Yes on Ohio Issue 2: Union Bosses Will Suffer, Teachers Will Benefit

When they aren’t taking $54 from every member for an anti-reform smear campaign, Ohio Education Association (OEA) bosses pass the time by fighting with their employees. Is it weird that Ohio’s largest government union hawks expensive “solidarity” to teachers while its managers can’t even get along with its staff?

In the past two years alone, OEA has seen a “No Confidence” vote against the union’s executive director and a $3.75 million settlement with union retirees whose health benefits were pulled out from under them by the union. OEA employees have described union bosses as “rife with hypocrisy,” “no better than the scabs,” “every bit as bad as the worst boards of education across the state,” and “hell-bent” on forcing a strike. Do these sound like descriptors you would expect for people who take millions from public employees to fight for workers’ rights? Without Issue 2, OEA bosses have more power than our elected officials when it comes to the local services our tax dollars fund. Is it any wonder school districts across the state projected huge deficits back when Ted Strickland was governor, due largely to outrageous OEA demands?

Socialism enthusiasts, non-mathematicians, and taxpayer haters on Twitter have used the hashtag #StandUpOH to cloak their anti-reform campaign in populist terms. On November 8, Ohio taxpayers need to stand up for sensible government union reform. Lord knows the unions are on their feet demanding more from us!

• Issue 2 ends automatic step increases and requires merit pay for public workers.
• Issue 2 requires all government employees to pay 10% of their pension costs and 15% of their health insurance costs.
• Issue 2 ends forced payment of “fair-share” fees for government workers who don’t want to join a union.
• Issue 2 puts a stop to last-in, first-out firing policies, requiring considerations other than tenure when making layoffs.
• Issue 2 does not affect bargaining over wages or working conditions

Ohioans, vote Yes on Issue 2! Conservatives nationwide, help spread the facts over the next few days!

For more Ohio Issue 2 coverage, follow me on Twitter: @jasonahart