We Are Ohio announced a parade will be held to deliver the petitions with at least 714,137 signatures on them to the state. They announced the total on Friday, but they're still asking people to sign the petitions. Will there be more than 1 million signatures? Stay tuned.
The Toledo Blade reports
A group seeking to repeal Ohio's new law weakening public employee collective bargaining rights said Wednesday it will hold a parade when it files petitions Wednesday.
That's the day before the state deadline for filing.We Are Ohio is keeping up the pressure against SB 5 in other ways. The group held a press conference in front of the Westerville (pop. 37,000) fire station yesterday. Westerville!
On Friday, We Are Ohio claimed it had gathered more than 700,000 signatures. That's three times the 231,149 signatures that must stand up to scrutiny by county boards of elections to make the Nov. 8 ballot.
The filing of the signatures automatically would put Senate Bill 5 on hold pending the review process. If the referendum qualifies for the ballot and voters reject the law, it never would take effect.
ThisWeekNews was there, and reported,
"It's so wrong what Senate Bill 5 is doing," said Brian Young, a lieutenant in the Westerville Division of Fire. "I always thought the government was here to protect our rights. This takes away our rights."
The employees said while legislators say the bill would allow public union groups to continue to bargain, the law restricts it so far that it really takes the power of collective bargaining away.A pro-SB 5 (i.e., corporate-backed) group called "Build a Better Ohio" has also been formed. The Blade reports it hasn't been visible yet. SB 5 supporters shouldn't get too comfortable though. The Koch brothers and their cronies are certain to pour money into a pro-SB 5 campaign.
Then again, the Youngstown Vindicator opines,
If the opponents of SB 5 do file million-plus signatures, Gov. Kasich and Republicans in the General Assembly will know that they will have a fight on their hands come November.And a commenter replied,
you say: "SB 5 has woken a sleeping giant in the form of the labor unions, their Democratic Party allies and Ohio’s public employees."
This is a true statement devoid of one big fact: many Republicans are also very much against this heinous bill. They understand that it is in no one's best interest to destroy labor unions, nor to devalue and demoralize your state employees. Those many signatures have an incredible amount of Republican and Independent voter support among them.
