Riedel supports right-to-work measures

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COLUMBUS — State Representatives John Becker (R-Union Township) and Craig S. Riedel (R-Defiance) announced that nine additional members have signed onto one or more of six Right-to-Work related Ohio constitutional amendments.

• HJR 8: Private-sector Right-to-Work — No worker should be required to subsidize a union as a condition of employment. Furthermore, this amendment will tell the world that Ohio is “open for business.”

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  HJR 7: Public-sector Right-to-Work — This legislation is about freedom of association. Like for the private sector, no worker should be required to subsidize a union as a condition of employment.

• HJR 9: Public-sector Prevailing Wage — Repeals the requirement for taxpayers to pay artificially inflated wages, rather than those that are market-based.
• HJR 12: Public-sector Paycheck Protection — This amendment prohibits state and local government employers from withholding union dues or fees from workers’ wages. Additionally, unions will be prohibited from spending workers’ money on political activities without workers’ consent.
• HJR 10: Public-sector Project Labor Agreements — This legislation is the Michigan model approved by the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. State and local government entities will be prohibited from minimizing competition for construction projects by requiring that only union or non-union labor can be considered. A level playing field will be required.
• HJR 11: Public-sector Union Recertification — Requires annual reconsideration and recertification of workers’ bargaining units. This amendment will open up competition for new bargaining units, will give workers a chance to have their voices heard, and will make union leadership accountable to their membership.

With 11 state representatives sponsoring one or more of them, Becker and Riedel are asking Ohio’s General Assembly to put all of them on the ballot for the people to vote on them individually.

“Now that 28 states — and four out of five of Ohio’s neighboring states — have enacted Right-to-Work laws, the nation’s future is for all workers to have the right to work free of the burden of mandated union payments as a condition of employment,” said Becker. “Ohio is being left behind, and it is time for the people to decide Ohio’s future.”

“I believe in individual freedom, and the right of a worker to be able to choose whether or not they want to belong to a union,” Riedel added. “By bringing these Right-to-Work amendments forward as ballot issues, we are allowing the citizens of Ohio to have the final say.”