SB5's passage prompts union members' action

Ohio Governor John Kasich signed Senate Bill 5 into law nearly two months ago, but the higher education battle is about to begin. Once enacted, SB5 will limit bargaining rights for 350,000 unionized public employee, including those of the newly unionized Bowling Green State University faculty, the Bowling Green Faculty Association.

David Jackson, president of the BGSU’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors, will do everything in his power to keep the legislation from taking effect and limiting collective bargaining. The BGFA will be joining forces with other union chapters across the state to gather signatures and begin the process of forming a voter referendum, he said.
Jackson plans on “fighting the good fight” and combatting what he and other union members view as an unfair bill.

“We had a free, fair and open election (at BGSU) and we won in favor of collective bargaining,” he said. “This bill overturns that election.”

Jackson said he resents Ohio legislators for making no mention of the future attack on collective bargaining in their campaign platforms for this past November’s general election.

The BGFA and other state unions will be gathering signatures before the June 30 deadline in order to file their petition with the Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted. The referendum needs signatures from 6 percent of the voters from the gubernatorial elections from 44 counties.

And union members want every word of the bill overturned, especially the language that classifies faculty members as managers, therefore deeming them ineligible to bargain or strike.

“This language only applies to higher education union members,” Jackson said. “It’s a nasty point. If they want me to be a manager, then I’ll be a manager and I will stop doing jobs outside of the managerial role. I’d like to see them try to run this place.”

BGSU union members are not only angry with Kasich and state legislators, but also with university administrators, who have taken a supportive stance on SB5, according to Director of Marking and Communications Dave Kielmeyer.

Kielmeyer said university administrators, along with other public higher education administrators, are optimistic SB5 will save them money and keep their budget balanced without having to pay untimely faculty pay increases.

But Jackson is not convinced the university supports SB for its monetary value.
“We haven’t even seen how it will save us money,” he said. “Do they have that little faith in their negotiating team? The administration is really, really upset with us in a paternalistic way. They think they know better than we do.”

While union members may be unsure how BGSU will actually benefit financially from SB5, the state Office of Collective Bargaining calculates the legislation would have saved $1.3 billion paid out on health insurance and automatic pay raises, according to a Feb. 26 Columbus Dispatch article.

One aspect of automatic pay raises slashed by SB5 is increases for state employees with four or more years of experiences. Currently, these employees receive small pay increases for each year past four they are employed by the state.

While BGSU faculty do not receive these automatic pay hikes, SB5 will keep faculty members from demanding wage increases.

Esther Clinton, visiting assistant professor for popular culture, said this limitation would hurt experienced teachers.

“Senate Bill 5’s main goal is to cut public service workers off at the neck,” she said. “There will be things that no longer matter, like seniority for example. It would no longer be looked at when determining who stays and who goes. And we couldn’t negotiate things like class size or how many teachers we kept on staff.

“Our opinion would no longer matter.”

Ethnic studies instructor Emily Lutenski thinks the problem goes deeper than just the dollar tug of war, though. She said the battle is rooted in and underlying hostility between workers and managers.

“I think it has exposed the tension between the administration and faculty at public universities in Ohio, which I think is really unfortunate,” she said. “I feel like we should be really supportive of each other and not adversarial.”

As union members and supporters of the cause attempt to fight back against state republicans, the effort may not look like the public rallies and vocal displays outside the State House during the deliberation process.

Rather, democrats will draw upon the grassroots efforts of door-to-door petitions, phone calls and communications to combat what is being called an attack on the middle class. The BGFA is also holding a session to train volunteers.

And as Kasich continues to stick by SB5 and rally conservative support, Jackson thinks it will hurt republicans in the long run — namely, the 2012 election.

“He is damaging the republican brand in Ohio,” Jackson said. “Clearly, he didn’t want (SB5) on the ballot in 2012.”

But Kasich and republican lawmakers said SB5 will level the playing field in Ohio and allow the state to save money while creating more jobs and, thus, stimulating the economy.

Kasich said opposition to the bill is opposition to the workers of Ohio.

Silenced: Students put union hopes on hold

As Ohio’s public sector workers prepare to fight for their right to collectively bargain, there are some state employees still organizing just to get the chance.

“As grad students, we’re not allowed to organize—and we need to be,” said Megan Adams, a graduate student of American Cultural Studies at Bowling Green State University.

Ohio House Bill 365 and Senate Bill 129 would allow part-time higher education faculty to collectively bargain—if Senate Bill 5 doesn’t remove the rights first.

Signed by Governor John Kasich on March 31, SB5 limits the power of teachers and other public workers reliant on unions. Following the referendum process, petition efforts are underway to put SB5 on the ballot this fall.

Graduate students are anxiously awaiting the outcome and hoping to proceed with their own bill that will empower them to negotiate wages, grievances and labor disputes—like the 48 percent cut to the graduate program.

By July 1, restrictions on Ohio spending will reduce state funds, limiting several Ohio institutions, including BGSU.

"The one thing I don't support is less support for higher education that would yield higher tuition rates or reducing access or programs for students," said state representative and BGSU alumnus Randy Gardner.

But that seems to be exactly what’s happening.

"In the next two years, funding for graduate education will be reduced $12 million out of a $25 million proposal," said Steve Dinda, president of Graduate Student Senate. "That's a major problem that needs to be addressed quickly."

Scott Sundvall, a member of Graduate Student Senate, feels the school is burdening graduate students with a disproportionate amount of the budget shortfall. He’s also critical of BGSU “resorting to a business model.”

“It’s one big step towards corporatizing the university, which is exactly what’s happening with SB5,” he said.

After participating in February’s SB5 protest in Columbus, Sundvall was a leader for BGSU’s own rally in March and helped organize a teach-in the same month with union representatives, explaining the implications of the legislation to graduate students waiting for their own chance to collectively bargain.

He also drafted an open letter voicing grad students’ concerns about program reductions affecting their financial situation. Without a union, grad students communicate directly with the university administration.

“We’re not employees. We’re just students who get this great offer to teach at exploitive wages,” said Sundvall.

As the university attempts to deal with a fiscal crisis and create a new funding model for graduate education, the administration has agreed to de-couple scholarships and stipends for graduate students, affecting the cost of tuition and their opportunity for employment on campus.

“I think that’s an unfortunate coincidence of a number of things happening at the same time,” said Interim Vice Provost for Academics and Dean of the Graduate College Timothy Messer-Kruse.

Panicked about their existing contracts, graduate students like Sundvall believe there has been an intentional lack of transparency, but Messer-Kruse insists he’s been working with Graduate Student Senate leadership throughout the year.

“We want to employ the best practices so as to most efficiently distribute the resources that we have,” said Messer-Kruse, explaining the university has a moral obligation to support current students until they finish their program.

But Sundvall sees administrative promises as a way to keep graduate students from getting more actively involved with union action, both on and off campus.

"There is a reason that the union bosses opposed these changes; because it strips power from the union leaders and returns it to the taxpayers and workers," Kasich’s campaign email said. "But make no mistake; we are fighting to save Ohio and need your help.”

Whether SB5 will save the economy or hurt the middle class remains to be seen. But the legislation has lit a fire under the union members who refuse to accept Kasich’s decision and are committed to fighting.

“We will be incredibly energized when we win in November,” Jackson said. “They will rue the day they woke us up.”

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