB 5 fight | Cincinnati.com | cincinnati.com

Good luck to the unions and working people of Ohio!

[Jenna]

Looks like the workers of Ohio won!

The landslide vote to repeal the bill — 63 to 37, according to preliminary results from Ohio’s secretary of state — was a slap to Ohio’s governor, John R. Kasich, a prominent Republican who had championed the law as a tool for cities to cut costs. The bill passed in March, on a wave of enthusiasm among Republicans fresh from midterm victories. A similar bill also passed in Wisconsin.

More here: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/09/us...ns-rights.html

[Pudge]

Looks the workers of Ohio won!



More here: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/09/us...ns-rights.html

It's a damn good day!

The big headlines of this bill were all about Unions, but what many failed to see is that it also hurt non union shops (like mine) just as bad, if not worse than it would the Union employees.

[jcsdscott]

Now that is good news this morning.

[Pudge]

From the We Are Ohio group on facebook. Some numbers from the election.

We are proud to give you the final numbers on the Repeal of Senate Bill 5.

Total Ballots cast in Ohio on Issue #2 : 3,497,408
In Favor (enact SB5) - 1,352,366 (%39.7)
Opposed (repeal SB5) - 2,145,042 (%61.3)
...
Issue 2 FAILS...SB 5 is REVOKED by citizen repeal!
Be proud Ohio, we told the Nation what we're all about!!

We decided to Stand Up for Ohio in February -- for good jobs and strong communities. Since then, nearly 50,000 people have attended protests at the Statehouse and across Ohio. 100,000 people have joined in here on Facebook. 1.3 MILLION signed the petition to place Senate Bill 5 on the ballot for citizen veto. Yesterday, nearly TWICE that number voted to do just that.

Share this victory out!

[Pudge]

Written by Cynthia Brown
If you work for Koch Industries or any of their tentacle organizations like Americans for Prosperity, the Cato Institute or the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), yesterday was as big a defeat as the 2010 Congressional elections were a victory. The good people of the Great State of Ohio, in a stunning rebuke to the anti-middle class agenda of Governor John Kasich, overwhelmingly repealed legislation designed to kill public sector unions by a roughly three-to-one margin.
While there were many significant votes across the country yesterday, none are more important than the defeat of SB-5, also known as Issue 2. The victory for middle class teachers, cops, firefighters and other public sector employees is seen by many as an indication that similar legislation in states like Michigan, Florida, New Jersey and most notably Wisconsin are likely to be challenged by voters.
Also likely to be challenged are the state officials that have enacted union-busting legislation- most notably Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.
Here's what the people of Ohio decided went too far:
* SB-5 would have abolished the collective bargaining rights of employees of the state, of any agency, authority, commission, or board of the state, and of any state institution of higher education.
*It would have prohibited the state, agencies, authorities, commissions, and boards of the state, and a state institution of higher education from collectively bargaining with its employees.
*The legislation also would have abolished the Office of Collective Bargaining.
Kasich saw the writing on the wall months ago when poling indicated that voters were likely to vote his plan down and made desperate pleas for the people who's right to bargain for wages and benefits he was trying to eliminate to negotiate with the governor.
And perhaps if the legislation had been more restrained, focusing on pension reform rather than throwing the baby out with the bath water and just outlawing unions, labor leaders might have taken mercy on Kasich and started good faith negotiations.
But as the saying goes, you mess with the bull- you get the horns. Labor leaders from all walks of life refused to give Kasich an "out," by affording him the courtesy and respect he denied them when he passed SB-5 without negotiations.
Kasich, who famously once called a police officer an idiot for giving him a ticket, is now manning the damage control pumps.
"It's clear the people have spoken," a forlorn looking Kasich said at a press conference. "My view is when people speak in a campaign like this, in a referendum, you have to listen."

http://apbweb.com/featured-articles/...in-flames.html