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Kasich ending bargaining for state workers

Experts disagree on whether public workers make more than those in private sector.

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By Christopher Magan, Staff Writer Updated 1:36 AM Saturday, February 12, 2011

Gov. John Kasich and Republican lawmakers made it clear this week that big changes are coming to the public employees collective bargaining law as the state looks to close an $8 billion budget gap.

“All of this is an effort to reduce the cost of government to reduce the tax burden on families and job creators,” said Rob Nichols, spokesman for Kasich.

Kasich said Thursday if lawmakers don’t dismantle public employees collective bargaining then he will. “All this is rooted in job creation.”

It’s a fight shaping up with unions in states across the country, particularly those with Republican-dominated governments that are in fiscal trouble. Indiana, Idaho and Tennessee all have legislation in the works that would scale back or eliminate collective bargaining.

Whether it will improve state finances is up for debate. Most local and state officials the Dayton Daily News talked to this week have not read the bill introduced by Sen. Shannon Jones, R-Clearcreek Twp.

“My approach is about providing flexibility to state and local government to be able to do more with less,” Jones said.

A study by the Buckeye Institute, a conservative think tank, found Ohio’s public workers made more than private sector counterparts.

Liberal counterpart, Policy Matters Ohio, released a report Thursday that found Ohio’s public employees are paid less than those in the private sector.

More than 300,000 public employees in Ohio belong to unions, including teachers, police, firefighters, municipal employees and state workers.

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