Not familiar with right-to-work laws? They ease rules that require employees in union shops to join unions and pay dues. Some 24 other states, including neighboring Indiana and Michigan, have adopted them.
Advocates say prospective companies prefer right-to-work states and that Ohio would be more attractive to potential job-creators and its economy would benefit. Opponents say it’s a politically motivated attack against collective bargaining and have made comparisons to Ohio Senate Bill 5, a measure that would have weakened public-sector unions in Ohio if voters had not overturned it in 2011.
A couple of Republican Ohio lawmakers were trying to drum up support for new right-to-work legislation earlier this month, but Senate President Keith Faber, R-Celina, wasn’t interested and quickly said that support for legislation is lacking. As our regular columnist Thomas Suddes observed recently, Republican Gov. John Kasich likely wants no part of right-to-work legislation at the moment, because it would stir up the anti-SB 5 crowd again, while he’s preparing to run for re-election.
Right-to-work opponents, however, don’t think they’ve won the war and expect that the issue will be revived at some future point.
This is the second Ideas & Voices page that we’ve given you on this important topic. In April 2012, when it appeared a statewide ballot issue was possible, we presented a pro-and-con page with experts on the subject. Today’s page lets you, our readers, sound off on this important issue that could affect Ohio’s economy and its job outlook.
When you’ve read all the comments today, please keep the conversation going. You can send me your feedback at mwilliams@coxohio.com and let us know what you think about adopting right-to-work here.
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