Ohio union plan like Wisconsin draws protests

Are domestic protests, civil in comparson to their international counterparts, any less significant in terms of social and economic consequences despite the lighter media coverage? The markets say no.

Headline: Ohio union plan like Wisconsin draws protests

More than 5,000 protesters converged on Ohio's state capital on Tuesday as state lawmakers considered a bill like one in Wisconsin to curtail collective bargaining rights for public workers and eliminate their right to strike.

Republican supporters of the Ohio proposal said the limits to public workers' ability to bargain are necessary to give local governments flexibility and help reduce the state's two-year budget deficit of about $8 billion.

"Over time, these contracts have often incorporated demands that frankly belong to public employers rather than employees -- things like specifying the number of workers that should be assigned to a specific job," said Jason Mauk, a spokesman for Ohio State Senate Republicans.

Source: finance.yahoo.com