Mansfield council opposes state right-to-work amendments

MANSFIELD — Mansfield City Council on Tuesday voiced strong opposition to six proposed constitutional amendments that council members say would weaken unions and collective bargaining laws and rights in the state.

Rep. John Becker (R-Union Township) is asking the Ohio General Assembly to place six constitutional amendments on the ballot proposing various changes that would restrict unions' ability to organize, pay for operations and recruit new members. 

Becker wants voters to decide if Ohio should become a right-to-work state.

The proposed amendments include:

• prohibiting public employers from requiring public employees to join a union or pay dues to any employee organization,

• prohibiting workers from being required to join unions at private businesses,

• eliminating the prevailing wage,

• prohibiting state and local governments from withholding union dues,

• eliminating the requirement that state and local governments work with unions on construction projects and

• requiring annual votes by public sector workers to grant their unions permission to negotiating contracts on the workers' behalf.

According to the Mansfield bill, the proposed amendments are designed to weaken unions throughout Ohio.

More:'Right to work' in Ohio? GOP lawmaker wants voters to choose

Mansfield's opposition bill passed 6-2, with first-ward councilman David Falquette and councilman-at-large Cliff Mears, both Republicans, voting no.

Before the vote, Falquette said he was "torn" on Mansfield's bill strongly opposing the right-to-work amendments.

"I certainly support many of the individuals that belong to unions, the right for fair pay and things like that. I do have some issues with union management and the way unions are run," he said. "But I do think that fair wages should always be paid."

Several council members voiced their support for the measure, including council president Phil Scott, who said he was prepared to break a tie if necessary.

Fourth-ward councilman Butch Jefferson said he "strongly support(s)" Mansfield's opposition bill, drawing applause from the dozens of union members wearing bright orange LiUna! T-shirts gathered in council chambers Tuesday night.

"I understand unions. I know what they're about," he said. "They are so much responsible for a lot of the benefits and perks that workers have...There's always somebody fighting the working man, trying to get rid of their benefits and perks that unions for years and years have fought for."

Jefferson told the union members to "keep fighting," saying, "As long as I'm up here, you will have my support." 

Councilman-at-large Don Bryant, a union member who said his father belonged to a union for nearly 40 years, said the term right-to-work is "deceptive."

"Our labor unions, they have continued to fight for equality and fairness in our workplace," he said. "They continue to fight for, as Councilman Jefferson said, fair pay, sick leave and more."

Law director John Spon also voiced his opinion on the measure.

"In other states that have passed some of these proposed amendments, the results have been disastrous. It's resulted in disenfranchising the skilled blue-collar workers of those communities," he said. "And so we need to support the skilled blue-collar men and women that provide these services in our community. It's essential to a good community, a community that pays fairly for good work, and we need to support each and every member of these unions that does this kind of work."

Dan Mapes, president of AFSCME Local 3088 in Mansfield, asked council to unanimously approve the opposition bill before the vote.

"These amendments would have negative impacts on communities that are already struggling, and they're all right-to-work measures," he said. "Right-to-work, it's not what it says it is, and it's absolutely not right for Ohio and the hardworking people that live here."

Mapes said the changes would apply to all workers, not just those in unions.

"It covers everybody that puts boots on in the morning," he said. "Anybody that works for a living is subject to these six constitutional changes."

Jeff Sellers, business manager for LiUna! Local 1216 on Park Avenue West, said organized labor and the working class are "under attack," saying, "It's silly what they're doing down in Columbus."

Sellers said working-class employees need prevailing wages, with a repeal having "a devastating impact on these members and their families."

According to the Ohio auditor's office, the prevailing wage is the required wage to be paid to skilled trade workers on public improvement construction projects.

The prevailing wage, a negotiated hourly wage set through collective bargaining agreements with unions, is the sum of the base hourly rate of pay, life insurance, pensions, health insurance, vacation or paid holidays, apprenticeship programs and other bona fide fringe benefits, according to the Ohio auditor's office.

"These people and their families rely heavily on the prevailing wage laws in the State of Ohio," Sellers said. "It allows them to raise their families with a decent middle-class wage, with benefits, with a reliable pension, with everything that we want as working-class Americans. That's what the prevailing wage law allows our members to make."

Sellers said the union members in the room Tuesday included representatives from "pretty much every contractor that works in this community," including Shelly and Sands and Kokosing.

"The folks you see back here in orange, these are the people that live in your community right here in Mansfield," he said. "They're right here in your community, doing work. you may not know it when you drive by and you see an orange barrel out on the road, but it's these folks."

Currently, 28 states have passed or enacted right-to-work laws, including Indiana, Kentucky and West Virginia.

“It’s about freedom for the workers – that nobody should have to support the union," Becker told The Cincinnati Enquirer. "When there is mandated membership, there isn’t much motivation for the unions to be accountable." 

More:City council opposes Ohio House's 'right-to-work' bill

Mansfield council passed a similar opposition bill in March 2017, then voting unanimously to condemn an Ohio House right-to-work bill, House Bill 53. Becker also introduced that bill.

Ohio voters strongly opposed Senate Bill 5, which restricted collective bargaining for public sector employees, in 2011. Ohio Gov. John Kasich signed the bill into law, but voters repealed the measure.

A copy of Mansfield's resolution will be sent to state Rep. Mark Romanchuk (R-Ontario) and State Sen. Larry Obhof.

In other action, council approved accepting $104,208.40 from the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services for METRICH.

The breakdown includes $99,208.40 for covert operations and $5,000 for equipment. The grant requires an in-kind salary match of $34,736.13.

ejmills@mansfieldnewsjournal.com

419-521-7205

Twitter: @EmilyMills818