Ohio bikers ride to kill SB 5

Motorcycle riders from throughout Ohio will descend on the state Capitol June 11 to protest Senate Bill 5, legislation passed by the Republican-controlled state legislature and signed by Republican Gov. John Kasich.

SB 5, which takes away collective bargaining rights for teachers, police, firefighters and other hardworking public-sector employees, is deeply unpopular with a majority of Ohioans and is quickly heading toward a referendum vote this November.

The event, Ride to Kill the Bill: Thunder at the State House, is sponsored by the grassroots group We Are Ohio. Bike enthusiasts will gather from noon-5 p.m. at the corner of Front and Rich streets in downtown Columbus to show their opposition to SB 5 and the harm it will cause to working families. An anti-SB5 ride around the Statehouse will take place from 1-2 p.m.

Food and drink will be available for purchase from Proud Ohio Workers a group of small business owners who support Ohio’s public-sector workers.

Get the flyer.

Ohio Republicans attempt to restrict minimum wage
The Ohio State Senate slipped into the omnibus budget measure an amendment that would roll back minimum wage protections for an untold number of Ohio workers. The amendment (pg.4) would alter the state constitution by exempting from the state minimum wage law workers who are not already protected by the federal minimum wage law (those who work at companies with an annual gross under $500,000).

If enacted, the Republican amendment would upend 78 years of wage protection for Ohio working families. 

Republican ruse on right-to-work in Maine
GOP state lawmakers in Maine are trying to put one over on the voters. In an attempt to deceive their constituents, Republican senators circulated a release June 2 under the heading "Right to Work Dead This Session."

Thing is, it's not.

The release refers to LD 788, a union-busting bill targeting private sector workers that generated an angry backlash from the community and lacks support in the legislature. But LD 309, another right-to-work bill that would weaken public sector collective bargaining, is still very much alive.
LD 309 conveniently emerges at time when Gov. LePage and his $295-an-hour lawyer, who helped draft the amendment, are in negotiations with Maine's largest state workers' union.
More than 1,000 protesters jammed the State House June 2 ahead of an 11th-hour public hearing on LD 309, which would allow state employees to receive all the benefits of union representation and union contracts without having to pay a "fair-share" fee (about $5 a week).
Julie Kushner, director of UAW Region 9A, which includes Maine, called LD 309 “an attack on all Maine workers.”
“Governor LePage and Republican legislators should be focusing on policies that create good jobs in Maine. Instead, they're ripping down labor murals, weakening child labor laws, cutting pensions for teachers and other state employees, and pushing so-called right-to-work laws that will drive down wages across the state,” Kushner said.
“It’s time these politicians stop their partisan gamesmanship and start working together to find fair and reasonable ways to build the state's economy."