Tim Burga, President of the Ohio AFL-CIO, joined the Amercia’s Work Force Union Podcast to talk about the efforts by Citizens Not Politicians to collect enough signatures to get an issue on the November ballot that would remove politicians from redistricting efforts. Burga also talked about the historically low number of bills passed by the state legislature and how the state labor federation decides which politicians to endorse.
The Citizens Not Politicians efforts to collect signatures to get an issue on the ballot that could help to end gerrymandered legislative maps in Ohio are underway after receiving a significant push during the March 19 Primary Election. The proposed ballot initiative would remove politicians from the proposed map-making committee. Instead, it would be made up of citizens. Burga talked about the importance of having fair legislative districts and how that could impact different political races across the state. He said it is a high bar to reach by the July 4 deadline, but he is confident they will reach the signature requirements to get the proposal on the ballot.
Burga then talked about the historically low level of bills being passed by the Ohio legislature and how the gerrymandered districts are contributing. He said it may not be the worst thing not to have many bills passed, as most of the proposed bills have been too extreme on either side of the aisle. Burga doesn’t expect many bills to be passed for the rest of the session and hopes that the November election will remove the extremism among state lawmakers.
Finally, Burga talked about the number of pro-labor candidates that the Ohio AFL-CIO has endorsed. He talked about the importance of labor to support the politicians who support them no matter which side of the aisle they’re on. Burga outlined the process the state labor federation used to come to their decision on which candidates to endorse. At the end of the day, Burga said they hope the future legislators will be pro-labor and ensure a better future for union members.
Hear more from Burga by listening to the show above.