When it comes to gathering signatures, Ohio working families hold the record. Last year, in response to the blitzkrieg passage of the union-busting Senate Bill 5, Ohioans across the state gathered 1.3 million signatures to get a repeal measure on the 2011 ballot, over six times the required number.
Anti-worker conservatives have some big shoes to fill.
Even though the unpopular Gov. John Kasich doesn’t want to touch the so-called “right to work” issue, conservative leaders are going ahead with it anyway. Earlier this month, Attorney General Mike DeWine approved language for a “right to work” amendment. That means organizers now have to gather 385,253 valid signatures from at least 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties. To have a buffer, anti-worker organizers want at least 600,000 signatures.
In a state that just overwhelmingly smashed Senate Bill 5, does such an effort have a chance? One of the measure’s backers, Ohio Liberty Council’s Chris Littleton, was trying to downplay expectations. “Ohio will become a right to work state,” said Littleton last Friday, “I just can’t tell you a timeline.”
But just like with Senate Bill 5, there’s going to be a lot of money flowing into Ohio to try and convince people that such a law would be good for the economy, even though in 22 other states such laws have led to depressed wages and unsafe workplaces. With neighboring Indiana ramming through a right to work law earlier this year, anti-worker forces may feel that they have momentum on their side.
One of the best metaphors for why “right to work” laws are bad for all workers comes from the Union Review’s John Crumbler, who calls them “right to shirk laws.” Say you had to cross a river to get to work in the morning. If there was a bridge and it had a toll booth, everyone who used the bridge would have to pay the toll – otherwise you could use a ferry. But what if you were told the toll was optional? Of course people would opt not to pay the toll if they could cross the bridge either way. Soon, the bridge would fall into a disrepair and collapse, because no one would be paying for its upkeep – which is what the ferry companies wanted in the first place.
A new report released today by People For the American Way Foundation, Common Cause, the Center for Media and Democracy and Progress Ohio reveals the deep ties between the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and Ohio state lawmakers.
ALEC in Ohio: The Corporate Special Interests that Help Write Ohio’s Laws, demonstrates ALEC’s policymaking influence with an in-depth analysis of the organization’s ties to key Ohio lawmakers, as well as a side-by-side comparison of nine ALEC “model” bills and actual Ohio legislation, including:
Attacks on workers by severely limiting collective bargaining, eliminating public employment through outsourcing and privatizing government functions;
Diminishing public education through private school voucher programs and private scholarship tax credits;
Encouraging the privatization of state prisons to benefit the private prison industry;
Voter suppression bills designed to disenfranchise thousands of eligible Americans;
Draconian anti-immigrant measures that criminalize undocumented workers and penalize their employers;
Creation of barriers for consumers and injured parties in seeking justice from corporations in a court of law;
Measures to prevent implementation of health care reform.
At a press conference releasing the report, Ohio AFL-CIO President Tim Burga explained ALEC’s influence over many legislative initiatives, including SB 5, which repealed collective bargaining rights for Ohio public employees (and which Ohio voters overwhelmingly overturned in a 2011 ballot intiative). “When Ohioans overwhelmingly rejected SB 5 last year, they sent a clear message that they will not tolerate attacks on Ohio’s middle class,” said Burga.
They rejected the idea that our economic problems are the result of the workers’ rights to collectively bargain. They fully rejected that extreme political agenda and opted instead to support governance with basic fairness.
Lisa Graves, Executive Director of the Center for Media and Democracy, noted Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s ties to ALEC.
Ohio is led by ALEC alum John Kasich, who has long advanced the agenda of ALEC corporations to the detriment of American citizens during his time in Congress and now in the statehouse in the Buckeye state.
Burga called for legislators to cut their ties with ALEC and align themselves more closely with the interests of those they were elected to represent.
What is needed is an agenda that focuses on doing the most good for the most Ohioans rather than legislating for the narrow benefit of so few.
Indiana became the 23rd state to institute a so-called “right to work” law yesterday. Across the country these laws have depressed wages for union and non-union workers alike, and have contributed to unsafe working conditions.
Unfortunately, anti-worker forces in other states are looking to follow Indiana’s lead.
An Ohio group has been cleared to continue its effort to push a ballot initiative that would keep workers covered by labor contracts from having to join a union or pay dues.
Attorney General Mike DeWine on Wednesday said Ohioans for Workplace Freedom has provided a “fair and truthful” summary of its proposed right-to-work amendment.
A bill to put the right-to-work issue on the November ballot is being authored by state Republicans Sen. Dave Thompson from Lakeville and Rep. Steve Drazkowski from Mazeppa.
Some Michigan Republicans have been pressuring Governor Snyder to get behind a right to work bill in Michigan but he wants nothing to do with it, reiterating during congressional testimony yesterday that it would just bring everything to a grinding halt in Lansing.
The political situations in all of these states are different, but fortunately they are all tougher terrain for union-busting bills than Indiana.
Ohio’s Gov. John Kasich has not expressed interest in making “right-to-work” a priority, especially after his similarly anti-worker Senate Bill 5 got overwhelmingly spanked last year at the polls. “If people in this state feel that you need right-to-work, I don’t think people even know what that is,” Kasich said. That’s politician code for “please, leave me out of this.”
Michigan’s Governor Rick Snyder is trying to position himself as the moderate of the freshman bunch. Talking about the backlashes in Wisconsin and Ohio, Snyder indicated he doesn’t want a similar situation in Lansing. “If you want to draw it as a contrast, you look at now that they’ve had those things happen, do they have a productive environment to solve problems? Not necessarily,” he told the Huffington Post, “They’re still overcoming the divisiveness, the hard feelings from all of that.”
And thanks in part to Working America pounding the pavement in 2010, Minnesota working families have an ally in Governor Mark Dayton, who opposes right to work. However, he doesn’t have the power to veto constitutional amendments proposed by the majority of the legislature. The current effort by Republican legislators is to put the issue on the November ballot.
All these efforts pale in comparison to Arizona’s blitzkrieg against public unions that caught workers by surprise this week. A series of bills were introduced late at night on Monday and passed out of committee just 48 hours later – including a Wisconsin-style bill that would ban unions from representing any state, county, or municipal employee.
A high profile New York Times piece talked about Republican governors moderating their agendas in 2012. We’ll believe it when we see it. For now, all we’re seeing is a continuation of 2011’s all-out war on workers, and a complete nationwide negligence of the jobs and unemployment crisis.
This is the time of year for being grateful, hopeful, and joyful—and Working America members in Ohio have been wholeheartedly participating by expressing their thanks and appreciation for the folks occupying public areas our cities, including Cleveland.
Occupy Cleveland has been maintaining a constant presence on Public Square for over two months. There is a dedicated group of individuals involved in occupying, but also working peacefully to prevent foreclosures in the Greater Cleveland area and participating in community events.
Working America stands with the 99 percent. But our members may not always be able to join these protests—so Ohioans are finding other ways to show that they appreciate the occupiers in Public Square.
Less than a month ago, offices across Ohio began collecting thank you notes to Occupy Cleveland by going door-to-door and making phone calls. The response was inspiring. On Saturday, Working America’s Cleveland office delivered over 200 such letters from around the state to Occupy Cleveland at a potluck event.
I attended the letter delivery with Jim, a Cleveland Working America member. After spending some time enjoying the food and interacting with Occupy Cleveland organizers, we presented the thank you notes to the group. We had put the notes in a binder, so they are able to flip through them when they are feeling discouraged, lonely, or just plain cold.
In addition to presenting the binder full of letters (to murmurs of disbelief that we had collected so many), I read a few of the most poignant ones from each office out loud. In one memorable letter, a single mom from Columbus expressed her support for Occupy because she recognized that they are addressing her day-to-day struggles. In another, Phyllis from Cleveland expressed her appreciation and ended by imploring the protestors to keep warm (important advice in a Cleveland winter!). Our members are genuinely grateful that someone is giving them a voice.
The letters were met with an overwhelming appreciation by the participants in Occupy Cleveland. Some were moved to tears, while others struggled to find the words to express how much the notes meant to them. After the presentation, they passed the binder around, and continued to express amazement at the fact that Working America had collected so many great letters. Indeed, this simple show of solidarity went a long way in boosting the morale of the organizers.
It bears repeating, every day: if Congress doesn’t act, six million people will lose unemployment insurance benefits at the end of the year. That’s six million people who will find it harder to make ends meet, and six million fewer people who can support their community’s economy.
Half of America is poor or low-income and wide majorities say that our economic and political systems are unfairly tilted towards the rich. It’s time we start listening and responding to the voices of the people who are actually impacted by our political decisions—not just the politicians, pundits and lobbyists who set the agenda in Washington. Here are two.
Shonda, a Working America member from Ohio, has been unemployed for nearly two years, and has relied on her unemployment insurance to help care for her ailing mother.
Karen, a Working America member and a former bank teller from Pennsylvania, has been unemployed for 13 months.
So many people in this country are unemployed—including half a million of our members—and House Republicans are offering up a bill that would end unemployment insurance for more than 3 million people. How can you claim to be concerned about the economy when you’re fighting to pull back the unemployment insurance so many families, including people like Shonda and Karen, are counting on to make ends meet?
In Washington, they’re really making their priorities clear. Either their idea of how the economy works is totally backwards or they’re just not interested in policies that actually help working-class and middle-class people like Karen and Shonda.
When police forces have cracked down on local Occupy encampments, TV cameras have swarmed to cover it. But what’s not being covered as closely are the numerous actions, symbolic and otherwise, on the part of local elected officials to endorse or otherwise support the protests of the 99 Percent going on in their cities.
On October 12 in Los Angeles, California, the second largest city in the United States, the City Council resolved that the body “stands in support for the continuation of the peaceful and vibrant exercise in First Amendment Rights carried out by ‘Occupy Los Angeles.’” The resolution included in its justification that 1 in 5 foreclosures in the U.S. have taken place in California, and that an investigation of the financial crisis and holding those accountable are particularly in the interest of Angelenos. The cities of Sebastapol and Santa Anna, California have also formally endorsed Occupy Wall Street.
On November 14 in Seattle, Washington, the nine-member City Council resolved to support the Occupy Seattle protest. They stressed that they condemn violence and any action taken that interferes with the police, but also that they would actively take steps to address the Occupiers concerns. “The City will review its banking and investment practices to ensure that public funds are invested in responsible financial institutions that support our community,” the resolution states.
Last Monday in Cleveland, Ohio, the City Council voted 18-1 to pass Np. 1720-11, which formally expresses support for Occupy Wall Street. The effort was spearheaded by Councilman Brian Cummings, a member of the Green Party, who has been active in Occupy Cleveland. The resolution states:
Be it resolved by the Council of the City of Cleveland…That this Council recognizes and supports the principles of the Occupy Movement and the peaceful and lawful exercise of the First Amendment as a cherished and fundamental right in the effort to seek solutions for economically distressed Americans at the federal, state and local levels.
The resolution also states that the Council will continue to work with the Mayor to “continue taking steps to minimize economic insecurity and destructive disparities in the City of Cleveland.” A unique situation is developing in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where the City Council also endorsed their local OWS branch, Occupy Pittsburgh.
BE IT RESOLVED that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh does support and declare solidarity with Occupy Pittsburgh and the Occupy Wall Street movement, exercising First Amendment rights in a free, open, peaceful, and productive manner, toward the better condition of our citizens and of these United States.
What makes this even more significant is that Occupy Pittsburgh sits on Mellon Green, the property of the financial giant BNY Mellon, last seen trying to use the occupy movement in its marketing materials. Under the pretense of the Occupiers’ safety as the temperature drops, BNY Mellon has issued a warning that they will forcibly evict the encampment. The result of this standoff may set a precedent for the country – are the actions of police forces dictated by large financial institutions, local City Councils, or Mayors? And who currently exerts the most influence over Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl: BNY Mellon or his own Council? BNY Mellon gave Sunday, December 11 as the deadline to evacuate Mellon Green, but as of Monday evening, the encampment remains.
In state capitals across the country, the legislators who should be accountable to voters are busy pushing ways to keep more voters away from the polls. Harsh crackdowns on voting are a disturbing trend that could block millions from exercising their basic rights.
Behind these laws is the heavily corporate-funded American Legislative Exchange Council, which wrote sample voter-restriction legislation for numerous states—legislation later introduced by state legislators who are members of ALEC. And they fall hardest on young voters, elderly voters, minorities and those struggling economically—the people whose voices are already too frequently excluded from the political conversation, drowned out by corporate interests like those who fund ALEC.
This isn’t a tricky issue. Voting is the fundamental building block of participatory democracy. Everyone should have access to it, without having to jump through hoops or pay to take part. (That’s why restoring democracy by ensuring full voting rights is one of the 9 Demands of the 99 Percent.)
Across the country, instead of fighting for good jobs, state legislators are spending their time on unnecessary, undemocratic roadblocks to voting. In Michigan, the state legislature is pushing new limits on voting and voter registration. In Wisconsin, a schoolteacher and an 84-year-old woman who has voted in every election since 1948 are the latest people to be ensnared by the state’s new voter ID law. In New Hampshire, the state House Speaker is blunt about the fact that he wants to put limits on young people’s participation because he doesn’t like how they vote. And in Pennsylvania, where the legislature is looking at limits on voter access, the Philadelphia Daily News rightly notes:
It seems to us that the state should find some evidence that fraud is a problem before embracing a solution that will make it harder for some folks to vote — and cost a bunch of money, too.
These limits on voter access are justified with tales of large-scale “voter fraud” that are, to put it generously, misleading.
There are many serious studies that have looked at whether vote fraud is really an occurrence that commonly happens and commonly distorts elections—and the evidence says the answer is no. A New Mexico study found the rate of fraudulent registration was less than one ten thousandth of one percent and the rate of actual fraudulent voting was around two hundred thousandths of a percent. An investigation into suspected voter fraud by Maine’s Attorney General found exactly zero actual infractions. A study of Wisconsin in 2004 found only seven cases of fraud out of 3 million votes cast. (Even the people who want to push the voter fraud myth can’t seem to come up with significant numbers.) These are just not the kind of numbers that indicate a public policy problem, especially one that could deter so many legitimate voters from participating.
Thankfully, in Ohio, the legislature’s proposed limits on voter access will go to the voters as a referendum before they take effect. Other states might not be so lucky, and we could see the next election marred by deliberate efforts to undercut the high levels of participation we saw in 2008.
Mark Stewart has worked his entire life, paid his taxes, and served proudly in the United States Navy. But if Congress doesn’t act to extend unemployment insurance by December 31st, he could lose the only lifeline he has.
Mark and his wife Judy are searching for new work full time, and are barely making ends meet. Judy is diabetic, and the couple cannot afford health insurance now that they are out of work. Along with Working America members, Ohio AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Petee Tally, Rev. Les Stansberry, and others, they paid a visit to the office of Senator Robert Portman (R-OH) in Columbus. Mark and Judy are two of the 77,000 unemployed Ohioans who could fall off the unemployment rolls as early as January if politicians like Senator Portman don’t act before their Christmas vacation. “I’ve worked for the system all my life,” Mark told us, “I think this once the system should work for me.”
The group also delivered the 9 Demands of the 99% Petition, a plan to get America’s economy back on track that includes the extension of unemployment insurance. They did not get to see Senator Portman, but spoke to several staffers. “We added a big red bow,” said Working America Ohio State Director Dan Stewart. “We said we hoped that they all had a nice holiday, and that we hoped the Senator wouldn’t forget those without jobs this season.”
Senator Portman, who previously served as Budget Director under President George W. Bush, told the Toledo Blade that he “assumes” Congress will pass the extension of unemployment benefits by the end of the year, but that he is concerned about how to pay for it without adding to the deficit. He did not express similar concerns about his plan to cut the top corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent. When members of our staff wanted to discuss this with their staff, they were told that they didn’t have time to talk.
Last week we saw Occupy Atlanta occupy the neighborhood of a cop who was being foreclosed upon. This kind of direct action is (fingers crossed) starting to catch on.
Occupy Cleveland helps a single mother stay in her home for the holidays. From ThinkProgress:
After her husband left her and refused to provide any real support, Beth Sommerer was due to be evicted from her home today, along with her children. But at the last moment, she made a desperate plea to the protesters of Occupy Cleveland. Soon afterward, Occupy Cleveland pitched its tents in Sommerer’s yard, vowing not to move unless she was allowed to stay in her home. On Monday, a local court gave in and gave a 30-day stay on the eviction order.
This is a perfect illustration of the phrase “united we stand.” We should all be united in the belief that homeless families are just not acceptable.
The following is a guest post from U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio).
This is a big moment for Ohio. On Tuesday you showed the entire country that we won’t accept attacks on Ohio’s middle class.
After months of gathering petition signatures, going door to door, making phone calls, and talking to your friends and neighbors you have defeated the special interests and overturned Senate Bill 5.
You showed shadowy out of state special interest groups who poured millions into Ohio on attack ads against Ohio’s working families that we don’t accept dirty political tricks and misinformation campaigns.
From the emergency room nurse in Cleveland to the firefighter in Zanesville to the teachers in Cincinnati, Akron, and Chillicothe—our public workers deserve a voice. They deserve a seat at the table when it comes to their safety, working conditions, to their benefits, and livelihoods. Thanks to you, they will still have those rights.
I thank you for all your hard work. But I do have an important message: don’t stop now.
Already those same right wing front groups are readying their millions to go after those of us who stood with you during this fight and Ohio will be one of their favorite targets. They’re going to come after us because we want to create jobs, protect Medicare and Social Security, and rebuild Ohio’s manufacturing base by standing up to China.
But let me tell you this. Because of what you did in Ohio, first by gathering 1.3 million signatures and then turning out in huge numbers to vote No on Issue 2, they are starting to listen.
And that’s why I ask you: don’t stop now.
Make your voice heard. Tell your elected officials that in Mansfield, you want good paying jobs. Tell them that in Cincinnati, construction workers shouldn’t wait in unemployment lines while schools and bridges need rebuilding. Tell them that Social Security checks for seniors in Akron are more important than tax loopholes for Wall Street and Big Oil.
And in one loud voice, tell extremists in Columbus to get their hands off your right to vote!
I would like to thank the members of Working America, the largest organization for working people in Ohio, for all that they have done in this fight, and I will continue to stand for all of Ohio workers, as I have done my whole career.
