Kasich’s Vision for Ohio Workers is “Shabby at Best”

[irishbobcat]

Kasich's Vision for Ohio Workers is "Shabby at Best"

Thousands stood outside McDonald's restaurants this past week in Ohio hoping for a job.  These Ohioans – the unemployed and underemployed who are usually invisible to the public – braved the steady drizzle and cold winds in many areas for hours for the simple opportunity to work.  At the same momentum the hopeful waited in rain-soaked clothes under the shadow of the golden arches, Gov. Kasich was delivering a diatribe about the "shabby at best" benefits and retirement security Bob Evans workers receive in order to justify his support for Senate Bill 5.  In those three little words, Kasich revealed his vision for Ohio, an Ohio dominated by low-wage work, lack of retirement security, little to no benefits for Buckeye workers and an extinct middle class.

Sadly, this vision is not too far off from the current economic situation of our great state.  Nearly half of the jobs created in Ohio last year were low-wage jobs in the retail, food service and temporary staffing industries.  Ohio has also seen a 118 percent increase, from 2007 to 2010, of hourly workers earning at or below the federal minimum wage of $7.25.  The majority of these low wage jobs typically offer minimal access to healthcare and other benefits like retirement and paid vacation and sick days.  These workers are the underemployed who, as a new study from Wider Opportunities for Women shows, are fighting a Sisyphean battle to make ends meet daily.  According to the study, which calculates the amount a worker needs to make in order to achieve economic security, a worker with no children would to make twice the federal minimum wage in order to be economically secure.  And that does not include costs for luxuries like vacations, a dinner outside the home or an occasional trip to the movies. 

But this is only part of the story.  While low wage jobs in Ohio are on the uptick and most of us are tightening our economic waistlines, corporate CEOs in Ohio and across the country made a total of $3.4 billion in compensation in 2010.  This was a 23 percent increase, on average, over 2009 and could support 102,325 median workers' jobs, according to the AFL-CIO's new Executive PayWatch database.  These CEOs, like Bob Evans CEO Steve Davis who made $3,861,593 in 2010 or 218 times the national median income of a waiter or waitress, haven't had to pass up a dinner at a restaurant or trip to movies in order to make their rent.  Nor have they gone without healthcare or given up the hope of retiring with dignity.

But some of these CEOs did pull from their wallets to line the pockets of Governor Kasich's campaign last year and are now being rewarded.  Take for example Anthony Alexander who is the CEO of FirstEnergy Corp. in Akron.  Alexander – who made over $12 million in compensation in 2009 – contributed heavily to Kasich's gubernatorial campaign.  And Kasich did not forget after taking office.  One of Kasich's proposals would slash the budget of the Office of Consumers' Counsel, which represents Ohio citizens in disputes with utility companies.  Companies like FirstEnergy. 

This is the vision Governor Kasich and his political allies have for Ohio and America.  An Ohio and America of "shabby at best" benefits.  An Ohio and America where those lucky enough to have a job eke out a living on the scraps Kasich and his corporate pals choose to throw their way.  An Ohio and America without a middle class. 

This is the vision driving Senate Bill 5, Kasich's devastating budget and other bills that erode the disappearing pool of family-sustaining jobs in Ohio.  This is the vision that the rest of us cannot afford.