Here’s what they’re going through: The anti-union Senate Bill 5 barely passed after some shady, last-minute reshuffling of committee members to get it to a vote. SB 5 “severely limits my union’s ability to collectively bargain,” Erin said. “It involves jail times and fines for striking. It takes away employers’ incentive to bargain in good faith. Then you’re just at the mercy of your board. It’s not like just because I’m in a union I’m bullying the board into raises. I’ve taken a zero for the last two years.”
The rheotric painting union workers as contentious, fabulous fat cats, really pisses Erin off. The average Ohio Association of Public School Employee makes a whopping $24,000 a year. She also resents the propaganda about unions being disruptive strike machines. Ohio’s current collective-bargaining law was passed in 1983. The State Employment Relations Board says that in 1978, there were 67 public-sector strikes; in 2008, there were just three.
Meanwhile, in Ohio… | Mother Jones: