COLUMBUS: A 78-year-old grandmother who urged a repeal of Ohio’s overhaul of collective bargaining rights is suddenly at the center of a high-stakes battle over the future of public labor unions in the state.
Marlene Quinn’s great-granddaughter was saved from a house fire, and she told the story in a statewide television spot paid for by the union-backed coalition fighting the law signed in March.
The public gets to vote in November. Quinn urged repeal because she said the law would jeopardize firefighters’ ability to negotiate for safe staffing levels.
Defenders of the law recut footage of Quinn for their own ad and used it to say the bill would help, not hurt, firefighter staffing.
Some 30 stations have pulled the ad. The law’s defenders maintain it is appropriate and lawful.
