Ohio ‘right to work’ fight likely to resurface in state legislature

By Brandon Blackwell, The Plain Dealer

on May 04, 2013 at 6:00 PM, updated May 04, 2013 at 6:05 PM

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio’s latest “right to work” effort seems dead on arrival, but don’t bet against the issue coming back to life.

The right-to-work debate reached a flash point on Tuesday after House Republicans solicited co-sponsorship for “Workplace Freedom” legislation that would ban compulsory “fair-share” fees paid to unions.

More than a quarter of the House GOP caucus stood behind the move when it was unveiled the following day, inciting union outrage, Democratic vitriol and far-reaching comparisons to Senate Bill 5, the collective bargaining restrictions that voters overwhelmingly rejected in 2011.

Hours later, Republican Senate President Keith Faber temporarily quelled the controversy by saying there wasn’t enough support in the General Assembly to pass the legislation.

Still, labor advocacy groups that helped trounce SB 5 and rallied against the recent GOP legislation have no plans to rest on their laurels.

“We do not trust anyone who has not come out and affirmatively said that they oppose the so-called right-to-work law that will harm Ohio workers and middle-class families in this state,” said Dennis Willard, spokesman for We Are Ohio, the coalition that campaigned against SB 5. “Until Gov. [John] Kasich, Senate President Faber and [House] Speaker [William G.] Batchelder say that they oppose so-called right-to-work, we are not going to trust the legislature or the governor.”

Faber trampled the “Workplace Freedom” effort this week by Republican Reps. Ron Maag and Kristina Roegner when he said “right to work” is not on the Senate’s agenda.

“After discussions with other leaders and my caucus, I don’t believe there is current support for this issue in the General Assembly,” Faber said. “The only purpose this discussion serves right now is to generate a bunch of breathless fundraising appeals from the Ohio Democratic Party.”

Faber’s statement didn’t ease Willard.

“If you look at what happened in Michigan and Indiana, governors and state lawmakers there said it was not on their agenda. What they left off that sentence was ‘at this time’,” Willard said of those states, which passed right to work laws after much controversy. “We are going to go back and continue to work by going around the state and talking to working families and middle-class families about why so-called right to work is bad for them, their families, their co-workers, their neighbors, their communities and their state.”

With Kasich up for re-election next year, some Democrats feel the GOP-controlled legislature will be reluctant to rehash “Workplace Freedom” legislation and its inevitable comparisons to SB 5 before then. But after the 2014 election, they said, it could be another story.

“Politically, it would be better for the governor if the voters forget about Senate Bill 5 because it was so divisive during the start of his administration,” said Rep. Debbie Phillips, an Albany Democrat. “I think we may expect to see this come back at some point.”

Kasich ardently supported SB 5 before voters killed it, but he since has distanced himself from the issue. Asked if Kasich influenced Republican lawmakers to snuff out this week’s right to work legislation, Rob Nichols, the governor’s spokesman, said: “We did not apply any pressure, one way or the other.”

Maag, of Lebanon, and Roegner, of Hudson, did not return calls over four days this week seeking comment on their right to work plans. The representatives introduced dual

“Workplace Freedom” bills that would affect the public and private sectors, and a joint resolution intended for November ballots. The aim was to make Ohio the 25th right to work state.

The Ohio AFL-CIO said its fight against right to work will not go away despite this week’s GOP stand-down.

“The opposition this week was tepid,” said Mike Gillis, spokesman for the Ohio AFL-CIO. “We are happy they are not moving quickly on it, but we are paying very close attention. It is far from over. They just keep coming back.”

Another battle over right to work may be fought on the streets.

A group called Ohioans for Workplace Freedom has been collecting signatures for a ballot initiative that, akin to the now-dormant Republican legislation, would stop employers from requiring workers who opt out of union membership to make fair-share payments. Current law does not compel union membership, but requires fair-share payments from non-union members to help pay for representation and other benefits.

“Every person should have the freedom to pay union dues or not, regardless of economic impact,” said Chris Littleton, spokesman for Ohioans for Workplace Freedom.

About 385,000 signatures are needed to place the “Workplace Freedom” initiative on the ballot, Littleton said, adding that the group has collected fewer than 100,000 signatures since the campaign began just months after the 2011 repeal of SB 5.

“People were calling us crazy in 2012,” Littleton said. “SB 5 just got taken out, but this is an entirely different issue . . . I know they’re going to compare it to SB 5.”

SB 5, which would have scaled back collective bargaining rights for public workers and banned unions from striking, was a much broader bill than the issue being pushed by Ohioans for Workplace Freedom and the short-lived legislation introduced this week.

Littleton agreed that what happened in the Statehouse this week may have resulted in Republican lawmakers being too skittish to resurrect the fight.

“Kasich won’t champion it, making both sides of the legislature shy about it,” Littleton said. “I don’t think this will be done legislatively anytime soon.”