Senate Bill 5, introduced by Senator Shannon Jones (R-‐Springboro), proposes to end collective bargaining for state and higher education employees and drastically curtail bargaining rights for K-‐12 educators.

Ohio’s educators and working families are aggressively opposing this bill.

What’s at stake?:

Collective bargaining allows educators a voice in improving working and learning conditions and opportunities for Ohio's students. This bill would take Ohio backwards and harm students, working families and local economies throughout the state. In today's difficult economic times, we all need to be focused on the essentials.

Nothing is more essential than giving our students and children a quality education that prepares them for good jobs.

Senate Bill 5 does the following:

Eliminates collective bargaining for state employees and employees of state higher education institutions.
Does not allow K-‐12 school employees to collectively bargain on salaries or healthcare.
Eliminates public employee salary schedules and step increases and replaces them with an undefined “merit” pay system.
Permits school boards to govern healthcare benefit plans for employees and requires public employees to pay at least 20% of their healthcare costs.
Eliminates continuing contracts for teachers after the bill’s effective date.
Eliminates teacher leave policies in statute and requires local school boards to determine leave time.
Eliminates experience as a sole criterion for Reductions In Force (RIFs).
Allows public employers to hire permanent replacement workers during a strike.
Prohibits school districts from picking up any portion of the employee’s contribution to the pension system.
Allows a public employer in “fiscal emergency” to serve notice to terminate, modify or negotiate a CBA.
Abolishes the School Employee Healthcare Board.

What can you do to help support students, working families and local communities?:

The elected officials that represent you need to hear that you oppose Senate Bill 5 and the effort to eliminate collective bargaining.

We need to highlight that collective bargaining benefits students, and you'd know that the best because educators are serving the students every day.

Also, please recruit your colleagues to help fight this extremely harmful legislation.

You can do this by calling the education hotline. Call 1-888-907-7309, and let legislators know how you feel.