Call Your State Senator NOW- Stop The Attack on Public Employees

[we can do it]

Please everyone, call, email show up in columbus...tell friends and relatives. Its now or never.

Ohio Sen. Shannon Jones (R-Springboro) Goes After Public Unions
11:15 AM - February 2, 2011
In coordination with the incoming Kasich Administration, Sen. Shannon Jones and other Republican legislators have said they plan to tackle Ohio's 27-year-old collective bargaining law early in the 129th General Assembly. Sen. Jones said: "Allowing state workers to unionize 'hamstrings us in our ability to manage costs,'... Eliminating collective bargaining , 'means we can start having real discussions about merit .'"

On the floor of the Ohio Senate yesterday, Sen. Jones submitted legislation that fulfilled her promise and took aim at the state's public-sector unions, introducing Senate Bill 5. While the paragraph-long legislation is only a placeholder bill, it lays the framework for Sen. Jones' plans to dismantle portions of Ohio Revised Code Section 4117 that guarantee collective bargaining rights to state employees, and to abolish pay increases based upon seniority and instead require merit-based pay. In an interview with Hannah Statehouse News Service, Senate President Tom Niehaus (R-New Richmond) speculated that the full version of S.B. 5 "...may possibly be rolled into the budget bill."

Anticipated changes within Substitute Senate Bill 5 include:

Eliminating collective bargaining rights for State employees.
Weakening binding arbitration and allow fact finders to give greater weight to certain information.
Eliminating from state law automatic pay increases for longevity, known as step increases, and instituting merit based pay.
Requiring more accurate disclosure of pay raises to the public, including step increases.
Prohibiting schools and local governments from picking up any part of an employer's pension contribution.
Prohibiting employers from paying more than 80 percent of the costs of health-insurance premiums.

http://www.ohiosenate.gov/directory.html


http://www.ohaflcio.org/

[ladym55]

1. I will be

I tried to get a local group of progressives interested in taking a stand about this and got nowhere. I am just going to contact my State Senator. Don't know if he'll give a damn, but I'm still going to try.