15,000 rally at Ohio statehouse

An estimated 13,000-15,000 people rallied at the Ohio Statehouse Saturday, April 9, to kickoff a referendum campaign against Senate Bill 5. It was the largest rally since a series of protests began in March against the bill that eliminates the collective bargaining rights of 350,000 teachers, police and firefighters. The rally, sponsored by the grassroots group We Are Ohio, drew people from all walks of life, including attorneys, truck drivers and small business owners, who see the legislation as a politically-driven attack on the middle-class.

Thomas Schaffer, a lawyer who came from Toledo to attend the rally, told the Columbus Dispatch the new law "gives the employer no incentive to bargain with the union in good faith. A politician's motivation is to get re-elected, as opposed to doing the right thing," Schaffer said. Last week a coalition of union, civil rights, students and community members began a campaign to put a referendum on SB 5 on the November 2011 ballot. They’re already off to good start having turned in ten times the required 1,000 signatures needed for the Secretary of State’s approval of the petition.