Title
To express opposition to House Bills 151 and 152 of the 130th Ohio General Assembly, the proposed "right to work" legislation, as well as the Ohio "Workplace Freedom" Ballot Initiative.
Body
WHEREAS, certain members of the Ohio General Assembly are proposing "right to work" legislation in House Bills 151 and 152; and also, an organization known as Ohioans for Workplace Freedom is trying to place an initiative on the ballot with the same "right to work" goals -- both of which are a detriment to working families and threaten the middle class; and
WHEREAS, workers in states with "right to work" laws have a consistently lower quality of life than in other states-lower wages, higher poverty and infant mortality rates, less access to the health care they need and poorer education for their children; and
WHEREAS, "right to work" laws weaken the voice of our everyday heroes - our nurses, firefighters, police officers and first responders - by making it harder to bargain for safe staffing levels and necessary equipment to keep us safe; and
WHEREAS, "right to work" laws will silence whistleblowers who are counted on to keep our workplaces safe, protect consumer goods, services and products and safeguard our natural resources and the environment; and
WHEREAS, the implementation of "right to work" laws will erode the tax base that supports vital services in our communities, such as education, public safety, roads, water, etc.; and
WHEREAS, less than two years ago, Ohio voters rejected a similar political attack on Ohio's workers and the middle class by overwhelmingly voting NO on Senate Bill 5/Issue 2, and it is clear that the sentiment of the voters of Columbus is that the collective bargaining rights of workers should be protected; and
WHEREAS, the City of Columbus has successfully utilized collective bargaining to work with public employees to reduce costs, identify efficiencies, and provide high-quality services to Columbus residents, rather than enact policies that fracture that relationship and harm the middle class and our local economy; and
WHEREAS, business and labor should work together to create good jobs and improve the economy, not be distracted by efforts by extreme groups and some in the Ohio General Assembly that would diminish the rights of workers, drive down the middle class, and hurt local communities; now, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS:
That this Council does hereby oppose the proposed "right to work" legislation and the "Workplace Freedom" Ballot Initiative, and urges state lawmakers and all citizens to take action to preserve the middle class and working families in Columbus and all across the State of Ohio.