Thousands in Ohio rally against plan to eliminate collective bargaining

Source: Columbus Dispatch

The Ohio State Patrol today limited access to the Statehouse as thousands of protesters stood outside in the cold, many angry they could not get inside to register their opposition to a bill that would eliminate collective bargaining for state employees.

Fearing for the safety of the hundreds already gathered in the Statehouse, the patrol locked outside doors, leaving throngs of protesters on the east side along Third Street chanting and cheering so loud that they could be heard across the Downtown.

"My taxes pay for this and I should be allowed in," said Diane Twarog, a representative for the Service Employees International Union, who made the trip with her niece and nephew from St. Clairsville.

Greg Dodd, deputy director of the Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board, estimated the size of the crowd inside and outside the Statehouse at 4,000. That is about the same number of people who packed the Statehouse Thursday as the Senate began hearings on Senate Bill 5, GOP-sponsored legislation supported by Gov. John Kasich that would end collective bargaining for state workers and weaken the ability of local workers to bargain for their pay, benefits and working conditions.



Read more: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2011/02/22/statehouse-protest-collective-bargaining.html?sid=101

in Columbus for decades.

i'll be heading over there after work tonight....and i called and emailed my ohio senator expressing my strong disagreement with SB5

This is another simple point about how (almost) laughable these
RushThug and T.HaterBagger creeps are...

It's always about the money and taxes...BUT, really only about
them spending and stealing those "taxpayer" dollars.

Funny how much this looks like Mubarak and his thugs trying to
hold off the true will of the citizens.

You may have missed that.

my work is minutes away, and I couldn't get over there.

Not a sign of counter-protesters. Lots of firefighters, teachers and not a few non-union types who were there just to support the unions ("Not a union member--still PRO-Union!")