Dozens Rally Against Senate Bill 5 in Nashport

With just hours until the State House is expected to vote on controversial Senate Bill 5, many southeast Ohioans are still putting up a fight against the measure.

Dozens of public workers gathered at the IBEW hall in Nashport Monday evening to rally against the bill that would restrict some of the collective bargaining rights for some 350,000 public workers in the state.

"We don’t need the legislature to come in and change a bunch of things that really is going to affect the middle class and if you affect the middle class, you’re going to affect what people are spending in the economy and that’s going to have an affect on everyone," said John Lanning, Tri-Valley Education Association President.

Lanning says everything indicates the house will most likely pass the bill followed by Governor Kasich signing it into law. But that’s not stopping not only these workers but hundreds of thousands across the state ready to fight back.

"Then we change our direction and start getting ready for a referendum of the voters in November. All the polls are showing that a majority of Ohioans are opposed to this. We just need to make sure we get our message out to everyone," said Lanning.

After the rally, those who attended went out to area neighborhoods to educate residents on the bill. Lanning says collective bargaining has served southeast Ohio well over the years.