Ohio voters to decide bargaining rights for public employees (The Christian Science Monitor)

Chicago – Ohio voters this coming Tuesday will decide whether or not to uphold a controversial labor law designed to change the face of the public sector labor force in the state.

If passed, the new law will replace a 28-year-old collective bargaining law with a new version that restricts the bargaining terms for the state’s nearly 400,000 public employees, prohibits striking, and gives management the final say on such topics as health insurance.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) signed Senate Bill 5 into law in late March to replace the 1983 law with one he said would close the state’s budget gap and save the state $8 billion.

Opponents cried foul, saying the bill’s true purpose is to weaken the state’s unions, a charge made often in Wisconsin earlier this year when that state’s Republican leadership pushed through a similar bill that brought hundreds of thousands of people to the state capital to protest for weeks.

National attention on the issue is corresponding to the money filtering into the state from special interest groups.

According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, We Are Ohio, a national labor group opposing the bill, is leading the money drive, having raised $19 million since July. Building a Better Ohio, a group advocating the law, raised $7.6 million in that same time period.

Building a Better Ohio and other groups backing the bill reportedly have ties to billionaire industrialists David and Charles Koch and to Mary Cheney, daughter of the former vice president.

Last-minute media blitzes are also spanning the state. This weekend, Ohio voters are receiving robo-calls from former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) asking them to uphold the bill. On her Facebook page, Ms. Palin calls herself “a proud former union member” and said the new bill “will help restore fairness to Ohio taxpayers and help balance the budget.”

Polling suggests that public support for both the bill and Gov. Kasich is eroding.

The Quinnipiac University Polling Institute in Hamden, Conn. released polling results last week that showed the bill failing by a 25-point margin. Last month, the same pollsters showed the bill failing by a 14-point margin. Last week’s poll also showed Kasich’s approval rating at 36 percent, a four-point drop from the earlier poll. His disapproval rating is currently at 52 percent.

The governor held rallies last week throughout the state to galvanize support for the referendum. Talking to reporters Thursday before a rally in Independence, Ohio, he said he understood that passing the bill would not be easy.

“I'm not a guy who goes and hides…. This is a tough, uphill fight,” he said.

Among the measures in the new bill:

—    Public workers are prohibited from striking; employers are required to deduct twice a day’s pay for each day of a strike, should it occur.

—    Health coverage is excluded from collective bargaining; management has the authority to decide whether or not other topics, such as starting and quitting times, and work assignments, can be negotiated.

—    Performance-based pay replaces seniority-based scales; an evaluation system is established for teachers.

—    Performance, not seniority, becomes the main factor in layoffs.

—    Employees must pay at least 15 percent of health insurance costs, and management has the option of bargaining for more. Management also determines benefits.

The law has not taken effect with the referendum pending.

View the original article here

China releases human rights activist Hu Jia (AFP)

BEIJING (AFP) – One of China's most prominent prisoners of conscience, Hu Jia, returned home Sunday after completing a jail term for subversion but looked likely to be muzzled along with other top dissidents.

The human rights activist's release after more than three years in prison comes after outspoken artist Ai Weiwei emerged in Beijing last week from nearly three months in police custody amid a government crackdown on dissent.

Hu is widely expected to be hit with the same strict curbs as those applied to Ai and a range of other activists and rights lawyers, who have apparently been ordered to keep quiet to gain their freedom.

Hu returned to his home outside Beijing early Sunday morning, his wife and fellow activist Zeng Jinyan said on Twitter.

"On a sleepless night, Hu Jia arrived home at 2:30 am. Peaceful, very happy. Need to rest for a while. Thanks to you all," she said.

Hu, 37, was jailed on subversion charges in April 2008 just ahead of the Beijing Olympics after angering the ruling Communist Party through his years of bold campaigning for civil rights, the environment and AIDS sufferers.

Ai's detention had sparked an international outcry and his recent release has been widely seen as an attempt by China to defuse criticism during a visit by Premier Wen Jiabao to Europe now under way.

Hu's release at the end of his prison term, however, was long expected.

Aside from his jail sentence, Hu also faces one year of "deprivation of political rights" -- essentially a ban on political activities -- and Zeng has indicated he would be making no public statements.

"During this time, he must treat his cirrhosis and take care of his family," she said on Twitter last week.

Hu suffers from cirrhosis of the liver and Zeng has said the ailment has worsened during his time in jail, blaming the prison for providing inadequate medical care.

Hu and Zeng have a young daughter.

It was not immediately clear exactly what sort of restrictions Hu may face.

Attempts to reach Zeng by telephone at the couple's home were unsuccessful and Chinese security personnel prevented AFP journalists from reaching their apartment on Sunday.

EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton welcomed Hu's release, but her spokesman stressed the bloc's demands that Beijing ensure full freedoms are respected.

"Obviously we welcome the fact Hu has been released," said Ashton's spokesman, Michael Mann. "But it is important to keep an eye on how he is treated from here on in. We hope Hu is given full rights," he told AFP.

Hu began his activism by highlighting discrimination against Chinese HIV/AIDS sufferers and environmental degradation, but later spoke out on behalf of a wide range of victims of government abuses.

As a result, he and Zeng have suffered repeated detention or lengthy periods of house arrest that they have criticised as unlawful.

They made a short documentary, available on the Internet, detailing one of these detentions from 2006-2007 called "Prisoners of Freedom City".

Regularly tipped as a potential candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize, Hu has won overseas human rights awards from bodies such as the European Parliament.

"China has been a dictatorship throughout its entire history," Hu told AFP in a 2007 interview.

"Now... I believe that we have a chance to bring democracy to this country for the first time in 5,000 years."

He was taken into custody in December 2007 amid a previous crackdown on government critics ahead of the Beijing Olympics and convicted on subversion charges.

Rights groups have accused China's ruling Communist Party of abusing such charges as a way of silencing government critics.

Zeng said police told her Hu was not likely to enjoy a "normal" life after his release, remarks she interpreted to mean he would be confined to his home like some other recently released dissidents.

New York-based activist group Human Rights Watch on Friday also urged the Chinese government not to subject Hu and his family to "house arrest or other extrajudicial deprivations of liberty".

The government launched a major crackdown on dissent in February in an apparent bid to squelch any possible Chinese version of the "Arab Spring" uprisings in the Middle East.

Normally outspoken detainees such as Ai have uncharacteristically refused public comment after their release.

Activists say this indicates a systematic new government strategy to silence dissenters, possibly through threats against them or their families.

The rights group Chinese Human Rights Defenders has said 49 people have been detained on suspicion of criminal acts in the ongoing crackdown, most of whom have either been formally arrested, sent to re-education camps, or released on bail awaiting trial.

View the original article here

NY birthplace of gay rights movement fetes new law (AP)

NEW YORK – Champagne corks popped, rainbow flags flapped and crowds embraced and danced in the streets of Manhattan's Greenwich Village as New York became the sixth and largest state in the U.S. to legalize same-sex marriage.

Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the bill shortly before midnight Friday, almost 42 years to the day that the modern-day gay rights movement was born amid violent encounters between police and gay activists at the Stonewall Inn.

Hundreds who gathered inside and outside the landmark bar erupted in celebration after the Republican-led state Senate cast the decisive vote.

Scott Redstone and his partner of 29 years, Steven Knittweis, hugged. And Redstone popped the question. "I said, `Will you marry me?' And he said, `Of course!'"

Queens teacher Eugene Lovendusky, 26, who is gay, said he hopes to marry someday.

"I am spellbound. I'm so exhausted and so proud that the New York state Senate finally stood on the right side of history," he said.

He then repeated a chant he had screamed during a protest at a fundraiser for President Barack Obama the previous night: "I am somebody. I deserve full equality."

Alex Kelston, 26, who works in finance in Manhattan, said he hopped in a cab and rushed to the bar when he heard the news.

"This is the place where the movement started, and it's a way to close the loop and celebrate the full equality of gay people in New York," he said.

The so-called Stonewall riots of June 28, 1969, helped spark the equal rights movement for homosexuals. Gay activists had pinned their hopes on a positive vote this week in New York to help regain momentum in other states in light of recent failed attempts.

Amid Friday's celebration, New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan and bishops around the state released a statement condemning the passage of the law by the Legislature, saying they were "deeply disappointed and troubled."

"Our society must regain what it appears to have lost — a true understanding of the meaning and the place of marriage, as revealed by God, grounded in nature, and respected by America's foundational principles," the statement from the Roman Catholic leader read.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who lobbied for the bill, was mid-sentence at a press conference on the city budget when City Council Speaker Christine Quinn interrupted him to announce it had passed.

The room exploded in cheers from other lawmakers and staff, as Quinn — the first gay person to hold the job — embraced her colleagues and smiled, tears welling in her eyes.

"It's hard to describe the feeling of having the law of your state changed to say that you ... are a full member of the state and that your family is as good as any other family," she said.

In a way, the decision will change everything for her and her partner, Quinn said.

"Tomorrow, my family will gather for my niece's college graduation party, and that'll be a totally different day because we'll get to talk about when our wedding will be and what it'll look like, and what dress Jordan, our grand-niece, will wear as the flower girl. And that's a moment I really thought would never come," she said.

"I really can't really describe what this feels like, but it is one of the best feelings I have ever had in my life," she said.

Bloomberg called the vote "a historic triumph for equality and freedom."

He said he would support the Republicans who voted for the measure Friday, and that he believed their actions were consistent with GOP ideals of liberty and freedom.

"The Republicans who stood up today for those principles I think will long be remembered for their courage, foresight and wisdom," said the mayor, a Democrat-turned-Republican-turned-independent. "Ten, 20, 30 years from now, I believe they will look back on this vote as one of the finest and most proud moments in their life."

Bloomberg, a billionaire who had lobbied in Albany for the measure along with Quinn, has the personal resources to help the Republicans withstand any backlash from their own party.

Celebrities also responded, with Lady Gaga posting on Twitter that she "can't stop crying." The pop star has been urging her 11 million followers to call New York senators in support of the bill.

"The revolution is ours to fight for love, justice+equality. Rejoice NY, and propose. We did it!!!" she also posted.

Talk show host Wendy Williams posted to her Twitter followers as well, saying: "Yay for Gay Marriage! NY, it's about time... jersey we're next! How you doin?"

Meanwhile, the city's official tourism marking agency said the bill was "good news" for the $31 billion industry that it represents.

"Now, more gay couples — and their families and friends — will have an opportunity to celebrate their special day here," said George Fertitta, the CEO of NYC & Co.

In San Francisco, where a march kicked off the city's pride weekend, participants said they were just hearing about what had happened across the country.

"What happened tonight in New York is great, is wonderful, so long as we pick up and keep moving beyond this because a lot more needs to get done," said 26-year-old Kate Lubeck of San Jose.

Pete Weiss of Oakland said he has a lot of good friends in New York who he thinks will take advantage of the new law.

"You'd think California would have been first, but maybe this will spread and we'll be next," the 42-year-old said.

Legalization of gay marriage comes as New York City celebrates gay pride, culminating in a parade on Sunday.

Michael Musto, a columnist for the Village Voice, an alternative weekly, said the timing of the vote "could not be more fortuitous."

"It's definitely going to be the most exuberant gay pride parade in history," he said.

___

Associated Press Writers Samantha Gross and Cristian Salazar contributed to this report.

View the original article here