Pensions saved in Cincinnati

Police unions in Ohio had already mobilized back in 2011 when newly elected Michigan Governor John Kasich signed a bill (SB5) into law that prohibited state employees from joining a union. This is just one of the hundreds of demonstrations that took place all over the state. All the hard work paid off when the citizens voted to repeal SB5.

In Cincinnati, Ohio, the Tea Party effort to destroy pensions for city employees was soundly beaten at the polls by a coalition of police, fire, labor unions, elected officials, and even the Chamber of Commerce. It was a great victory for the people of the city and a sign of hope for the world that these well funded, dark forces hell bent on privatizing the job, stealing the pensions and slashing health care benefits can be beat.

Submitted by Ron DeLord

Good news is hard to find in the ongoing “War Against Public Employees” but we got some last week. In Cincinnati, Ohio, the Tea Party effort to destroy pensions for city employees was soundly beaten at the polls by a coalition of police, fire, labor unions, elected officials, and even the Chamber of Commerce.

“The Tea Party was behind this,” said Kathy Harrell, the charismatic, energetic president of the Cincinnati FOP. “And if they had been successful, they were moving on to other cities to do the same thing.”

Harrel said the victory was the outcome of a lot of work by a strong coalition of everyone in the city government. “We had every city council member and candidate, the mayor, the person running for mayor, all the city commissioners, the Firefighters union, the FOP, AFSCME, and the Ministerial Alliance all on board. Everyone came together and worked hard to defeat it. I think the opposition was shocked we were all on the same page.”

The out-of-state sponsors spent $500,000 – more than $9 per signature – just to get the issue on the ballot. If it passed, Issue 4 would have required the city to pay projected pension shortfalls by creating new revenue sources by raising taxes and/or cutting city services. Additionally, it would have required city employees to choose to continue to participate in a new method of funding pensions and retirement plans and a retired city employee would have been prohibited from collecting retirement benefits while holding another city position. The measure was rejected with 43,552 (78%) votes against and 12,055 (22%) votes in favor. The good guys won the vote by 78%.