UPDATE: SB5 has been voted favorably out of committee and will head to the full legislature for a vote. Ohioans will gather again today at 4 p.m. for a vigil outside the Statehouse.
It's the morning after more than 25,000 Ohio workers, students, and families gathered at the Statehouse in Columbus. They came together to stop Ohio Governor John Kasich's attack on the middle class - specifically his proposed bill, SB5, that would strip collective bargaining rights from millions of teachers, firefighters, police, and public employees in Ohio.
The bill was supposed to be voted out of committee yesterday afternoon. But, it seems the prospect of looking 25,000 Ohioans in the eye after taking away their rights was too much for the proponents of the bill. So, they delayed the vote until today. Obviously, the plan was to wait until everyone had gone home and quietly push the bill through. But the plan isn't working.
I'm sitting in the Statehouse right now with hundreds of Ohio workers who refuse to have their voices silenced. They're filling the building to listen to the hearing and voice their opposition to the attack on their rights.
We'll be at the Capitol all day, standing with the workers and helping to keep a national spotlight on the situation here in Ohio. SEIU President Mary Kay Henry was in Ohio yesterday to offer the support of SEIU's 2.2 million members. Here's a video message she recorded with members of SEIU 1199WKO:
Send a message of support to SEIU members in Wisconsin
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