Jim N. Reed to Senator Tim Schaffer: No on S.B. 5

From Jim N. Reed, February 21, 2011

Dear Senator Schaffer,

My name is Jim N. Reed and I am a life-long Fairfield County constituent.

I recently concluded 45 years of public service as a teacher and coach with the Liberty Union-Thurston School District.

My father was a 40-year employee of Lancaster's Anchor Hocking Glass and served as a union steward for many years. At the dinner table I frequently heard about the vital protections afforded by union negotiations and collective bargaining. I remain extremely proud of my father's contributions to the laborers in the challenging environment of the "Furnace Room."

As a history teacher I have some foundation in the story of labor-management relations at the local, state and national levels. I cannot digest the rationale that would delete the protections derived from collective bargaining for middle class families.

I'm certain you are quite conscious of the imminent escalation of class warfare in our society. Even citizens who have not been inclined to enter the cultural, economic and political debate are being stirred to engage. Continuing government tax breaks for the most wealthy Americans while reducing or withdrawing services for our most indigent citizens are wearing out the patience and patriotism of many so adversely affected, especially when so many children are experiencing the shameless but guiltless stain of their poverty. As an educator I was an eyewitness to this for nearly half a century.

And now the middle class has become the javelin catcher for the state's financial crisis. On the backs of public servants the economy of Ohio is to be salvaged from the throes of a massive budget deficit?

As you are well aware, many economists dismiss the accusation from state leadership that public servants, union membership and collective bargaining are the accused catalyst of our economic morass.

Were you an educator what would you make of a governor's pre- and post-campaign statements promising to extract vengeance ("throw em under the bus") against those who disagreed with his education policy? Would you not suspect that anti-educator stance to be a harbinger of a potential assault on collective bargaining, one of the profession's most ubiquitous and valued forms of security for middle class families?

Since your web site includes images of your appearance with a Lancaster H.S. student-athlete, Pickerington Central students and a Pataskala elementary school I make the assumption you believe a quality education to be a critical contribution to society. I know that you have been very visible in the construction of facilities at Liberty Union-Thurston. And as a Mount Union Purple Raider it is obvious the role education has played in your personal and professional life.

I notice there are nine Ohio senators who are sitting on the fence and not absolutely certain that attacking collective bargaining full force is a ethical, moral or legal resolution to this knee-jerk approach to budget slicing. They appear to be, at the least, on the fence looking with some sense of fairness at both sides of the debate.

Senator Schaffer, I would ask you to reconsider your apparent position in support of Governor Kasich's ("...we need to break the back of organized labor in schools.") and at least join those fellow Republican legislators willing to reinvestigate the potential harm this bill would have on my profession and to the countless number of citizens it has served, is serving and will continue to serve.

Respectfully,

Jim N. Reed
life-long educator
Baltimore, Ohio