Thousands of Working Ohioans Show Up to Protest a Koch Brothers Summit

More than 3,500 working people from across Ohio and neighboring states – including hundreds of CWAers – showed up in downtown Columbus, OH, last week. They came to protest a summit funded by the billionaire Koch brothers that was all about how to undermine the collective bargaining rights of American workers.

The Koch-funded group Americans for Prosperity had planned a "Defending the American Dream Summit" and Ohioans turned out in force to tell them to stop the attacks on working people.

"Thousands of Ohio working families, which included many from CWA Locals, were on hand to greet the extremist Americans for Prosperity group and let them know that 'right-to-work' is wrong for Ohio and wrong for America," CWA District 4 Vice President Linda Hinton said.

Ohio is again likely to be a huge battleground in 2016 and Cleveland has been chosen to host the 2016 Republican National Convention. There are ongoing battles in the state, too. For instance, Gov. John Kasich and allies in the Statehouse pushed through Senate Bill 5 in 2011, which sought to strip public workers of their bargaining rights. A broad union and progressive coalition gathered more than 1 million signatures to get a referendum on the issue; voters overwhelmingly rejected the bill.

Kasich has stated publicly that refighting the bargaining rights battle is not on his agenda but State Rep. Tom Brinkman (R-27 ^th District) has vowed to re-introduce a "right-to-work" measure in the legislature. The Republican governors of Michigan and Indiana similarly disavowed "right-to-work" agendas only to sign them into laws once passed by their legislatures.

Left: CWAers in Columbus were ready for the Koch Brothers and showed they're ready to turn back any attack on workers' rights. Right: A family affair in the state capital, with the grandchildren of Local 4310 VP Dianne Bailey featured on the newspaper's front page.

Tagged the #DefendTheDream rally, the march to the summit venue at the Greater Columbus Convention Center quickly took on a festive atmosphere. A broad coalition of labor and community groups – including lots of CWAers, the Ohio AFL-CIO, Stand Up for Ohio and We Are Ohio – began planning once news leaked out about the summit. CWA locals were asked to spread the word: come all and bring family and friends. And that is how CWA Local 4310 Vice President Dianne Bailey's grandkids ended up on the front page of the Columbus Dispatch newspaper.

"Virtually every union in Ohio was represented. Just the sheer number of people really impressed me. It was serious but people were joyous. They were there to let the Koch brothers know that every time they come to Ohio to talk about 'right to work,' we'll be right here to let people know it's not going to work," said CWA District 4 Political Director Frank Mathews.