August 22

Ohio union law opponents want repeal before deal

JULIE CARR SMYTH

Associated Press

Published: August 18, 2011 6:59PM

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- A group seeking to roll back an Ohio law limiting the negotiating powers of 350,000 unionized public workers reiterated Thursday that it will only consider negotiating a compromise with the governor if the bill is repealed.

We Are Ohio campaign director A.J. Stokes asked for a fresh start in a letter to Republican Gov. John Kasich and GOP legislative leaders, which followed the governor's call Wednesday for union leaders to join him Friday to discuss striking a deal that would remove a repeal question from the Nov. 8 ballot.
http://daily-jeff.com/ap%20state/2011/08/18/ohio-union-law-opponents-want-repeal-before-deal.modal


Union leaders absent from SB 5 negotiation meeting

We Are Ohio said it wasn’t coming and stuck to its word.

Columbus Dispatch

August 19, 2011

The coalition formed to overturn Senate Bill 5 this fall rejected an offer from Ohio GOP leaders Gov. John Kasich, House Speaker William G. Batchelder, and Senate President Tom Niehaus to meet this morning and negotiate a deal to water down Ohio’s new collective bargaining law in return for canceling a fall referendum.
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2011/08/19/union-leaders-absent-at-sb-5-negotiation-meeting.html

Anti-Senate Bill 5 group won’t meet with Kasich unless law is repealed first

By Laura A. Bischoff

Dayton Daily News Columbus Bureau

Gov. John Kasich and legislative leaders have an opening on their calendar Friday morning: We Are Ohio is declining their invitation to discuss a compromise on Senate Bill 5.

Before talks begin, lawmakers must repeal the entire bill, said We Are Ohio campaign manager A.J. Stokes in a letter to Kasich, House Speaker William Batchelder, R-Medina, and Senate President Tom Niehaus, R-New Richmond.
http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/ohiopolitics/entries/2011/08/18/antisenate_bill_5_group_wont_m.html


Kasich, GOP leaders stage meeting on SB5

By Julie Carr Smyth
Associated Press

Published: August 19, 2011 - 11:25 PM

COLUMBUS: Union leaders passed on meeting Friday with Gov. John Kasich to discuss a possible compromise over the state’s new collective bargaining law, rebuffing an effort intended to remove a question from the November ballot asking voters to repeal it.
Kasich and fellow Republicans planted themselves alongside an empty table bearing placards for major unions, including the AFL-CIO, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, and the Ohio Education Association.
http://www.ohio.com/news/ohiocentric/kasich-gop-leaders-stage-meeting-on-sb5-1.230624

Kasich stages ‘talks,’ assails no-show unions

By  Joe Vardon

The Columbus Dispatch Saturday August 20, 2011 5:32 AM

The stage was set.

With no union leaders in sight yesterday, Gov. John Kasich and Republican legislative leaders welcomed a horde of reporters into a Riffe Center conference room arranged to prove their point.
An offer from Kasich, House Speaker William G. Batchelder and Senate President Tom Niehaus to negotiate an 11th-hour deal over Senate Bill 5 had been rebuffed by We Are Ohio, the coalition formed to defeat the bill through a referendum this fall, state Issue 2.
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2011/08/20/kasich-stages-talks-assails-no-show-unions.html

House committees hitting the road to get public input

By Jim Siegel

The Columbus Dispatch - August 17, 2011 11:08 AM

House Republicans want to hear from real people in the late summer and fall about some of the big issues facing Ohio, so they are taking some new committees on the road.
Three ad hoc study committees will hold their first meeting in the Statehouse in late August and then spend time meeting around the state to collect public input on issues including state taxes, workforce development and the use of technology in government.
http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/content/blogs/the-daily-briefing/2011/08/house-going-to-the-people-for-ideas.html


Kasich blasts unions

By Laura Bischoff

Dayton Daily News

 Friday, August 19, 2011, 01:46 PM

Gov. John Kasich and legislative leaders blasted union leaders on Friday for skipping a meeting to negotiate a compromise to keep the Senate Bill 5 referendum vote off the Nov. 8 ballot.
“Woody Allen says that 90 percent of life is just showing up. And they’ve obviously flunked that test today,” Kasich said while flanked by Senate President Tom Niehaus, R-New Richmond, and House Speaker William Batchelder, R-Medina.
http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/ohiopolitics/entries/2011/08/19/kasich_blasts_unions.html


Senate Bill 5 supporters and opponents gear up for intense fall campaign fight

Published: Friday, August 19, 2011, 6:00 PM     Updated: Friday, August 19, 2011, 11:43 PM

By Reginald Fields, The Plain Dealer The Plain Dealer

COLUMBUS, Ohio — After labor unions stood together Friday in rejecting Gov. John Kasich's request to compromise on Senate Bill 5, both sides said they are ready to fight on toward a November election in which voters will decide the fate of the new collective bargaining law.
"You know the train's left the station. Our campaign is going to be strong," the Republican governor said Friday after being stood up by unions who declined his offer to meet to work out a compromise and end the voter referendum.
http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2011/08/senate_bill_5.html


SB 5 provokes a fight, not the usual deal: Thomas Suddes

Published: Saturday, August 20, 2011, 8:15 PM

By Thomas Suddes The Plain Dealer

 

No matter the result come Nov. 8, what a Senate Bill 5 referendum really represents is a disconnect between General Assembly Republicans and the usual way of doing business at Ohio's Statehouse. Maybe that's good. Maybe that's bad. But it's a fact.
http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2011/08/sb_5_provokes_a_fight_not_the.html


Unions' rejection of Kasich's offer to re-examine SB 5 was the wrong answer for a state facing serious problems: Editorial

Published: Saturday, August 20, 2011, 5:00 PM

By The Plain Dealer Editorial Board The Plain Dealer

Perhaps not till Judgment Day will anyone know whether the Senate Bill 5 negotiations Republican Gov. John Kasich offered public-employee unions last week was statesmanship or showmanship.

The unions -- expressing skepticism about Kasich's sincerity, given GOP arrogance in ramming SB 5 through the General Assembly -- declined.
http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2011/08/unions_rejection_of_kasichs_of_1.html


Ohio AFL-CIO says it has not discussed a compromise on SB5

Published: Thursday, August 18, 2011, 2:42 PM     Updated: Thursday, August 18, 2011, 6:44 PM

By Reginald Fields, The Plain Dealer The Plain Dealer

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio AFL-CIO President Tim Burga says the union "has never entered into any series of meetings or negotiations on Senate Bill 5," the controversial collective bargaining law.

Burga issued a statement in response to a Columbus Dispatch article that named him as a union leader who in June participated with representatives of Gov. John Kasich in discussions to negotiate a compromise that would end union-led efforts to repeal the law this fall.

http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2011/08/ohio_afl-cio_says_it_has_not_d.html


Unions no-shows at Gov. John Kasich's compromise meeting on collective bargaining law

Published: Friday, August 19, 2011, 12:15 PM     Updated: Friday, August 19, 2011, 2:06 PM

By Reginald Fields, The Plain Dealer The Plain Dealer

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio labor unions were a no-show this morning at a meeting Gov. John Kasich called to try to reach a compromise on Senate Bill 5, the controversial new collective bargaining law.

The meeting went on at the governor's office downtown Columbus office building with Kasich seated at one table flanked by fellow Republicans, House Speaker William G. Batchelder and Senate President Tom Niehaus. A table angled across from them contained placards for six unions and empty chairs.
http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2011/08/unions_stand_together_no-shows.html


First, the repeal

Published: August 18, 2011 - 07:31 PM

Akron Beacon Journal

First, the repeal August 18,2011 11:31 PM GMT Beacon Journal Publishing Co.

If Gov. John Kasich and his fellow Republicans in charge of the legislature want to avoid the “lasting scars and bitter divisions” of a costly political fight in the fall, they should move quickly to repeal the changes they have made in collective bargaining for public employees. Those changes triggered the referendum campaign, Issue 2 on the November ballot, opponents gathering more than 1 million signatures in the process.
http://www.ohio.com/editorial/editorials/first-the-repeal-1.230395


Coalition rejects Kasich’s offer for meeting over SB 5

BY JIM PROVANCE
TOLEDO BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU CHIEF

COLUMBUS — The coalition seeking repeal of Ohio’s new law limiting collective bargaining by public employees Thursday formally rejected Gov. John Kasich’s offer to meet Friday to negotiate a deal that could lead to removal of the issue from the Nov. 8 ballot.

“We are asking you for a fresh start, and that fresh start must begin with a full repeal of Senate Bill 5,’’ reads a letter sent to Mr. Kasich by AJ Stokes, campaign manager for the We Are Ohio coalition consisting largely of organized labor and Democratic groups.
http://www.toledoblade.com/Politics/2011/08/18/Coalition-rejects-Kasich-s-offer-for-meeting-over-SB-5.html



Labor group a no-show for SB 5 meeting

Kasich offers standing invitation

BY JIM PROVANCE
TOLEDO BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU CHIEF

COLUMBUS -- On one side of the room sat the top three leaders of the state of Ohio. On the other an empty table with six place cards set for major public employee unions.

As expected, no labor leader behind the effort to persuade voters to reject outright Ohio's new law restricting the collective bargaining of government workers showed up at Friday's meeting called by Gov. John Kasich and Republican legislative leaders.
http://www.toledoblade.com/State/2011/08/20/Group-a-no-show-for-SB5-meeting.html


SB 5 opponents snub invitation

Published: Sat, August 20, 2011 @ 12:12 a.m.

By Marc Kovac

Youngstown Vindicator

 

With an empty table topped with place cards naming the state’s top public-employee unions and six empty chairs for dramatic effect, Gov. John Kasich and Republican legislative leaders chastised Senate Bill 5 opponents Friday for refusing to participate in last-minute negotiations to remove Issue 2 from the November ballot.
http://www.vindy.com/news/2011/aug/20/sb-5-opponents-snub-invitation/


Kasich, GOP leaders, SB5 backers pow-wow a bust, as Ohio unemployment rate rises

John Michael Spinelli

Columbus Government Examiner

August 19, 2011

COLUMBUS, Ohio (CGE) - At 10 a.m Friday morning, the time Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Republican legislative leaders designated to engage in talks with backers of Issue 2, the trio of Republicans were left to engage in chit-chat amongst themselves. Backers of SB 5, true to their word from Wednesday, did not show up. Representatives of the committee We Are Ohio, which submitted 1.3 million signatures, enough to gives Ohio voters a chance to reject it this November, said that until the GOP power troika repealed the bill, which radically reforms how collective bargaining among Ohio's public sector union workers has been conducted for over 30 years, there's nothing to discuss.

http://www.examiner.com/government-in-columbus/kasich-gop-leaders-sb5-backers-pow-wow-a-bust-as-ohio-unemployment-rate-rises