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The Real Fight Begins
Even before the House vote, we at the UC-AAUP had begun making plans for the next step in the struggle. In a message to our membership on March 29, signed by Deborah Herman, Jana Braziel (our vice president), and me, we noted that we were preparing for Round Two. In collaboration with We Are Ohio, the Ohio Conference, and the other AAUP chapters statewide, we would be joining in the drive to get more than 231,000 signatures collected in 90 days so that we could place on the November ballot an issue to repeal Senate Bill 5. The bill would be barred from going into effect by our signature-gathering campaign.
We emphasized that this would be a complex undertaking. It was necessary that We Are Ohio propose language for the referendum, which would need to be approved by the Secretary of State’s office. That language needed to be submitted along with 1,000 signatures. Once the language was approved, we would have 90 days to collect 10 percent of the number of votes cast for governor in the most recent election. In this case, that meant over 231,000 signatures. We told our members that the scale and challenge of this effort was why the labor coalition would be hiring professional staff to make sure the drive was managed effectively.
We also explained that even if Senate Bill 5 went into effect, our contract at UC would continue until it expired on June 30, 2013. Thus, we wrote, even in a worst-case scenario, we had some security until then and could focus our efforts entirely on repealing the legislation. What we did not talk about publicly was our fear that if we failed to repeal Senate Bill 5, given the radical nature of Gov. Kasich’s strategy, that he would take advantage of another feature of the legislation.
If SB 5 went into effect, he would have the right to declare a state of fiscal emergency and abrogate all existing union contracts. Given the behavior of Kasich and his allies so far, we suspected that this was exactly what would happen. Yet, even barring the possibility of this worst-case scenario, we had plenty to worry about in defending the university and our profession. “Between now and 2013,” we wrote to our colleagues, “all AAUP Chapters across Ohio will be putting full effort into securing our collective bargaining rights for the future—for our own sake, but also for the sake of UC students, their parents, and the future of truly public higher education.”
In retrospect I must emphasize, as well, the activity and leadership shown by AAUP state conference executive director Sara Kilpatrick, President Dr. John Cuppoletti, and the entire conference board. The board’s communications committee, led by Professor Dave Witt and Professor Steve Aby of the University of Akron and Professor Marty Kich of Wright State, had really stepped up their work to inform all the chapters of the joint efforts around Ohio to stop SB 5. Their work to coordinate our statewide efforts was invaluable.
Locally, I cannot say enough about the f