Ohio tea parties take stand on collective bargaining legislation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Ohio Liberty Council Contact
Chris Littleton
Direct: 937-499-3594
chris.littleton@ohiolibertycouncil.org
Ohio tea parties take stand on collective bargaining legislation
Columbus, OH, February 14, 2011. The Ohio Liberty Council, a coalition of over 60 tea party groups and
liberty minded organizations across Ohio, will be standing for pro-taxpayer legislation which addresses
one of Ohio’s most important threats – the prosperity killing public employee unions and collective
bargaining.
As a citizen lobby, Ohio Liberty Council member groups and supporters will be gathering Thursday,
February 17th at 9am on the West lawn of the Ohio Statehouse before attending the 10am hearings.
We believe the bill introduced by Senator’s Shannon Jones and Kris Jordan to eliminate collective
bargaining for public employee unions (Senate Bill 5) is vital to Ohio’s sustainability because public
employee union contracts produced by collective bargaining have resulted in:
• Wages much higher than private sector
• Guaranteed raises (not based on merit or economic conditions)
• Benefit packages including health insurance and pensions far exceeding private sector
• Invulnerability to disciplinary/performance actions over and above civil service protections.
As stated by Ohio Liberty Council Co-founder, Chris Littleton: “In ultimate irony, money from these unions
is then funneled to political advocates and candidates to lobby on their behalf, in order to perpetuate the
level of government spending and bureaucracy from which they benefit. Our tax dollars are used to lobby
against our own belief system.
The waste, the excess and the vicious cycle must end. Unions are protecting entitlements, and the last
time I checked we are a society driven by merit and achievement, not entitlement and extortion.”
Relevant Numbers below from Buckeye Institute:
-Median state worker in Ohio makes 24.6% more than their private sector counterparts
-62,800 government jobs have been netted since 1990, while private sector has suffered severely
A sample of average wages in Butler County including local school district (Lakota):
- Private Sector Employee - $39,231
- State and Local Government Employee - $42,026
- Federal Government Employee - $53,641
- Average Teacher salary: $62,331
State and local government workers make more than private sector counterparts in almost 65% of Ohio’s
counties.
About the Ohio Liberty Council - http://www.ohiolibertycouncil.org/ - Twitter: @OhioLiberty
Begun in June 2009, the Council includes over 60 like-minded liberty organizations, and seeks “To unite,
inform, and empower Ohio freedom loving groups and citizens to affect policy in favor of liberty.”
Ohio Liberty Council is considered the nation’s premier state based coalition of liberty minded
organizations and has been featured in: USA Today, Reuters, Yahoo News, Time Magazine, NY Times,
Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Washington Times, American Spectator, Politico, Rolling Stone,
The Hill, and many other national, regional and local publications or media.