“Right-to-work” laws were passed last year in Michigan and Indiana , and the Workplace Freedom Act could be headed for an upcoming Ohio ballot. Backers says it’s about choice; organized labor calls it blatant union busting.

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It’s here, on the side of State Route 315 near the Ohio State University campus, that unions have taken their fight against the “right-to-work” proposal with two attention-getting billboards: One with the words “Workplace Freedom Act” over a Soviet hammer and sickle, the other with a skull and crossbones telling drivers “Workplace Free Act Poisons Workers.”

Dan Kirk is president of a local Teamsters office and traveled to Michigan to rally against the “right-to-work” proposal there.

If ‘right-to-work’ comes in, it destroys the working family. Wages are cut, benefits are cut, working conditions are cut. It’s a long list of things, and it doesn’t matter what union you’re in.

Several Ohio unions have contributed to Keep Ohio’s Heritage, a political action committee formed last year to fight ‘right-to-work.’ It raised about $20,000 in the final half of 2012.

As unions continue their campaign against the proposal, the campaign for banning mandatory union dues rolls along.

The new television ad comes from the political action committee Ohioans for Workforce Freedom. Home builders, business groups, and others who could benefit from weaker unions have donated more than $130,000 to the PAC.

Strategist Chris Littleton leads the effort. He also led the landslide victory for a 2011 state constitutional amendment designed to let Ohio opt-out of health care mandates. He’s confident supporters will collect the nearly 400,000 signatures by July to get “right-to-work” on the November ballot.

We know what the people feel on this, we know what they want, we know what their desire is. So all we want to do is get it to the ballot and let them decide.

The most recent polls seem to support Littleton: A survey by Quinnipiac University last year found 54 percent of Ohio voters think workers should be able to opt out of unions. Forty percent oppose making union membership optional.

Ohio State University sociologist Andrew Martin studies organized labor. He says Southern states have long liked “right-to-work,” but Northern industrial states like Ohio initially rejected it.

“There was some effort to get ‘right-to-work’ laws passed, but they weren’t as successful. Now there is a renewed effort in states like Michigan, like Ohio, like Indiana, to get that passed.”

While Democrats are united in their opposition to “right-to-work,” the issue divides conservatives. As gung-ho Tea Party groups gather signatures, more-moderate Republicans don’t want a repeat of their Senate Bill 5 defeat. Governor John Kasich says “right-to-work” is not a priority for him.

Conservative strategist Chris Littleton says he knows why.

Who from the established political world likes the idea of getting involved with unions? Unions are unbelievably strong, they’re very influential, they’re very powerful, they spend a lot of money.

Another group of Littleton’s, the Ohio Liberty Coalition, has openly mocked Kasich and many other Republicans for ignoring the issue.

However much the two sides spend gathering signatures and in an ensuing ad war, it likely will pale in comparison to the Senate Bill 5 campaign, where combined spending surpassed $40 million.

Now, some of the backers of that effort are using it to convince Ohioans to re-elect President Obama.

They paraded through downtown Columbus, past the Statehouse, to the Secretary of State’s office where they unloaded a semi truck full of petition signatures.

They only needed fewer than 300,000 valid signatures, but they turned in well over 1.3 million. Their energy was palpable.

Fast forward to now, one year later, a central Ohio police officer and a Democratic State Senator join a couple of organizers for President Obama’s re-election campaign on a sidewalk that, just a year ago, was filled with thousands of protestors.

Senator Charleta Tavares issues this warning about Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

“If he had his way, Mitt Romney would make issue two a nationwide problem.”

That’s a point Democrats are pounding in a new web ad featuring Groveport Police Officer Scott Clinger.

Clinger says it’s important to remind Ohioans that Romney supported issue two and that he has come out against hiring more police officer and firefighters. But on this day, Clinger is the only police officer speaking out at this event on the issue though he warns he’s not the only one working to defeat Mitt Romney.

“I am one of those working on the campaign and there are others out there, working on the campaign, making phone calls, knocking on doors and doing the same things that we did on SB 5. We haven’t forgotten,” Clinger says.

Ohio’s largest labor federation, The AFLCIO, says its members are already working, behind the scenes, to insure President Obama’s re-election.

In a news release, the AFLCIO says it, along with other labor groups and an ally group “Working America,” has been doing outreach and will do more.

The Labor 2012 operation plans to involve more than 70,000 volunteer shifts that will focus on voter registration, voter education and voter turnout in the coming months.

Chris Maloney, a spokesman for Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, isn’t worried Democrats will be able to revive the spirit that led to the overwhelming repeal of the unpopular labor issue last year.

“This is nothing more than a pathetic attempt to distract attention away from Joe Biden’s awkward cancellation on Ohio Democrats earlier this week and the President’s failed policies which have left 425,000 Ohioans struggling to find work.”

Maloney says he finds some irony when he compares the candidate Barack Obama of four years ago with the President Barack Obama of today.

“And it’s really telling that four years after they adopted the mantra of ‘Hope and Change,’ it’s these kinds of actions that we’ve come to expect from the President’s campaign whose idea of support for labor and the middle class has been reduced to directing negative web video and holding press conferences.”

There are four months left until Ohioans vote. A lot of money has already been spent on ads to persuade Ohioans for or against the candidates, and most political pundits believe there will be many more ads between now and then.

In this swing state, the question might be which issue motivates voters the most.

But his toughest work may still lie ahead.

The Ohio Democratic Party’s organizational meeting stayed informal but relatively orderly, even during the biggest item on the agenda: the election of the chairman to a two-year term. Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory stood up and introduced one of the two candidates – the current chair.

“I firmly believe that he is the right person to lead us to victory as we re-elect U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown and President of the United States Barack Obama. Ladies and gentlemen, I place into nomination the name Christopher Redfern.”

Redfern’s supporters tried to drown out with thunderous applause the smattering of boos from the backers of the other candidate, Lorain County Democratic Party chair Anthony Giardini.

In nominating Giardini, Andrea Norris of Barberton shouted her main reason for backing him – her belief that he can bring together union members who are angry at Redfern.

“We can’t afford to have a leader that doesn’t have the support of the unions and voters that have so vocally spoke out against Mr. Redfern,” Norris said.

But if union members were angry, they didn’t show it in the vote. Redfern won re-election handily, 51-10. Giardini says he hopes his supporters can get behind Redfern – though he admits he still has concerns about the Redfern’s strategy.

“I like Chris personally, so I don’t – it’s not like I dislike him. I still disagree with the top-down approach, I still believe we need to build our party from the bottom up and that’s not going to change,” Giardini said.

Mike Kelly of Columbus is with the Plumbers and Pipefitters Union, which backed Giardini. He says the results of the election in 2010 – which were disastrous for Democrats showed Redfern didn’t properly spend more than $1 million dollars his union gave that year.

“And his egotistic and really flamboyant attitude is something we don’t care for. He indifferent to labor.”

Redfern said after the vote that he’s not bothered by such opinions, and that he’s not going to apologize for being – using his word – brash.

“I’m at peace with who I am, I’m comfortable, as you’ve come to know, in my own skin. Kasler: And you think the party is too? Redfern: I think the party is the strongest in the country.”

Redfern shook off concerns about how he’ll handle serving as both the party chair and in his old Ohio House seat to which he’s likely to be elected this fall. And he says while he didn’t solicit anyone in elected office or in labor unions for support, his door is open.

“We’ll work hard to reach out to our friends in labor, whether they be affiliated in the private sector or those in the public sector.

“We’ll continue to push forward an agenda that reflects the membership and the membership’s wishes, and I’m confident that those who have a difference of opinion about the party or the party’s management will work together to elect and re-elect Democrats.”

Redfern also had harsh words for Republicans as they head into a meeting tomorrow, where Chairman Kevin DeWine says he will resign following the election of a new chairman, the result of a long struggle between DeWine with allies of Gov. John Kasich.

Making a reference to a comment Kasich made not long after his election as governor, Redfern said Kasich “drove the bus over DeWine” at the order of Columbus lobbyist Doug Preisse, the chair of the Franklin County Republican Party. And he claimed the battle within the GOP isn’t about strategy, as it was with his re-election bid – it’s about access to money.

But the plan’s critics say it’s a repackaging of ideas that voters soundly rejected months ago.

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson says his plan to reshape the Cleveland schools is not about politics – it’s about quality education.

“It has nothing to do with whether or not you’re a good Democrat or a good Republican, whether you support unions or you don’t support unions, whether you support charters or public schools. This is about how do we educate our children.”

Jackson says the district has been making progress, but it’s too slow, and the schools will soon need to plug a 65 million dollar hole. His plan includes some ideas that some see as radical.

It would allow the sharing of levy money with charter schools that are sponsored by or work closely with the district. It would create a governing body that would set and monitor standards which would be exempt from sunshine laws requiring open records and open meetings.

And it would make big changes in contracts with teachers’ unions. The district could extend the school day or the school year without getting union approval. No tenure would be offered for new teachers, and contracts will be limited to two years. Seniority would no longer be the key factor in deciding layoffs or callbacks. And if a teacher gets the district’s lowest rating of “ineffective” two years in a row, that teacher could be fired.

The plan has the strong support of Gov. John Kasich and other Republicans. But some of those ideas bother Rep. Sandra Williams, a Democrat of Cleveland, who offered qualified support for the plan, but says she hasn’t agreed to co-sponsor the plan in the House.

“I believe that the mayor’s plan has merit. I agree with about 70% of it. There are only a few things that I do not agree with.”

But one of the state’s two teachers unions has many things that it finds problematic in the mayor’s plan, and is very worried that if it’s approved, other school districts will want the same changes. Melissa Cropper is president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers, and she says that will destroy collective bargaining rights of teachers around the state.

“I find it very ironic that they stand up there and say how important it is to involve the teachers voice, but they don’t have a teacher standing up there with them. I think that makes a statement right there.”

Other critics of the plan – including House Minority Leader Armond Budish of Beachwood in suburban Cleveland – say it amounts to a partial retread of Senate Bill 5, the collective bargaining reform law that was soundly rejected by voters last fall. Jackson, who supported the repeal of Senate Bill 5, says those who are concerned about the plan including some of the ideas from it shouldn’t be.

“I am opposed to anything that eliminates collective bargaining. But I’m also opposed to collective bargaining standing in the way of educating children.”

Cleveland Democratic Sen. Nina Turner was also an opponent of Senate Bill 5. But she supports Jackson’s plan.

“To allow anybody to drag this debate totally about Senate Bill 5 is the wrong way to look at it. We should start with what is in the best interest of Cleveland’s kids, and then work from that. And absolutely – we definitely have to be fair to the teachers. So I understand their concerns, but that’s not the position that I’m starting at.”

Jackson says if someone has better ideas than the ones he’s come up with, he’d like to hear them. Cropper with the OFT says the Cleveland Teachers Union has a plan that she says improves student outcomes without taking away collective bargaining rights of teachers.

“Let’s work this out. We don’t need legislation to make it happen – we just need to all be together at the same table to make it happen. If they want to go through with Senate Bill 5 language, then we’ll go through with Senate Bill 5-like efforts to stop it.”

But Jackson says that he won’t accept any plan that involves incremental changes – because he says the community won’t be willing to approve a levy request unless there is major change in the Cleveland schools.

What do you think: should workers be able to opt out of unions?

Now a new independent poll shows Ohio voters may desert the union cause over another proposed ballot issue. Backers label their plan “right to work,” and if passed it would ban future union contracts, public and private, that require workers to pay money to unions.

Click the play button above to hear Bill Cohen’s full report.

Much of those look to build on gains made in 2011.

Looking back at the first year he presided over the Ohio House, Speaker Bill Batchelder
said “the goal was not re-election. The goal was to put Ohio back to work and create jobs for our people.”

As he stood surrounded by many of his 59 member Republican caucus, Batchelder said the economy and jobs are still a top priority in 2012. Also high on the agenda: workforce development – including getting more data from businesses, “one-stop shops” where Ohioans can receive jobless benefits and retraining, and the possible requirement of an internship or work experience to get a college degree.

Also leading the list – workers compensation reform, and a bill that Rep. Mike Dovilla of Berea near Cleveland calls “JobsOhio 2.”

“The JobsOhio 2 bill will continue the process of restructuring state government to make it more efficient and effective in supporting Ohio’s businesses and attracting new enterprises to our great state,” Dovilla said.

JobsOhio is the semi-private job creation boarded created by Gov. John Kasich shortly after taking office.

Rep. Christina Hagan of Alliance says the JobsOhio 2 bill will establish a new focus for the state.

“We’re not here to act as government any more. We’re here to act as a service agency and that is a remarkable thing,” Hagan said.

When pressed for details, Speaker Batchelder said he’d rather Gov. John Kasich release them, and hinted that might happen in the governor’s State of the State speech in the next few weeks.

While the collective bargaining reform law known as Senate Bill 5 was overwhelmingly rejected in November, Majority Floor Leader Matt Huffman of Lima says there is interest in passing parts that did well in polls, such as requiring unionized public employees to pay more for their health care or their retirement.

“Those things need to get addressed at some point. I think that they can’t get addressed unless we have local jurisdictions – of which there are, I think, 2200, including school districts and villages, counties and cities – stepping forward and saying, ‘we want this particular proposal to be adopted’,” Huffman said.

Trying to pass any part of the soundly rejected Senate Bill 5 would be a risky move, says Democratic leader Armond Budish of Beachwood in suburban Cleveland.

“They chose to do an extreme, radical overreach that simply attacks working people, and if they come back with another attack on working people, we’ll respond the same – we’ll fight like hell against it.”

Budish blasted Republicans for their efforts at job creation and specifically for JobsOhio, which he says has serious constitutional issues that his caucus has tried to fight in court.

“They took away accountability for taxpayer dollars, they took away the ethics rules for taxpayers dollars with JobsOhio 1. They haven’t made it clear what they’re going to do.”

And Budish says his 40-member caucus will be releasing its own priorities in the next week or so.

“Our list will do what Ohioans are looking for, which is protect middle class Ohioans, protect good jobs.”

There was no mention of so-called social and moral legislation, such as bills having to do with abortion. But a widely-discussed ban on dangerous exotic animals is expected this year, though Senate President Tom Niehaus has raised concerns about its constitutionality.

There are also plans for legislation on casinos, as critics have complained about administrative delays, and a measure to finalize the Great Lakes Compact. The compact was the one piece of legislation Gov. John Kasich vetoed last year.