The Adobe Flash Player is required to view this multimedia interactive. Get it here.

Right-to-work campaign begins amendment

Nonunion trade group, Tea Party activists seek to limit union rights.

Air Force intelligence center gets new commander May 30
3:03 p.m.
Beach Waterpark sued for failure to deliver
1:56 p.m.
Dayton gets boost from committee for UAV testing
5/24/12
Police headlines: Two accused of child endangering
5/24/12
Ad calls Brown career politician
5/24/12
> More headlines

By William Hershey, Columbus Bureau 1:16 AM Friday, November 11, 2011

COLUMBUS — Just two days after voters overwhelmingly killed legislation restricting collective bargaining for public employees, Tea Party activists and a nonunion trade group Thursday launched a campaign to put a broader crackdown on union rights on the statewide ballot in 2012 or 2013.

The proposed right-to-work constitutional amendment would prohibit making union membership a condition of employment.

Chris Littleton of West Chester Twp. in Butler County, a Tea Party leader and co-founder of the Ohio Liberty Council, said at a Statehouse press conference that the amendment would provide “work place freedom for every single Ohioan.”

It takes signatures from 385,253 registered voters to put an amendment on the ballot and Littleton said that it might take until the November 2013 election to meet that requirement.

Bryan Williams, director of government affairs for the Associated Builders and Contractors of Ohio, whose members include mostly nonunion companies, said “forced unionism is un-American.”

Democrats and labor leaders lashed back. Chris Redfern, in a statement, said that “the Tea Party crowd has doubled-down on its attacks on the middle class.”

The kickoff came after voters on Tuesday rejected State Issue 2 with 61-39 percent. The issue was a referendum on Senate Bill 5, legislation restricting public employee collective bargaining.

Tim Burga, Ohio AFL-CIO president, said “extreme elements of the Republican Party are proposing an even more broad assault on workers’ rights.”

However, Republican leaders distanced themselves from the amendment. “Job creation” is the top priority, Rob Nichols, spokesman for GOP Gov. John Kasich, a key backer of Senate Bill 5, said in an email.

Share this article