Unions' All-Out Effort Looks to Pay Off in Ohio

The grand Republican plan to stick it to the working class is backfiring in Ohio as voters in the state head to the polls today. They look to overturn and defeat Governor John Kasich’s attack on bargaining rights for public workers.

Ohioans may not have occupied the statehouse as they did in Wisconsin, but labor still came out in force to protest while Kasich’s bill was going through the legislative process.

Solidarity reigned supreme as labor, faith, and community organizations converged on the statehouse this past winter and spring, organizing bus trips and carpools to Columbus and holding rallies and protests against Senate Bill 5—which swept away most public employee collective bargaining rights, including the right to strike.

Kasich even tried to lock us out by locking the Statehouse doors, but several friendly state legislators sprang into action to get the doors unlocked, allowing us access to the hearings.

Now, all attention is focused on the “Vote No on Issue 2 to Stop SB5” campaign.

Canvassing and phonebanking have become a regular routine for thousands of volunteers across the state. Here in Cleveland, the North Shore AFL-CIO has organized a neighbor-to-neighbor program that’s getting union members out on the streets, talking to their neighbors, clearing up the confusion about Issue 2 and encouraging them to vote.

Private sector unions (Communications Workers, Teamsters, Service Employees, Office and Professional Employees, and Laborers, to name a few) are working side by side with their brothers and sisters from the public sector unions to defeat Issue 2.

The people at the doors are more than happy to tell us they are against Issue 2. Some are confused about whether a “yes” or a “no” vote is pro-union, and are grateful when we can explain the right way to vote. One lady in particular was visibly not feeling very well; she said she had the flu, but she got up and answered the door because she wasn’t sure which way she was supposed to vote and she knew I had the answer. She thanked me for being out knocking on doors.

The grand Republican plan to stick it to the working class is backfiring in Ohio as voters in the state head to the polls today. They look to overturn and defeat Governor John Kasich’s attack on bargaining rights for public workers.

It looks as if we are gaining at the polls. In fact, the last Quinnipiac Poll shows that we are leading by 23 points. Most people seem to have realized just how draconian things are getting under this new regime, even some of the die-hard Republicans. People who voted for Kasich have now realized he has gone too far in attacking the rights of public employees to bargain collectively. It also seems that many are just not falling for the ads that blame public employees for the so-called brain drain in Ohio or for the budget shortfall.

Ground Game

But polls are just numbers and the only thing that counts is votes, so it is up to us to get the people to the polls.

Labor has been building its ground game for months. It kicked into action when it was time to begin the process to overturn SB5 back in March.

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Once the bill became law, unions had 10 days to gather the initial 1,000 signatures needed for the petition language to be filed and approved by the attorney general and secretary of state.

After meeting that threshold, we began collecting the 231,000 signatures needed to put this issue on the ballot, giving Ohio voters the final say on whether or not collective bargaining rights will be taken away from public employees.

Union and community-group volunteers fanned out across all 88 counties, setting up booths in front of grocery stores and talking with neighbors about the bill.

The final tally was almost 1.3 million signatures, about six times more than we needed.

Not Alone

Labor has not been in this fight alone. Everyone, including members from faith and community organizations like Jobs with Justice, America Votes, Cleveland Tenants Organization, and Organize Ohio is engaging in the struggle to save collective bargaining rights.

Republicans tried to divide and conquer. As if taking away collective bargaining rights were not enough, they decided to restrict voting rights by passing a voter suppression bill, signed into law late in July. The main target of this bill was the early voting process that was put into place to alleviate the long lines at polling places.

The vote-suppressors wanted to reduce the early voting period and totally eliminate voting on Saturdays and Sundays, which would prevent churches from organizing bus trips to the polls after Sunday services.

When the voter suppression legislation arrived, the faith community—especially those in the African-American community—began looking at labor, wondering what we were going to do to help stop this attack. Labor had just used a lot of our resources, both financial and human power, to put SB5 on the ballot, and now we were faced with another campaign to gather another 231,000 signatures to stop voter suppression.

But respond labor did, and through a united effort we were able to gather enough signatures to stop the provisions from becoming law during this election cycle. Next, we’re looking to get that issue on the ballot in 2012.

This fight here in Ohio isn’t just about public employees. If we lose this battle it will just be a matter of time before we lose the war. People are realizing it isn’t just about labor: it is about our rights. The Republicans are going after our right to collective bargaining; they are trying to suppress our right to vote. Which right will be next?

Folks don’t want to wait to find out. They’re rejecting the Republican overreach, and we’re right there with them, agitating, educating, and organizing.

Debbie Kline is the director of Cleveland Jobs with Justice.