Leader Strahorn responds to SB 5 resurrection

House Democratic Leader Fred Strahorn (D-Dayton) today issued the statement below regarding the introduction of House Bill 583, legislation to limit the rights of public employees to collectively bargain: 

“Five years ago, Ohio voters overwhelmingly rejected Senate Bill (SB) 5, an attack on working families across the state that would have limited workers’ ability to speak with one voice to negotiate for fair wages and safe workplaces. 

“Although SB 5’s lop-sided defeat at the ballot box should have been a lesson learned, today it is clear that some have missed the message. The introduction of this SB 5-style attack is a slap in the face to the millions of working families and Ohio voters that rejected similar extreme restrictions five years ago. 

“At a time when so many hardworking families are struggling to make ends meet, it is unconscionable that some lawmakers would seek to weaken the ability of workers – including police and fire – to earn a living wage. Workers in right to work for less states take home less pay, face higher poverty and infant mortality rates, and are more likely to die on the job. 

“The reason workers in Ohio rejected SB 5 in 2011 still holds true today: because they know right to work is wrong. It is wrong for working families and it is wrong for our state.”