The Ohio Legislative Black Caucus and the House Democratic Women’s Caucus warn passage of the collective bargaining bill being considered by lawmakers will have a disproportionate negative impact on women and minorities. Representative Sandra Williams says opponents of the bill are continuing to explain their concerns to their elected lawmakers in the hours before an Ohio House committee is likely to take a vote on the plan.
Williams says, "As you know over forty percent of teachers, according to the Ohio Federation of Teachers, voted for John Kasich and the republican members of this body, and a significant number of police and firefighters and they have been making phone calls to them explaining to them what their impact will be with this bill and they're just not listening. So they have heard, they've been called, they are just not willing to negotiate at this point."
Thousands of union members are expected to, once again, protest at the Ohio Statehouse Tuesday But Republicans who favor the collective bargaining bill control the house, senate and every elected statewide office. They say passage of the legislation is necessary to give cities and counties the ability to control their costs.