Labor packs Ohio Statehouse, protests union limits

[Better with a Union Man]

http://www.bucyrustelegraphforum.com/art.../110216001

By JULIE CARR SMYTH • AP Statehouse Correspondent • February 16, 2011

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Hundreds of union protesters again packed the Statehouse in protest on Tuesday as government officials from around the state lined up in support of a bill that would wipe out Ohio's nearly 30-year-old collective bargaining law and make other union changes.

A crowd of firefighters, police officers and other public employees overflowed the hearing room, packing cat walks and filling the Statehouse Atrium and Rotunda to standing-room-only capacity for much of the afternoon. It was the second week that hearings on the bill drew such crowds.

The Senate bill, sponsored by Republican state Sen. Shannon Jones, would eliminate collective bargaining rights and salary schedules for public employees across the state. GOP Gov. John Kasich has expressed his support for the bill in concept, but he has also signaled he may bring forth his own plan that could go even further - including banning public employee strikes.

During hours of testimony piped by large speakers throughout the Statehouse, John Lazarus, superintendent of the Warren County Educational Services Center, was among those advocating the changes. He told senators that citizens have become savvy and understand how wage and salary packages for teacher unions are affecting district budgets.


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