Stewart non-commital, Phillips critical, on bill to eliminate public-employee collective bargaining

As protests rage in the capital and lawmakers flee the state of Wisconsin in attempts to block passage of a bill that eliminates collective bargaining for state employees, Ohio is gearing up for a fight of its own over the same issue.

Senate Bill 5, introduced by state Sen. Shannon Jones, R-Springboro, seeks to eliminate collective bargaining for state employees in Ohio and employees of state universities and colleges, and to limit bargaining for other public employees. Over 4,000 public-union workers gathered at the statehouse in Columbus on Thursday to protest the bill, joined by former Gov. Ted Strickland.

The bill would also ban public employee strikes, weaken binding arbitration for police and fire, require union employees to pay at least 20 percent of health care costs, and more.

Republicans hold a 23-10 majority in the state Senate and need 17 votes to pass a bill. Democrats are expected to unanimously oppose it.

State Sen. Jimmy Stewart, R-Albany, who represents Ohio’s 20th Senate District, is participating in negotiations on the matter, he said in an email Sunday. He was noncommittal in the email on whether he would support or oppose the effort.

“I have had discussions with local and state labor leaders as well as the bill sponsor and committee chairman,” he wrote. “I've also heard from many who support all or parts of the bill including officials from within the state university system.”

Stewart said both sides have made some good points.  

“I still need to get some more details from some in the labor community I've met with but have every reason to think I will get these soon,” he wrote. “I'm working with Sen. Jones to address some of the concerns I've heard.”  

He added that the bill is early in its process and there will likely be changes made as it moves forward.

The bill would need to pass in the Senate before any companion legislation is introduced in Ohio’s House. But state Rep. Debbie Phillips, D-Athens, was candid on Friday in defense of public employees, saying they are often willing to help and share the pain of budget cuts.

“In my experience working on the last budget, public employees helped to share in the tough times we’re facing,” she said. “Public employees have been taking pay freezes. They negotiated furlough days to help balance the last budget, and they’ve made real sacrifices.”

Phillips said she is disturbed by the rhetoric that is attempting to paint public employees as somehow the enemy.

“Certainly everybody has to be a part of the work to help balance the budget,” she said. “I would anticipate public employees – as they have in the past – bringing forward ideas as to how to do that.”

She said a local Federal Hocking school board member told her that teachers have helped generate ideas for ways the district can save money.

“The district is in fiscal emergency and the teachers having a seat at the table and being a part of that problem-solving process, have helped the district with creative ideas to save money,” she said. “I just think it’s wrong-headed to portray teachers and firefighters and custodians as somehow the enemy. These people are part of our community.”

Phillips said she has heard that changes will be made to the bill but doesn’t know what those changes might be yet.

Last year, Phillips said, the board that oversees the state pension systems made recommendations about reforms to those systems because of statutory responsibilities to demonstrate their soundness and ensure they are able to meet their obligations.

“There’s a bill that’s being heard at this time that will look at all of the state-level public pension systems,” she said. “I think we have to ensure the long-term stability of funds.”

She pointed out that the pension systems were damaged in part by the recent financial collapse and related banking practices as well as the collapse of Lehman Brothers, Bear Sterns and the rest.

“There is recovery,” she said. “The funds’ investment performance has been improving. I think the balancing act here is making the necessary corrections without over-correcting.”

Meanwhile, Jones, who has sponsored the bill in the Ohio Senate, wrote in an opinion column for the Cincinnati Enquirer that the problem with the public pension funds is that they are never reduced, even when the economy is bad.

“These collective bargaining agreements end up denying public employers even the basic flexibility to adapt to a downturn in revenue by adjusting payroll or reassigning employees to improve efficiency,” she wrote. “The need to fund these agreements, not to mention the rest of the operation, typically results in a never-ending call for higher taxes. And so the cycle of government growth continues. We cannot continue to govern by these rules.”

She wrote that Ohio no longer has the resources “to provide automatic pay increases, increasing salary benefits and job protection for seniority, just because a union contract demands it.

Public employees should be paid and retained based on performance like everyone else,” she wrote. “The best way to do that is to repeal collective bargaining for all state employees and adopt a merit-based employment system.”

Bill Sams, a regional director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), did not return a call seeking comment by press time.