Petition drive will place anti-gerrymandering amendment on Ohio ballot

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America's Work Force Union Podcast Legislative Action Government Affairs and Policy United Steelworkers

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Donnie Blatt

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Donnie Blatt, United Steelworkers District 1 Director, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to discuss how a Collective Bargaining Agreement can lead to a safer workplace and the move to end gerrymandering in Ohio.

Blatt discussed the trend in the U.S. regarding businesses that mirror the “Dirty Dozen,” an annual list of companies known for placing their employees in dangerous situations with little regard for their safety. He stated that policies and laws need to be structured to protect workers, and explained that unions, through Collective Bargaining Agreements, can mandate specific working conditions and make the workplace safer.

He then spoke about gerrymandering, which is happening in Ohio. The Steelworkers support the Citizens Not Politicians political action committee, which is pushing a petition drive to amend Ohio’s Constitution. The group is asking Ohio’s registered voters to sign a petition to place its amendment on the ballot. If passed, this Constitutional amendment would create a 15-member Redistricting Commission to draw Ohio’s legislative districts. Blatt called the amendment nonpartisan, as it would ban current or former politicians, political party officials and lobbyists from sitting on the Commission.

As of late April, the group is still working to collect the more than 400,000 signatures needed to put the amendment on the ballot. Blatt noted that Citizens Not Politicians has until mid-July to collect the required signatures.

Listen to the entire episode to learn more about the plan to end gerrymandering in Ohio:

America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.

America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes-IBT, Boyd Watterson, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, Melwood, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of North America, The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.

Petition drive will place anti-gerrymandering amendment on Ohio ballot

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