Senate Bill 5: What It Is, And Isn't

Senate Bill 5 In A Nutshell: Right now, public employees have a wide range of things they can bargain for with their employers: wages, benefits, working conditions, staffing levels and much more. Senate Bill 5 restricts the range of topics that can be haggled over.

Who is Affected: State employees, public university employees, school district employees and local government workers. The law does not apply to private sector union members.

What Stays: According to the law, collective bargaining is still permitted on wages, hours and "terms and conditions" of employment.

But it's not so simple as that, of course. According to Politifact Ohio, the law "effectively wipes out salary schedules in past labor contracts and directs cities and unions to agree to new salary structures that assign pay raises based on job performance."

The law also says employers are not required to bargain on "any subject reserved to the management and direction of the governmental unit" even if it applies to wages, hours and terms of employment.

Major Restrictions: There are numerous topics that can't be bargained over. Health-care costs are now non-negotiable, and employees have to chip in a minimum of 15 percent of the cost of their coverage. Staffing levels can no longer be negotiated, as well as an employer's decision to subcontract work or eliminate or privatize  a department or work unit.

Can Public Employees Strike?: No. Employers can obtain a court order to halt a strike and punish striking employees up to and including termination.

Do Provisions from Previous Deals Carry Over?: Unless they concern wages, hours and terms and conditions of employment, the answer is no.

If Issue 2 Passes, When Does the Law Take Effect?: Once the election results are certified, SB5 would become the law of the land.