(Nathan Martin/The Union Label) – As in Wisconsin, Ohio is seeing a similar uproar to its Collective Bargaining Rights bill: Senate Bill 5 (SB5) Full Text Here. And I DO mean uproar! My family, largely conservative, is up in arms because their unions have portrayed this bill as an Armageddon to their very existence. I will try to provide a basic primer on what the bill does and what it does not do.
WHAT THE BILL DOES
It would abolish collective bargaining rights for state workers. (UPDATED: except in for basic pay) H/T NBC4i.com
It would restrict teachers, firefighters, police, university employees and local workers in their bargaining abilities.
Unions would lose the ability to negotiate salary schedules and step increases.
Unions would have to negotiate according to merit pay increases.
Unions would be barred from requiring non-members covered by their contracts to pay dues.
WHAT THE BILL DOESN’T DO
It doesn’t abolish the collective bargaining rights of local employees.
Many/most local contracts will remain unchanged by the passing of the law.
Bust unions.
SO WHAT IS THE BIG DEAL?
Basically, it establishes a framework that would put the power to decide what is best for local economies in the hand of the local people and not union bosses. This has the unions going into full panic mode. Starved for power, they are putting out high alerts that this bill will cause their work conditions to deteriorate overnight, educational systems turned into forced labor camps, and prisons sliding into an abyss of chaos. I will follow this as it goes into next week and through eventual passage. (No, Ohio Reps and Senators can’t leave our state to prevent passage) Right now, the unions provide a racket. They force union dues, use those dues to get people elected, force those same people to increase pay/benefits/healthcare, use the deals as leverage for increased dues, repeat as necessary. Glad to see Governor Kasich is striving for some fiscal sanity to attack a budget deficit of over 8 BILLION DOLLARS.
