Statewide strike by public employees?

From RH Jones, March 15, 2011

To all:

The editorial below was in the Beacon VOICE OF THE PEOPLE today, Tuesday, March 15, 2011, Page A8. The writer, Michael Grove, left out prison guards. Can you imagine what would happen if the prison guards, in particular and police/fire, sanitation, teachers and all public workers in solidarity with the AFL/CIO struck?

Mr. Grove stated that Gov. Kasich wants to take us back to the days of "halcyon" for Wall Street; but, in fact, if this dastardly SB 5 passes, it will bring us to the antonym of "halcyon" that is: turbulent. There most certainly will be turbulent times. It would be even worse, it would be disastrous for our beloved State of Ohio.

Please read the editorial just below.

RHJones, an OH STRS retired teacher annuitant

http://www.ohio.com/editorial/vop/117987964.html

Statewide strike by public employees

Since Gov. Kasich wants to take the state of Ohio back to those halcyon days (at least in his Wall Street mind­set) before collective bargaining rights, perhaps it's time for state workers to adopt a tactic from the 1930s: the gen­eral strike.

What would happen if Kasich signed Senate Bill 5 into law, and the next day none of the 350,000 workers that it affects showed up for work?

He couldn't fire them all. Even if he . could arrest them all, there would be no police to do the arresting, or any­thing else.

No police, no fire departments, no EMS, no teachers, no highway mainte­nance, no sanitation, none of the state offices that provide a myriad of serv­ices, nothing but a bunch of Republican politicians in Columbus wondering why their attempt to break the back of the unions here m Ohio had just blown up in their faces.

And be assured that, as long as the unions held the line and nobody scabbed, the unions would win. They always have, and as long as they maintain solidarity, they always will.

Within 72 hours, the legislature would put its tail between its legs and repeal Senate Bill 5. Kasich would have no choice: he would have to sign it.

At that point he might begin to understand that in government, unlike an investment bank, power flows from the bottom up.

Michael Grove
Copley Township