Count former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland among those trying to rally supporters to attend a rally Tuesday in Columbus against Senate Bill 5.

“I want to invite you to come to the Statehouse in Columbus on Tuesday to voice your opposition to this bill,” Strickland wrote in an e-mail sent by the Ohio Democratic Party.

The measure sponsored by state Sen. Shannon Jones, R-Springboro, aims to prohibit the state and state employees and state institutions of higher education and their employees from collective bargaining.

It also would abolish salary schedules for public employees and instead require merit pay, among other changes to the Collective Bargaining Law.

Gov. John Kasich has expressed his support for the bill in concept, but he has also signaled that he might bring forward his own plan that could go even further by banning public employee strikes.

Republicans are the majority party in the Ohio House of Representatives and Ohio Senate.

Hundreds of union protesters packed the Statehouse last Tuesday during a committee hearing conducted by the Ohio Senate Insurance, Commerce and Labor Committee.

-- John Arthur Hutchison
JHutchison@News-Herald.com
Twitter: newsheraldjah