COLUMBUS — As the month-long GM strike appears to be nearing an end, Ohio House Democrats on Thursday proposed a bill to extend unemployment compensation and food benefits to the next workers who hit the picket line.
The unemployment compensation bill would be retroactive to compensate GM workers who remain off work until a tentative contract agreement is ratified by United Auto Workers membership.
“Today UAW members on the picket line are taking a huge risk to stand for what is right,” Rep. Lisa Sobecki (D., Toledo) said. “Earlier in the year the nurses of Toledo stood on the streets to protect their patients. Tomorrow it could be a union member in your community fighting against injustice.”
These measures are unlikely to be greeted warmly by a Republican-controlled General Assembly that in the past has demonstrated more interest in restricting collective bargaining rights. No House GOP member has yet signed on.
One bill, sponsored by Reps. Jeffrey Crossman (R., Parma) and Michele Lepore-Hagan (D., Youngstown), would allow striking workers to apply for unemployment compensation benefits from day one of a strike.
Ms. Sobecki and Rep. Allison Russo (D., Columbus) are introducing a resolution urging the federal government to allow such workers to apply for food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Mr. Crossman is waiting for a legislative analysis to learn the potential cost of his bill on Ohio’s unemployment compensation, which, while currently in the black, has gone into the red in past recessions. It has had to borrow from the federal government to meet its obligations.
Lawmakers have been unable to agree on a long-term fix to prevent that from happening again.
“GM has paid into this unemployment compensation fund, so there should be sufficient proceeds to satisfy these claims,” Mr. Crossman said.
He added that he doesn’t believe that the supplemental income to workers from the union — $250 to $275 in weekly union strike pay — should be counted against any benefits.
“This is their savings, just like you wouldn’t want to be discounted for your bank account or CD that you might have filed at your local bank,” Mr. Crossman said. “This is a fund that they created for themselves, to pay themselves back in an emergency situation.”
The Ohio Chamber of Commerce believes unemployment benefits should be reserved for those who became unemployed through no fault of their own. It is also concerned about the fiscal impact on the trust fund, which is fueled entirely by employer premiums.
“The chamber does not support increasing the number of individuals receiving unemployment compensation benefits when the solvency levels are dangerously low,” said Kevin Shimp, the chamber’s director of labor and legal affairs. “Currently, Ohio’s unemployment compensation fund has a third of the amount needed to be solvent during a recession.”
He also pointed to an Obama-era federal law that added job search requirements as a condition for receiving unemployment compensation, raising questions as to whether Ohio could bring striking workers under the umbrella.
Sheri Baker is a married mother in Oakwood, Paulding County, with one child still at home. She has worked for GM for more than 22 years, starting out in Defiance until GM stopped making cast-iron block engines and cylinder heads there. She had to transfer to the Chevy and GMC truck plant in Fort Wayne, Ind., an hour away.
“We are standing up for the middle-class workers in America by wanting GM to invest in us like we invest in them with auto loans,” she said. “I don’t think it’s too much to ask for GM to bring product back to the United States when you want United States people to buy your product.”
First Published October 17, 2019, 4:23 p.m.
