Saturday Stats
Posted June 04, 2022 in eNews
6/7: That’s June 7th — this Tuesday!! — the day we take to the Statehouse to launch the All In For Ohio Agenda with our friends at the Ohio Organizing Collaborative! If you’re sick of the divisive, mean-spirited leadership demonstrated by many of Ohio’s elected officials, we’ve got the aspirational, visionary antidote. Come on down to the West Plaza outside the Statehouse in Columbus, or tune in live on Facebook or YouTube!
$2 billion: Total amount — in cash, infrastructure, tax breaks and exemptions — Ohio lawmakers promised Intel as an incentive to build two new facilities here. Research Director Zach Schiller says that’s more than enough to justify a requirement that Intel hire Ohio residents for at least 80% of its workforce. He has a few other critiques of the capital budget bill that includes new incentives for the corporation. For more, check out his statement.
9,500: Number of jobs restored in Ohio in the month of April, according to Researcher Michael Shields’ latest edition of JobWatch. That’s enough to keep us on track for a full jobs recovery by the end of the year, thanks to unprecedented federal stimulus. But policymakers may put the recovery at risk if they choose the wrong tool to tame inflation. The right tool: a temporary excess profits tax on the corporations driving the price hikes.
213,000: The number of working Ohioans whose bosses steal from them each year by paying less than the minimum wage. If that number sounds familiar, it could be because we cited it in the last issue of Saturday Stats, when we wrote about our livestream event with Sen. Sherrod Brown. We figured we’d reuse it, since the senator revisited our report himself, in a new op-ed published in papers across the state.
$15 billion: Amount being distributed to states by the Environmental Protection Agency — thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law — to replace lead service lines. Our friends at the Northeast Ohio Black Health Coalition are urging Ohio to use those funds equitably to address the disproportionate impact of lead in urban and rural communities. Support their effort by signing this petition!
150: That’s about how many employees at Equitas Health voted to unionize in affiliation with the Ohio Federation of Teachers. The proposed bargaining unit includes social workers, counselors, therapists, advocates, case managers, and other employees across Ohio. OFT President — and Policy Matters Board Chair — Melissa Cropper noted that, for Equitas Health workers, “protections at work and a collective voice are powerful tools that can be employed to advocate for what their organization and clients need.”
Coming up:
Thursday, June 9 at 5:30: The North Shore AFL-CIO Federation of Labor will welcome Amazon Labor Union Organizer and President Chris Smalls for a forum on organizing a labor movement for the 21st century and beyond. This free event is open to the public! Members of the Guardians for Fair Work campaign will be there — we hope you’ll join!
Tuesday, June 21 at noon: Policy Matters Ohio Executive Director Hannah Halbert joins the City Club at Public Square to discuss what’s next in state policy. Come on down to Public Square (in case of rain: the Old Stone Church), or watch live!