Ohio: Editorial: Strike legislator’s idea of prohibiting teacher strikes

The Plain Dealer: Editorial: Strike legislator’s idea of prohibiting teacher strikes

A well-regarded downstate legislator has good intentions but a bad idea: Well ston Republican John Carey wants to ban school-employee strikes. Schools would instead settle labor contracts through binding arbitration.

A 1983 Ohio law forbids strikes by police, firefighters, prison guards and emergency medical personnel. In case of deadlocks, those workers instead are subject to arbitration. Carey, chair of the Senate’s budget-writing panel, said teachers are just as important as safety forces to Ohio’s betterment.

A spokeswoman for the 130,000-member Ohio Education Association, a union for teachers and other school employees, said there have been only six school strikes (in five school districts) in the last three fiscal years. Given that Ohio has 612, that means fewer than 1 percent of all school districts were struck during the triennium.

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