Issue 2: Ohio Public Unions Try to Overturn SB5 at the Ballot Box
Ohio voters prepare for intense and historic campaign over collective bargaining for public workers
Photos
John Morris walked down the tree-lined streets of Shaker Heights, knocking on doors and buttonholing residents.
An English teacher at the high school, Morris had a simple message to share: "We are dealing with cutbacks like every other citizen," Morris said. "We just want a place at the table."
Get ready, Ohio. Morris, and many others like him, will be coming soon to a door near you.
Thanks to Issue 2, this will not be a sleepy off-year election. On Nov. 8, Ohio voters will decide on the controversial law, championed by Gov. John Kasich and originally passed by the GOP-dominated Legislature as Senate Bill 5, to dramatically restrict the collective bargaining rights of the state's public workers.
Ohio residents will have front-row seats to what will likely prove to be a historic political circus as outside dollars flow in by the millions to bolster campaign coffers on both sides. A saturation blitz of TV ads, door-to-door canvassing and phone calls is already being unleashed on voters.
"I think a lot of people are going to be very surprised about the intensity of this campaign," said John Green, the executive director of the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron. "An incredible amount of money is going to be spent on this."
Just like in every presidential election, this debate will likely come down to a street fight between motivated Ohioans.
Ask Jeff Arra, a high school teacher from Avon Lake, who helped gather signatures to force SB5 to a statewide vote. He hates how SB5 supporters villify public workers as the reason for Ohio’s budget troubles.
“We are not this goonish organization that’s causing people to go bankrupt,” he said. “It wasn’t public education, police or fire that caused the financial downturn. To say that there’s some kind of lavish lifestyle from public service, it’s just not true.”
Arra said Avon Lake teachers have accepted pay freezes, increased health-care and pension costs and generally work with management to step up for the good of the community.
“We’re not going to take money that’s not there,” Arra said. “We want the best education we can for our kids. I treat my students like my own kids, and I don’t want them to face a gutted school system.”
Ask Tom Zawistowski and you’ll get a different perspective. Today Zawistowski runs the Portage County Tea Party. Once he was an apolitical person – that is, until he served on an advisory board for an Ohio school district.
“It was clear the whole system was rigged,” he said. “There was no way to manage expenses, because the union contract bound you to do things you didn’t want to do. All the leverage was on the side of the union. Issue 2 is about putting the managers back in charge of their business.”
Breaking the Unions
At its core, SB5 alters collective bargaining by changing what’s open for negotiations. It puts more power in the hands of the managers by restricting what can be bargained for. For example, health care costs can’t be negotiated. Employees will pay at least 15 percent of their premiums.
Rob Nichols, a Kasich spokesman, said the governor champions the bill because it will help make Ohio more competitive and help local governments get costs under control.
“Once Ohioans understand it’s built in common sense, they will see that it’s absolutely necessary if local governments are to lower their costs and keep taxes down,” Nichols said.
Mayor Dennis Clough of Westlake has openly supported SB5, arguing that the law puts much-needed control back in the hands of local elected officials.
Voters choose their mayors and school boards, so those officials – not union lawyers and arbitrators – should have more control over how taxpayers' money is spent, he said.
“This bill doesn’t take away collective bargaining, it just puts in some parameters,” Clough said. “I think the parameters will help resolve issues in a more expeditious fashion.”
But what SB5 proponents see as necessary and common sense, public employees see as a direct attack on the middle class. They say it will lower standards of living – and pave the way for public unions' eventual elimination.
Harriet Applegate, head of the North Shore AFL-CIO, said it will create "chaos" and mark the end of unions' traditional role in Ohio.
“If we lose this battle, we are sitting ducks for extinction, a union in name only,” Applegate said.
There’s some truth in that, said Green, the political scientist from Akron.
“The most important issue for unions is being able to bargain over a full range of topics, and they really believe these restrictions will cause them serious problems,” Green said. “And this strikes at public employees, the strongest part of the labor movement right now, so there’s a lot at stake.”
Union organizers say SB5 would unravel decades of battling for worker rights.
Kenny Yuko, a union organizer for 30 years and now a state representative for some of Cleveland’s East Side suburbs, said it’s all or nothing for working people.
“If this stuff gets taken away, our quality of life dies,” he said.
A Steeper Climb
The anti-SB5 side, has a number of advantages over their opponents in the campaign, Green said: The regular working people, the teachers, police and firemen who populate the union rolls. People like Morris, the Shaker Heights teacher.
Morris isn’t a political operative. He’s the guy who taught your kid English, who lives down the street in your neighborhood.
That’s a powerful symbol, and SB5 foes have hundreds of John Morrises at their disposal across the state.
On the other side is – well, it's difficult to find a public face other than Kasich, who had a 35 percent approval rating in July. Supporters will argue they fight for the taxpayers, but that's a more nebulous connection.
"It isn’t that they can’t make a good case, because they can," Green said. "Connecting taxpayers directly to this issue is much more difficult. The average voter is not going to immediately understand that connection."
The other advantage the SB5 opponents have is that they secured the “no” vote on the ballot.
“If people are in doubt, they take the safe way out and vote no,” Green said. “It’s easier not to change something.”
A Quinnipiac University poll from July showed that 56 percent of those surveyed wanted to kill SB5 while 32 percent want to keep the law in place. There is an obvious partisan split, with the majority of Democrats wanting repeal and Republicans wanting to keep the law in place.
Still, the proponents of SB5 clearly have a chance in this referendum. Polls have shown that majorities favor certain individual provisions of the law, especially asking public employees to kick in more money for their health care and pensions, Green said.
But if you ask them about SB5 itself, or about broader restrictions to collective bargaining, voters become much more hostile to it, Green said.
"It really depends on how you frame the issue," he said.
And framing will be key in the weeks leading to Nov. 8.
Campaigns Mobilizing
Both sides have run TV ads, and campaign offices are opening across the state.
Leading the charge for each side will be newly formed coalitions that most Ohioans haven’t heard of. Supporting SB5 is Building a Better Ohio, a group that Kasich doesn’t run but that he openly supports, Nichols said.
“They are the boots on the ground in the actual campaign,” Nichols said of Building a Better Ohio. “The governor is very supportive of them.”
Both sides are focused on finding people who support their cause and enlisting them to bring others over to their side.
John Ryan, a campaign manager for We Are Ohio, the main union-based group, who once led the Cleveland area AFL-CIO, told a gathering of volunteers that the key to winning the election is getting more people like them out on the streets and talking to voters.
“Our door-to-door work will make all the difference,” Ryan said. "The polls show people are universally opposed to SB5."
Nichols, the governor's spokesman, disagrees with that assessment.
"As Ohioans learn more about it, they will recognize there’s lots of misinformation out there and Senate Bill 5 is a vital tool to keep taxes low," Nichols said. "Voters are savvy. They will separate mindless rhetoric from reality. They will do what they need to do to become informed, which bodes well for preserving Senate Bill 5."
Ward Benson
10:30 am on Monday, September 26, 2011
This issue has brought forward a problem that has been stewing for a long time. It really is kind of a class warfare. No, not the kind you think of. Can the private sector low to middle income workers making minimum to $20/hr continue to support those in the government public sector who make upwards of $55/hr? This great disparity is causing many private sector workers to simply lose any sympathy they may have had in many years past towards even teachers. When you constantly see your hard earned money getting taxed more and more by those saying they don't make enough yet they make $75,000/yr it causes great frustration. When you see teachers making $85,000/ yr due to being 'locked in' while younger eager teachers ready to teach must wait their turn even though they may have become better qualified (not always), it causes frustration. When you see yourself working 2 jobs to support your family and yet the policeman (which you certainly respect) you know makes $85,000 + overtime, it cause great frustration. When you hear "but we need more money or your children will suffer" coming from $55 million annual budget schools like Stow, meanwhile your children really are suffering due to a lack of medical needs and simple things like food, it cause great frustration. The public unions are the last to tighten compared to the rest of us. I have no more sympathy.
Robin Anderson
1:06 pm on Monday, September 26, 2011
I empathize with the frustration you've described, WB, but how much of the current situation should rightly be laid on the doorstep of the various elected officials who've failed to fullfill their fiduciary responsibility to their constituents? They've all had access to the resources necessary to establish a realistic bargaining position but failed to do so, especially our local schooo boards.
Ward Benson
1:26 pm on Monday, September 26, 2011
I agree Robin. Our elected officials don't know how to manage money and have really made a mess. They've wasted our money spending it unwisely and hurt homeowners the most by causing districts to put even more burden on top of the struggling homeowner. Spending must be reigned in. That won't be easy. We just can't afford this anymore.
Michael Pacifico
3:44 pm on Monday, September 26, 2011
I know of no teacher or police officer or firefighter or librarian that makes $55/hr except managers.... Oh and I know many who work another job to make ends meet. You are being fed Republican, right wing falsehoods. The problem is the Bush recession and the lack of tax revenues not the public sector.
Ward Benson
9:07 am on Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Rocketcat (no real names on Patch anymore?), you asked for sources, here you go:
http://www.buckeyeinstitute.org/uploads/files/Taxpayers%20on%20the%20Hook.pdf
http://www.buckeyeinstitute.org/teacher-salary
District Name (select Stow-Munroe Falls)
Year (select 2011)
Order by (select Salary High to Low)
Yes, it does seem unreal that there are public employees making upwards of $55/hr and they're not all managers either. Like I said the disparity between the haves and have-nots has increased to the point where many taxpayers have had enough. No, not all public employees fair as well. There were 5 teachers recently that were voted best of year but lost their jobs because the union said 'last hired, first fired' based on not qualifications or job performance but on the longevity rule. So, there's also the disparity among those in public unions.
I'm not advocating the complete abolishment of unions. But, common sense and balance are greatly needed.
Karen Smart
3:17 pm on Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Ward.. right on!
Donna Eason Pope
6:49 pm on Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Dear Ward, I am retired now from the welfare dept in my county. I worked for 27 years and was only making $18.67 a hour when I retired. I had a caseload of 400 clients when I retired, (now the caseloads are at 700) and it was expected to keep up with all the needs of all of our clients. We took pay freezes and an increase in what we paid for our medical benefits just to work with management and the budget constraints of the county. Before I left, union employees voted to take furlough days to help again with budget constraints. "Low to middle income workers in the private sector making minimum to $20/hr...", were making more than me and everybody else with my years of service. You are being mislead by someone, public sector workers are not making the money you think they are. The public sector employees that are making the kind of money you are talking about are in manangement, NON-UNION. I challenge you to go to the welfare dept in your county and ask to shadow a worker for 1 week, then speak about the money we make and if it is 'too' much, I think you will have a different opinion. Also, go and volunteer at your local school and sit in the classrooms and see what it really takes to be a teacher in today's society. I will go one better, ask to ride in a police car for a week in a high crime district and see if you feel the same.
Ward Benson
10:32 am on Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Dear Donna, as I have said there is a disparity among the different public union workers. Your example is a good one. But, please refer to the following public information site so you can see what I'm talking about. You'll find educators making a LOT more than what you have stated. Just in Stow, Ohio there are around 130 staff members (many of them teachers, not just administration) making between $70,000 to $110,000 per year (actually the teachers' pay is based on 184 work days). This does not include pensions and benefits (you can also see that in the right column of the chart). Please refer to this:
http://www.buckeyeinstitute.org/uploads/files/Taxpayers%20on%20the%20Hook.pdf
http://www.buckeyeinstitute.org/teacher-salary
District Name (select Stow-Munroe Falls)
Year (select 2011)
Order by (select Salary High to Low)
Now, I think it's great that there are folks doing quite well in the public sector. But, during this financial crisis most of us homeowners are in right now, I think it's ludicrous for a school district to cry for an additional $65,000,000 when you see their actual salaries and benefits. I realize that the Stow/Munroe Falls levy issue (which was already defeated in August, but they are ignoring that vote) is different from SB5. But, it just makes the situation much more frustrating and is causing many to rebel against unions in general by supporting SB5. But, we need proper balance, not one extreme to another.
Jay
12:57 pm on Thursday, October 13, 2011
Why you'd even compare yourself & your job, to a policemans & his/her job, is quite laughable. Quit whining about others, including policemen/women making higher wages than you & do something about it.. Go apply for the job of police. I'd wager you'd not make it through the first week of training. If you're too old for police, try something else. A stagnant job makes for a miserable person.
As for your links to buckeye for wage/employment comparison information, nice try bucco. Completely biased and unreliable. A bit of advice for you. This would be a good time to stop bitching about other peoples higher wages and do something to change that. Get off your butt & your computer & go take a course or training or whatever. If you don't bother to better yourself, you'll be posting your whiny drivel on solon patch forever.
Cynthia Sasse
10:58 am on Monday, September 26, 2011
No, Ms. (or Mr.) Flannery, the question is not "getting rid of unions," although I know you buy that propaganda. The question is -- how long can taxpayers continue to pay for the benefits that the government officials elected by union lobbying and pressure have given to public union members in return. And, yes, Bill, local governments will start putting levies on the ballots to pay for those benefits which already have been written into public sector union contracts because they have no choice. SB 5 is about giving public officials (elected by those who will have to pay those taxes) the flexibility to say, "Sorry, we can't afford to pay for all of your health insurance costs and all of your pension benefits any more. We can't afford to pay for more than our taxpayers receive from their employers." The idea that taxpayers should only have the choice to pay and pay, not the choice to have an impact on what choices should be made with the money they pay is outrageous!
Michael Pacifico
3:41 pm on Monday, September 26, 2011
If you want good public servants you pay for them. Otherwise I suggest you home school your children, hire a bodyguard to keep you safe and dig a well to put out fires that might occur in your house.
Ben Franklin
5:46 pm on Monday, September 26, 2011
The outrages results of this bill is that the Government Official exempted themselves.
Government wasteful spending and the Cost of Elected Officials is a Big problem of the Government, Ohio and the Feds.
Robin Shannon
10:36 pm on Monday, September 26, 2011
Michael, homeschooling children is the best idea you've posted. They will likely learn twice as much in half the time. If I had my way, police and fire would be handled differently than all other public sector employees. Aside from that, I have no qualms about taking away the ability of public sector unions to hold me, their employer, hostage to their demands.
Donald R. Thompson
11:50 am on Monday, September 26, 2011
Ward Benson, The average Ohio police officer makes $41,500...do some (a few) make $85,000 + OT ...sure but a few make $26,000 w/ NO OT. Cherry picking a few high salaried management level officers does not make the average. Personally I have not had a raise since 2008 and my monthly medical coverage contribution has gone up 200%. 2009-0%....2010-0%....2011-0%. Medical monthly contribution 2009- $75, 2010- $150, 2011- $225.
Ward Benson
12:12 pm on Monday, September 26, 2011
That's nice you have insurance. I have none. Like I said, when there are enough people who no longer can afford to pay for your insurance and benefits, when they have none, you will see something like SB5. Whether that disparity has occured enough yet or not will be determined in November. Eventually, it will happen.
Donald R. Thompson
11:56 am on Monday, September 26, 2011
And the city I work for wants to and will raise my monthly medical contribution to $650 if SB5 gets upheld .....right now at $225 monthly....post SB5 $650 monthly....that's a 191% increase and there is nothing to stop them from doing it. You see 15% contribution is the MINIMUM, there is NO MAXIMUM contribution % in SB5....I guess 100% is the maximum and I guarantee some cities will be charging employees between 50% and 100% of medical costs if SB5 goes through.
Alice Bee
1:18 pm on Monday, September 26, 2011
I wish we only had to pay 15% of our health ins (it's 50%) and retirement contributions (we are matched $1 for each $3 we contribute). The REAL middle class makes a lot less than most govt workers and they work a lot harder to earn it.
Michael Pacifico
3:36 pm on Monday, September 26, 2011
Wow, you must hate your teachers, police and firefighters.They are the ones who you seem to be jelous of. To posit that one group works harder than another is quite self-centered. Furthermore, are you saying that everyone should be as unfortunate as you to pay so much for your healthcare? Do you want everyone to be as misrerable as you?
Robin Shannon
10:49 pm on Monday, September 26, 2011
Michael, I don't hate anyone, nor am I jealous of any other person. I don't have the time to survey who works harder, but I know that if the course is not changed, I will definitely be working many years longer than any teacher in order to make sure they can retire in 30 yrs, have a full pension, healthcare, etc.
Ben Franklin
3:08 pm on Monday, September 26, 2011
I don't have time to read all the comments.
The bottom line is I am voted No on Issue 2
Why? Because it went to far and really will not solve our states problems.
I urge other Ohioans to Vote No and tell our legislators to go back to the table.
I want a state where people can chose a Union free job, I also want government employees to pay like others a fair share of their health insurance and retirement.
My wife is a Union member and her Union is worthless, and she sure doesn't make a ton of money or get basically free healthcare or her retirement paid for by the tax payers.
Yes there are those who are making a Killing on the Taxpayers Dime (more like 75cents.
Please vote No Issue 2
Jerry D. Kovach
3:40 pm on Monday, September 26, 2011
What I don't understand about SB5, is it that the Unions can't Nagotiate or that after they Nagotiate and the Union dosn't get what they want, they go back and get a Third party to Investigate and then get what they (Unions) wants.
Dan Schweitzer
4:10 pm on Monday, September 26, 2011
This issue is simply a microcosm of what is wrong with the two-party political system today (and probably any political system, really). There's a bit of truth in both sides here, but the solutions are skewed drastically to one side, in this case either right or left. Unfortunately, there's no choice on the ballot for a good solution to Ohio's problem. So we have to choose the lesser of two evils, and in this case, I think neither solution is better than the other.
Donald R. Thompson
5:12 pm on Monday, September 26, 2011
Jerry SB5 eliminates binding arbitration completely, under Sb5 whatever the city council or county commisioner or school board offers is what becomes the contract. There is no longer a uninterested 3rd party that is a professional mediator deciding what the merits are of both sides offer. The city or school board can choose their own offer each and every time under SB5
Donald R. Thompson
5:14 pm on Monday, September 26, 2011
Alice bee, tell me what a 50% contribution rate costs you monthly for you healthcare
Donald R. Thompson
5:17 pm on Monday, September 26, 2011
In WI they EXEMPTED Police and Fire. In WI the employees effected were paying 6% for healthcare, now they pay 12.5%. In WI the employees effected were paying 0% into their pension, now they pay 5.8%.
ALSO: Pension changes for elected officials and appointees: The bill modifies the pension calculation for elected officials and appointees to be the same as general occupation employees and teachers. Current law requires these positions to pay more and receive a different multiplier for pension calculation than general classification employees. Under the state constitution, this change will be effective for elected officials at the beginning of their next term of office.
THE ELECTEDS ARE EXEMPTED FROM SB5!! Another HUGE difference between WI and OH
Donald R. Thompson
5:17 pm on Monday, September 26, 2011
In OHIO we ALREADY pay 10% into our pensions (yes some units have negotiated a pension pickup but it is far from the norm and it usually amounts to 3%-5%) so even if you are lucky enough to have a pickup you are still paying 5%-7% into your pension.
Healthcare contributions in OHIO are all over the place due to the uniqueness of different contracts, all the pub. employees I know where I work pay 14% RIGHT NOW WITHOUT SB5 and have done so for 4-5 years.
WHAT HAPPENED IN WISCONSIN IS WAY WAY BETTER THAN WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE......I'd take the WI deal in a second!!!
John Brouse
7:11 pm on Monday, September 26, 2011
I blame past Ohio Legislators for current Ohio budget issues and not the Public Worker themselves. Currently Public Workers contribute 10% towards their retirement. What the taxpayer doesn't hear from the public workers are the amounts mandated by the Ohio Revised Code which the employer(taxpayer) must contribute. Articles of the ORC mandate that 14% be contributed by the employer towards a teachers retirement, 24% for firefighters, 19.5% police officers and 26.5% to Ohio Highway Patrol officer's retirement. This is the percentage of their salary that is contributed. Schools, cities, townships and the State of Ohio are all funded thru tax dollars, whether it be a property tax,city income tax, state income tax, late fee tax, we are paying for the Public Workers retirement.
Robin Anderson
11:04 pm on Monday, September 26, 2011
It's also a 14.5% employer contribution for such non-teaching hourly employees as the maintenance/service personnel at public universities. If memory serves me correctly, I believe that the Ohio Administration/Legislature back around 2004/2005, when the stock markets were still bullish, also voted to give public employers a 6 month reprieve from paying their share of the retirement equation due to the fact that the public employee pension funds were then "flush with money".
Rob Baker
10:21 am on Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Mike Duco, the Deputy Director at the Office of Collective bargaining, a division of the Department of Administrative Services that “serves as the principle representative of the State as an employer and negotiates all of the State’s labor contracts.”
Our experience with our work force has been that they have taken concessions in an effort to avoid lay-offs. Last round:
1. we signed three year contracts with no general wage increases
2. we froze automatic steps for two years
3. we implemented a 3.8 % decrease for two consecutive years by furloughs (CSDs)
4. we froze Personal leave and its annual conversion for two years and
5. we cost shifted 28.5 million from the state to employees by changing the design of our Health Plan and dependent audit
I thought "Our state is in financial trouble because of union demands over the years. Collective bargaining has been at the root of the issues more times than not."
Rachel Abbey McCafferty
1:50 pm on Tuesday, September 27, 2011
It's always good to see a healthy debate on Patch, but don't forget to use your real name -- that's part of our terms of use. The full terms can be found here: http://brecksville.patch.com/terms
Donald R. Thompson
5:53 pm on Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Most jobs have a starting pay rate and over time (5-10 years) you get raises until you hit top pay for that position. The city I work for sets a starting wage and you do not get to top pay for the position until you have completed 5 years of service in that position. As a group our unit has not seen any raises since 2008 (just speaking for myself) but new or newer employees who do not have their first 5 years completed still got/get their raises until they hit top pay for that position, people that have already hit top pay do not get any raise when we get a 0% "raise". NOT A USELESS TEACHER HERE, JUST A USELESS COP.
Denny Halderstein
10:24 pm on Sunday, October 23, 2011
A yes vote on Issue 2 will NOT lower your taxes...the money that normally goes to your schools, police and fire will be 'given' to corporations who will continue to move your jobs to China, but will support Kasich in the next election. The part in Issue 2 about pensions and healthcare is fine. It wouldn't hurt too many because they already pay into it. It is the lack of a say in safety for Emergency workers and in Class sizes and School safety for Teachers that is the problem.