COLUMBUS, Ohio — Labor unions are fighting back against a controversial bill in the Ohio Senate that would ban public university employees from striking. This isn't the first fight, either.þþNearly 700,000 people in Ohio are part of unions or related associations, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor. With that, Ohioans are continuing to unionize faster than the national average.þþIf a corporation isn't playing ball, a union's greatest tool to getting a fair contract is a strike, or the threat of one.þþÿEven having the possibility of a threat out there helps negotiations, helps people come to the table and work together to try to prevent it,ÿ said Melissa Cropper, president. of the Ohio Federation of Teachers.þþBut under Senate Bill 83, university employees would be banned from striking — making it a fireable offense.þþThe bill bans:þþ“bias” in classroomsþmandatory diversity trainingþlabor strikesþboycotts or disinvestmentsþThe bill requires:þþAmerican history courseþpublic syllabuses and teacher information onlineþtenure evaluations based on if the educator showed bias or taught with bias — students will also evaluateþrewrite of mission statements to include that educators teach so students can reach their “own conclusions”þþCropper and dozens of other unions are speaking out.þþÿIt just gives too much weight to management's side to be able to do what they want to do or not come to the table with good proposals,ÿ she said.þþBill sponsor state Sen. Jerry Cirino (R-Kirtland) wants to put a stop to this.þþÿTo hold the students hostage to getting the instruction that they have paid for in advance of the semester just seems to me [as] not putting the students first,ÿ Cirino said.þþStrikes paying families at the whim of educators and disadvantaged students just trying to learn, he added.þþÿWe have opportunities to negotiate on other bases without having to put the students' right to get the instruction they paid for any way at risk,ÿ the Republican said.
Source: news5cleveland.com
