Vice President Joe Biden is calling Tuesday’s pro-union vote a “gigantic victory for the middle class.”
The statement came in a late-night email Tuesday, according to Politico.
Biden was praising Tuesday’s vote in Ohio on ‘Issue 2′, which repeals Senate Bill 5, an anti-union measure that sets mandatory health care and pension minimums for unionized government employees, bans public worker strikes, does away with binding arbitration and prohibits basing promotions solely on seniority. The bill had been signed into law by Gov. John Kasich.
But the White House email also raised questions as to why it had not come from the President itself, and the White House has not yet responded. Press secretary Jay Carney has said previously that Obama is in favor of the bargaining rights that were in question, and that he “does not support the ballot initiative in Ohio.”
The victory was also met with enthusiasm from labor leaders, including AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.
“Today’s defeat of Issue 2 is a major victory for working families in Ohio and across the country,” said Mr. Trumka in a statement. “Ohio’s working people successfully fought back against lies pushed by shadowy multi-national corporations and their anonymous front groups that attempted to scapegoat public service employees and everyone they serve by assaulting collective bargaining rights.”
Gov. Kasich released a statement on Tuesday night as well, saying “Though I would have preferred a different outcome tonight, the people of Ohio have spoken and I respect their decision.”
Results show Issue 2 was defeated in 73 counties and won only six counties. Nine counties remain undecided.
