A report released on Tuesday by the coalition called Protect Ohio Protectors, a group of police and fire unions opposed to Issue 2, showed that Ohio’s public employees have been unfairly targeted by Governor John Kasich and the Republican controlled legislature.
The report reveals that Ohio’s public employees have given back nearly $1.1 billion to the State since 2008. Last year alone, the public education association gave back $700 million and another $350 million came from state employees through negotiations and concessions with former Gov. Ted Strickland.
While supporters of Issue 2 will claim that public workers earn more than private employees and are a burden on all Ohioans, the report clearly paints a different picture.
Public employees, in a three year period, gave back more than $1 billion dollars to the state in the form of furlough days, wage freezes and cuts, forfeitures and postponements of overtime and sick day pay, and increased health insurance payments and pension contributions. Public employees have long recognized the work that they do as important to local communities and have proven they are interested in keeping costs low for the people they serve.
Jay McDonald, president of the Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio said “We know from our experience, that collective bargaining works in good times and in bad…All across this state, before the advent of Senate Bill 5, our members recognized the economic conditions in this state and were giving money back to their employers to help the doors stay open.”
These sacrifices were forged through collective bargaining, which SB5 directly attacks. Don’t let Republican legislators and their corporate backed, anti-worker media ads fool you into believing that Public workers are the problem. Remember to VOTE NO on Issue 2 on November 8.
For more information on the shared sacrifice report, please click here. If you’d like to help repeal Senate Bill 5, a bill that unfairly attacks all public employees, click here.
