Ohio Voters Block Anti-Workers Comp Legislation Until Referendum
20 July 1997
Workers' Compensation Take-Away Legislation Blocked
COLUMBUS, Ohio, July 20 -- A Brinks armored truck will
deliver close to 400,000 signatures of Ohio voters to Secretary of State Bob
Taft at 10:00 am tomorrow, putting on hold the Voinovich administration's
recently adopted workers' compensation legislation. The law, which was to
take effect tomorrow, will now be blocked until the voters decide in November
to support or reject it.
The petitions forcing this legislation to a vote of the citizens of Ohio
were circulated by a statewide organization of injured workers, their
attorneys and organized labor.
"This referendum will be an historic first step toward stopping the war
against injured and disabled Americans," said Warren Davis, Secretary-
Treasurer of the Ohio UAW and UAW Region 2 Director. "Besides restoring
urgently needed benefits to Ohio's injured workers, a vote to reject this
take-away law will send an important message throughout the nation,
particularly to our representatives in Washington, that the voters will not
accept tampering with our social safety net, whether it's social security,
Medicare or workers' compensation that's under attack," Davis stated.
"With the filing of twice the required number of signatures, we are
certain to meet all the technical requirements for referral to the voters."
said Keith Brooks, who is Chairman of the injured workers organization, and a
member of the four person Committee to Represent the Petitioners. "We are
confident the voters will agree that the rights and benefits of injured
workers should not be slashed in order to provide a massive tax cut for Ohio
corporations," Brooks added.
The referendum on workers' compensation will be the first voter review of
any state legislation since 1939. There have been only eight state-wide
referendums since the adoption of Ohio's Constitution in 1912. Seven of the
eight, all except one regarding prohibition, overturned the laws passed by the
state legislature.
Almost every day in Ohio a worker dies from an occupational injury or
illness, while more than 200 workers in the state are injured so severely that
they must lose time from work. "The vast majority of these injuries can be
prevented by shifting the focus from cutting benefits to enhancing workplace
safety," said Esther Weissman, an attorney who represents injured and disabled
workers, who is one of the official petitioners. "Defeating Voinovich's take-
away legislation in November is the only way to change Ohio's focus toward
safety on the job," Weissman stated.
"The filing of these petitions is itself a great victory for recently
injured workers, and for those who may be injured between now and the November
election, because it blocks the implementation of this terribly backward law,"
Weissman pointed out. "This law is so incredibly mean spirited that the
rejection by the voters seems certain," Weissman concluded.
SOURCE Committee to Represent the Petitioners
