Reading John’s post on the lack of national media coverage of the worker protests in Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio and elsewhere, I have to say, I’m not surprised or even particularly disheartened. I anticipated this well prior to the (understandable) media focus on events in Japan.
In Ohio our new Republican governor is a former FOX News personality who was promoted singularly and relentlessly by that cable channel during his campaign. The free media was worth tens of millions to Kasich, and he still barely pulled it out.
I think we got a sneak peek in Ohio at what may be a new political reality: the revolving door between paid media personalities and “public service”. Kasich went from the US House to FOX and ended up running Ohio. Huckabee and Palin won’t be far behind him. A paid platform on FOX News in between runs for office might be the new normal for conservative politicians. We’ll have to learn to deal with that.
But back to the issue at hand: in Ohio (unlike in Wisconsin), the bill ending collective bargaining included firefighters and law enforcement. Those two groups have traditionally supported conservatives in Ohio (not all, certainly, but most). There’s been quite a bit of blowback.
From the excellent all-Ohio political site, Plunderbund, here’s two letters that explain the situation better than I can:
On March 9, 2011, the members of the Columbus Fire Fighters Union voted unanimously to rescind your endorsement for Ohio’s 3rd Senate seat. This decision was reached due to your misleading comments during our Political screening process and your subsequent actions conflicting with your commitment to our members.
Your actions in supporting and voting for Senate Bill 5 do not reflect the commitment you made to our members. We must hold you accountable for this lack of integrity. In a further act of misinformation, you sent letters to my members today indicating that SB5 “does not eliminate anyone’s right to collectively bargain.” In fact, SB 5 strips the rights of almost one quarter of Ohio’s union fire fighters to collectively bargain by making it illegal for supervisors to have bargaining rights.
The Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge #9 is announcing that it has formally withdrawn its prior endorsement of Senator Kevin Bacon (Republican) of the Ohio 3rd Senate District. We hold our endorsed elected officials accountable for their statements to our members, especially when it comes to public safety and our law enforcement officer’s safety. His support of and public statements on Senate Bill 5 and the negative impact it has upon our ability to bargain issues of safety demonstrates he is no longer worthy of the support of our organization.
When Senator Bacon appeared before our membership, he represented that he supported collective bargaining and binding arbitration. His actions demonstrate otherwise. It now appears that Senator Bacon was not forthcoming with his true beliefs when he sought our endorsement.
As to what we can do, SEIU, moveon and others are planning pro-worker events this Tuesday. I’ll be attending one of the Tuesday evening events in northwest Ohio. You can find an event near you. If there isn’t any media coverage and you attend, well, you’ll be there, so you can see for yourself what’s going on.
Finally, we spend a lot of time here on Balloon Juice talking about the ever-widening income gap in the U.S. I am not an economist and I don’t know what the math demands, but it occurs to me that one way to narrow the yawning gap between the very rich and the rest of us is for working people to organize and bargain collectively. I recognize that this is not a new idea, but it may be time to revisit it. We’ve been waiting for the trickle-down effect for thirty years. I don’t think it’s coming. Progressive tax policy coming from the top down is one mechanism to attempt to retain a vibrant middle class, but it’s not the only way.
To me, this is about the work that middle class people do, and the kinds of work that we say we value and admire, regardless of whether that work is glamorous or prestigious or maybe most importantly, profit-producing. Cops and firefighters and teachers and other public workers don’t do work that turns a profit. However, they make it possible for others in this country to turn a profit by helping to create or maintain the civil society and public system that makes for-profit markets possible.
Do we value that work with a seat at the table, or are we just going to pat them on the head and repeat patronizing platitudes about how we recognize the importance of their contribution?