COLUMBUS — Republican Gov. John Kasich on Friday erased the right of independent in-home health-care and child-care workers to collectively bargain the same way his Democratic predecessor Ted Strickland created that right more than six years ago —with the stroke of a pen.

Mr. Kasich issued an executive order that undid two Strickland executive orders from 2007 and 2008, noting that these workers are not state employees but rather independent contractors who contract with the state for their services.

“Allowing these independent contractors to collectively bargain also gave them access to any health-care insurance their chosen unions provided to their members as a benefit of membership,” Mr. Kasich wrote.

“... Since that time, health-care insurance has become widely available through other measures, such as the federal health insurance exchanges and Medicaid.”

Mr. Strickland had argued when he signed his orders that extending collective-bargaining rights to these workers would improve the quality of care provided. Critics accused him of padding the rolls of unions that had supported him in the 2006 election.

“These are the people who care for our children, our parents and grandparents, and disabled members of our communities,” Mr. Strickland said Friday. “Denying them a voice is not only wrong, it’s dangerous to the people who depend on their care. Voters of Ohio came together in 2011 and made clear they will not tolerate attacks on our workers, and ignoring the will of the people is unacceptable.”

Mr. Kasich’s order rescinds the bargaining rights effective immediately, although the child-care and in-home health-care workers’ current contracts under the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Council 8 and Service Employees International Union District 1199, respectively, do not expire until June 30.

“This is a volatile and uncertain time for Ohio’s home-care providers and consumers already because of radical moves by Governor Kasich to effectively eliminate all independent home-care providers and slash the pay of those that remain,” said Becky Williams, SEIU’s district president.

“Now it is clear that Kasich wants to dismantle the ability of home-care workers to organize a union in hopes of silencing their ability to fight for improved funding and increased quality of service to Ohio’s seniors and people with disabilities”

Roughly 7,000 nurses and other in-home health-care workers were affected by Mr. Strickland’s initial executive order. AFSCME said that Mr. Kasich’s order affects 2,700 in-home child-care workers.

Mr. Kasich’s order comes after the recent approval of a new contract with the Ohio Civil Services Employees Union, the largest union representing state employees. It provides for 2.5 percent raises in each of the next three years. That contract typically influences contracts with other unions that follow.

Mr. Strickland is running for the U.S. Senate seat held by Rob Portman (R., Cincinnati). But first the former governor faces a contest with Cincinnati City Councilman PG Sittenfeld for the Democratic nomination in the 2016 primary.

Meanwhile, Mr. Kasich will visit Georgia and South Carolina next week as he considers joining an already crowded field for the 2016 Republican nomination for president.

Contact Jim Provance at: jprovance@theblade.com or 614-221-0496.

First Published May 23, 2015, 4:00 a.m.