Life After the Death of Collective Bargaining

[marmar]

from Mother Jones:



Life After the Death of Collective Bargaining

— By Mac McClelland
| Wed Jul. 6, 2011 3:00 AM PDT


Editors' note: Mac is spending a month in her home state of Ohio, reporting on the Wisconsin-style showdown involving Republican Gov. John Kasich, public employees, unions, teachers, students, and struggling middle-class families.


It's always something in Ohio. Last week, it became legal to bring concealed weapons into bars. A labor protest shut down a busy street in downtown Columbus. And the hotly contested, penny-pinching budget was signed into law by Gov. John Kasich.

For the friends I've been staying with, the impending budget has been wreaking havoc on domestic tranquility. First, Anthony got laid off because the budget was slated to cut so much from his employer, the Ohio Consumers' Counsel. Then, the family got the news that the OCC cut wasn't going to be quite as bad as anticipated. So now, though many of his coworkers are still out of a job, Anthony's is safe. The concern has shifted mostly onto Erin, a public school teacher.

Here's what's troublesome for her in the budget: a requirement that schools receiving federal Race to the Top grants ditch their longstanding experience- and education-based pay system in favor of an alternative, like merit-based pay. Erin's school is a Race to the Top school. While she signed on to her job with the impression that her future salary level would be guaranteed by a predetermined schedule, this provision means cash-strapped school administrators could decide that, based on some as-yet-to-be-determined criteria, her salary should be $10,000 or $20,000 less than it currently is. Normally, Erin's union could likely prevent any arbitrary salary changes or advocate on her behalf. But the Ohio legislature recently passed Senate Bill 5, a Wisconsin-y anti-collective-bargaining law that will render her union effectively powerless. ................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://motherjones.com/rights-stuff/2011/07/collective-bargaining-ohio-budget

[Fumesucker]

1. Contracts.. unbreakable for bankster bonuses..

Mere guidelines if you're not one of the elite..

[fasttense]

2. Hey, I think prisoners will work for free.

Let's have these prisoners teach our children.

Then if you were a teacher, all you have to do is commit a crime, get arrested, be convicted, go to jail and then get your job back.

[NNN0LHI]

3. Non-union Honda of Ohio was using prison labor to build cars

And a lot of union workers who call themselves progressives ran out and bought that non-union shit.

Solidarity!

Don