AFL-CIO: What's at Stake? Ohio and the War against Workers

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What's at Stake? Ohio and the War against Workers


WASHINGTON - January 14 - Across the country we are seeing conservative governors and legislators make it a priority to stamp out workers' rights and eliminate unions. These lawmakers are hiding behind the guise of fiscal austerity and budget cuts in order to move a conservative corporate agenda that seeks to weaken the power of workers to organize and bargain collectively for better wages and a better quality of life.

Nowhere is this more evident than in Ohio, where GOP Governor John Kasich has already stated that collective bargaining rights for low income, mostly minority women workers are "toast" under his administration. Meanwhile, in a sign that it's just politics as usual, Gov. Kasich announced a pay raise for his own senior staff before even coming into office.

Tonight in Cincinnati, on the eve of Martin Luther King Day, hundreds of workers will take the conversation back by holding a gathering by candlelight at City Hall. They will join community leaders, clergy and union members to call on Gov. Kasich to honor Dr. King's legacy by rebuilding the middle class and, rather than stripping them of rights, protecting child care and home care workers who do some of the hardest work in our society.

Ohio is a poster child of the problem around the country. Joblessness in Ohio is at 9.8 percent and over half a million workers are struggling to find work. But instead of focusing on how to put Ohioans back to work, Gov. Kasich is determined to weaken the voice of workers and weaken the middle class just to pay back big business special interests. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2011/01/14-5

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