Labor & Employment Law

Kasich Bill Would Hurt Ohio Communities

By James Parks

In a letter to Marietta (Ohio) Times, Willa O’Neill, assembly president of AFSCME Local 11, points out that Gov. John Kasich?s plan to eliminate the right of public servants to bargain for a decent life will hurt communities.

O?Neill says public employees have been willing to make sacrifices. Under the current contract, state employees have had wages frozen for the past two years, taken 20 unpaid furlough days and agreed to pay more for health care insurance.

To gain support for this bill, known as Senate Bill 5, O?Neill says, Kasich is trying to vilify state and public employees?working people who are among the backbone of the state and communities.

We are your friends and neighbors, and yes, taxpayers. We pay federal, state, local, property and sales taxes like all of our fellow citizens. Our salaries are spent in our local communities, supporting local businesses.

The passage of Senate Bill 5 will not lower your taxes, but it could have a negative impact on our communities. The loss of local jobs and wages, whether in the public or private sector, lowers the revenue streams into our local communities, threatening our standards and our way of life. It is yet another assault that will further weaken the middle class?hard working people who, through the years, have made our country strong.

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on February 28, 2011 (boomark / email).