With a troubled economy and fewer cost of living increases reflected in working wages to help alleviate the financial strain, the working class of America is struggling. With the passing of SB5, one must address the absurdity of our Ohio government’s proposal.

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With a troubled economy and fewer cost of living increases reflected in working wages to help alleviate the financial strain, the working class of America is struggling. With the passing of SB5, one must address the absurdity of our Ohio government’s proposal.

Seemingly, fees amassed in arbitration are now a moot point. Included in the 15 topics the bill now allows management the refusal to negotiate my qualifications as an employee. Hypothetically, a state security worker’s supervisor, who may have less experience in my trade but held a degree and so earned a higher-ranking position without knowledge of, say, prison functions, can now decide that, in addition to not matching my pension pay-in, I’m not qualified to work. Goodbye, job security. Now nonnegotiable are the costs of my health care benefits. Clearly, was that not a solid purpose for unions in the first place?

More applicable to students’ lives at Akron is the loss of bargaining rights of public university professors. According to a Plain Dealer article, the diction of SB5 reflects a 1980 Supreme Court ruling on Yeshiva University in New York. Here, our government decertified Yeshiva’s faculty union on the basis that faculty were carrying out managerial duties and were therefore deemed workers at management level (exempting collective bargaining rights). I guess we really value teachers in Ohio.

On a side note, if my collective bargaining rights through my union are now severely reduced, for what reason am I paying union dues? It all seems to be a giant catch-22. Maybe John Kasich should reacquaint himself with Joseph Heller.

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