By voting NO in August, together we can protect the voices everyday of Ohioans to have a say. Learn more and join the fight at VoteNOinAugust.org.
Dear OCSEA Brothers and Sisters,
This week, nearly 1,000 Ohioans, including myself and leaders from many Ohio unions, descended on the Statehouse to urge lawmakers to vote NO on House Joint Resolution 1/Senate Joint Resolution 2 (HJR 1/SJR 2). The proposals would upend majority rule in Ohio by increasing the threshold to pass citizens-led ballot initiatives to 60 percent instead of the current 50 percent +1. It also sets an August special election for its passage, which has a historically low turnout.
Unfortunately, our pleas landed on deaf ears, and they passed the resolution anyway and set August 8 for a Special Election. But we were ready for them!
Now, the One Person One Vote campaign has been launched to defeat the amendment on August 8. The coalition, made up of 240 (and growing) groups, including nearly every labor union in Ohio and many other nonpartisan groups, supports the democratic principle of “one person one vote.” And we’re ready to fight for it!
Our union members remember well Senate Bill 5, the anti-public sector union bill that would have all but stripped us of our rights to collectively bargain. Organizations like ours led a grassroots effort to get a citizens-led referendum on the ballot to block the bill. But it wasn’t easy, by any means. Nor are constitutional amendments easy to get on the ballot. Because of our fight against Senate Bill 5, this latest proposal has hit a nerve with labor organizations around the state, including ours. We believe the ballot box should be accessible to everyday people. After all, having a voice is what unions stand for.
Like legislators tried to do with SB 5, this proposal silences the people’s voices, and it prevents us from fully participating in our democracy via citizen-led ballot initiatives.
And now the veil has been lifted on the supposed reason politicians wanted this change––to keep monied, out-of-state interests out of Ohio. But, as it turns out, an out-of-state billionaire is exactly who’s bankrolling the push to raise the threshold.
But we took SB 5 to the ballot under a citizen-led referendum and defeated it. And we’ll defeat this proposal at the ballot box too. Will you join us as we defend democracy in Ohio? Please join us in helping to defeat this attack on our rights and on democracy. Join the fight at VoteNoinAugust.org.
Yours In Solidarity,
Chris Mabe, OCSEA President