Executive-Secretary of the North Shore AFL-CIO, Len DiCosimo, joined America’s Work Force Union Podcast to talk about the efforts to obtain the signatures required to get the Ohio Citizens Redistricting Amendment on the November ballot.
The Ohio Citizens Redistricting Amendment is an initiative that if approved by voters would create a redistricting committee of 15 bi-partisan members who can not be current or former politicians. The amendment would address the current gerrymandered voting districts in Ohio. There have been seven attempts to redraw the districts, and all have been denied because they were deemed to be still gerrymandered.
DiCosimo talked about the work the labor federation is doing to get the required signatures to put the issue on the November ballot. He said it’s gone remarkably well for the North Shore, who are trying to obtain 7,500 signatures, or about 2 percent of the total required signatures statewide.
Recently, DiCosimo was nominated to join the Cuyahoga Arts and Culture Board. He discussed how the work done through the organization would impact Local unions in Cuyahoga County. To date, there has been over $250 million of funding for vendors using union work through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture, he said. The next funding cycle expires in 2027, but DiCosimo noted there are attempts to address the funding on next year’s ballot to avoid any lapse.
For more from DiCosimo, please listen to the show above.