COLUMBUS, Ohio – With Wisconsin convulsed by unrest over a bill to curb public employee unions, a similar measure is steaming toward passage in Ohio, a bigger labor stronghold with a vital role as a political battleground.
The speed with which the bill passed the Ohio Senate is energizing Republicans as they push to break what they see as labor's stranglehold on public agencies.
The close vote bolsters Democrats and their union supporters. They believe they could go to the ballot box to reverse any law that passes.
Wisconsin has a stronger liberal tradition than Ohio, where state workers didn't get the right to bargain collectively until 1983.
The Ohio bill could go to House committee hearings as early as next week and receive strong support from the full chamber.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110303/ap_on_re_us/us_ohio_union_fight
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