Walking the Walk to Oppose Issue 2
by Jon Melegrito | November 03, 2011
AFSCME Council 8 members study their neighborhood walk list as they prepare to knock on doors in Toledo. (Photo by Joe Weidner)
With only a few days left before Ohioans decide to repeal the corporate-backed, anti worker law called Senate Bill 5/Issue 2, AFSCME members are fanning out across the state on foot to make sure voters vote it down Tuesday.
With only a few days left before Ohioans decide to repeal “I am walking and knocking on doors today to support the future of union families here in Toledo,” says Constance Wooden, a mechanic and vice president of AFSCME Local 272 (Council 8), representing the city’s public schools skilled trades. “And I’m heartened and encouraged by the responses at the door.”
Wooden, along with executive board members of Council 8’s more than 350 local unions, participated in what they called “Board Walk Weekend,” handing out fliers and planting “Vote No on Issue 2” yard signs on supporters’ lawns.
Also this weekend, the Toledo Blade issued an editorial urging Ohioans to reject Issue 2 because it “is primarily a partisan, ideological, and special-interest attack on the ability of union-represented workers – many of whom do difficult and dangerous jobs – to negotiate working conditions as well as pay and benefits. Its net effect would be destructive not only to government employees but also to the taxpayers they serve.”
Ohio union members and their supporters will have another opportunity this coming weekend and on Election Day itself to engage voters face-to-face in neighborhood walks to get out the vote.
