Toledo,
Ohio
Branch
100 had nearly 150 marchers participating in this year’s Labor Day parade. We were joined by nearly 10,000 other members
of various labor organizations. There were floats and marching bands, as well. Many of the marchers wore red “WE ARE
ONE” shirts to signify our unity against Proposition 2, the ballot initiative resulting from our petition drive to repeal
Senate Bill 5 in Ohio. Labor gathered over 1.3 million signatures to get the repeal on the ballot in November.
We now face a new challenge.
We need to gather 230,000 valid registered voter’s signatures by September 30th to prevent Republican sponsored
Ohio House Bill 194 from becoming law. This law, already signed by our Governor but delayed by the petition challenge would
restrict early voting; reduce the time for absentee voting and forbid pole workers from directing voters to their correct
precinct, thus nullifying their vote.
Then theirs the Postal Service default. I saw President Rolando on TV with Postmaster Donohoe talking about
what needs to be done. I thought our President did an excellent job of presenting the facts and challenging the Postmaster
on his solutions.
Elimination
of Saturday delivery, closing Post Offices, laying off workers and reneging on our benefits is not the solution. Convincing
Congress to give back the billions in overpayments would solve the problem in the short run. Then there would be time to find
long-term solutions.
All of the news coverage, other than our President, has focused on cuts and closings. No one seems to even
mention the overpayments. Congress has its hands full. They have the Super Committee on deficit reduction, the jobs bill and
Postal relief that must be acted on soon. Everyone needs to contact their Representatives and Senators to let them know where
we stand.
Ray
Bricker
Branch 100
