And so......they are going to try to rush SB 5 through as quickly as possible!

http://toledoblade.com/State/2011/03/26/Vote-set-for-bill-affecting-Ohio-public-employees-2.html
Vote set for bill affecting Ohio public employees

If passed, it would make strikes illegal

Toledo Blade, March 26, 2011
BY JIM PROVANCE
BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU CHIEF
COLUMBUS — A key vote has been set for Tuesday in the Ohio House on a controversial bill that would make strikes by public employees illegal and limit what they can talk about at the bargaining table.

But before the House Commerce and Labor Committee sends Senate Bill 5 to the full chamber, it is expected to make some changes, particularly as it applies to police and firefighters.

There had been some discussion among House majority Republicans about pulling public safety employees out of the bill altogether, but that is not expected to happen.

In the end, the bill that could come to a vote as soon as Wednesday in the Republican-controlled House is expected to look a lot like what squeaked through the Senate by a 17-16 vote early this month — at least as the bill applies to teachers and other nonpublic safety workers.

The goal is to ensure that the bill reaches Gov. John Kasich's desk in time to be signed during the first few days of April so that any repeal effort would have to be on this November's ballot instead of the 2012 presidential ballot.

"I understand that, in typical heavy-handed fashion, they have scheduled a committee meeting Tuesday morning with the edict that there be no testimony," said Rep. Matt Szollosi (D., Oregon), a committee member. "I think this approach is not in the best interests of public policy. I would certainly appreciate the opportunity to review the changes that they're going to make, but that's unlikely."

The committee meeting is set for 9 a.m.

House Republicans are ­expected to continue talking through the weekend.

"We're still talking about a number of issues," said Rep. Louis Blessing (R., Cincinnati), the second highest-ranking Republican in the chamber. "How close we are is in the eye of the beholder. I think the House and Senate Republican caucuses are on the same page as far as direction on the issues, but there are 50 ways of addressing each of those issues.

"We are certainly not going to do anything that would risk safety forces as far as their own safety," he said. "We will make sure the bill doesn't do that."

As it passed the Senate, the bill would prohibit all of the roughly 350,000 public employees in Ohio from striking, limit talks to wages and terms and conditions of employment, allow government to implement a single health-care plan for all its workers, and require those workers to pay at least 15 percent of the cost of those premiums.

It would prohibit the practice of the government picking up part of the employee's share of his pension contributions and establish a final dispute resolution process that would end with a public hearing and the government manager voting whether to pick the union's final best offer as the contract or choose its own.

Part of the dialogue among House Republicans has been about the ability of police, firefighters, paramedics, and other public safety employees to negotiate about equipment, training, team size, and other issues related to safety in the field.

There has also been discussion about changing the alternative method devised by the Senate to bring final resolution to labor disputes given the bill's prohibition against strikes by any public employee. Critics of the current bill, including some of the defecting Senate Republicans, contend that putting the final contract decision in the hands of management, such as a city council or school board, would eliminate any incentive for that government to negotiate in good faith.

Alternatives offered behind closed doors have included having a three-judge panel, some type of citizens' panel, or even voters at the ballot box decide the final contract.

Mr. Kasich has been adamant that the current practice of final binding arbitration must end. Currently used to settle disputes involving police and firefighters, who are already barred under law from striking, binding arbitration puts the decision in the hands of a third-party conciliator who picks and chooses between the last best offers put on the table by both sides.

The governor has argued that this puts decisions directly affecting taxpayers in the hands of unelected officials.

There has also been talk of coming up with an alternative that would apply only to public safety employees, leaving teachers, state workers, and other public employees to fend for themselves when talks fall apart.

The House GOP has had to carefully balance the interests of its members with those of the Senate, knowing that the bill had no votes to spare in that chamber.

"We don't want to do anything that will cause [the Senate] to turn the bill down or not take it up,'' said Rep. Lynn Wachtmann (R., Napoleon), a committee member. "There are efforts to address some mutual concerns of senators who voted ‘no,' so we may garner more support."

Republicans hope to avoid a conference committee to work out a compromise between the two chambers' versions, a move that would delay getting the bill to Mr. Kasich's desk and allow more time for protests like those that at one point brought 8,500 to the Statehouse.

Mr. Wachtmann and some other Republicans would prefer to go even further with the bill. He would like to see "paycheck protection'' language added for union members who may not like how their leadership spends their dues money in support of certain issues and candidates.

Contact Jim Provance at: jprovance@theblade.com or 614-221-0496.