Interesting happenings taking place over the last couple of days in response to Ohio's anti-Union Senate Bill 5. Two major companies in the Youngstown area have quit the Regional Chamber of Commerce in protest of the Chamber's support of the law.
The first to quit the local chamber in protest was Fireline, Inc. which The Buisness Journal Daily calls "one of Youngstown's most successful and innovative companies" and has supported the local chamber of commerce for over 40 years,
From the article:
"We have a very cooperative work force here," said Fireline founder Roger Jones during a press event at the company Wednesday. "The union has never lied to me and we have never manipulated the contract. It seemed like an insult to me," he said of the chamber's support.
Jones sent a letter to Humphries last week announcing Fireline would withdraw. The company hasn't received a reply.
Most of Fireline's 100 employees are members of Local 5025 of the United Steel Workers union, Jones said, emphasizing that the productive cooperation between management and labor has allowed his company to prosper. His company joined the chamber early on, shortly after it was established in 1967. "We did support the chamber until this came up," Jones said.
http://business-journal.com/...
And just a short time ago, the CEO of Turning Technologies, who sat of the Chamber's board has also quit the organization. Again from Business Journal Daily (different article):
Turning Technologies, the $40 million company launched in the Youngstown Business Incubator and touted worldwide by economic development officials as a Mahoning Valley success story, and its CEO, Michael Broderick, have resigned from the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber, the company announced minutes ago.
and from the Turning Technologies CEO's resignation letter to the board:
Most importantly, I cannot continue on a board that used a process that they have admitted is flawed at best to endorse legislation that undermines the rights of public workers. I am a strong supporter of teachers and safety forces workers as some of the greatest heroes in our society. Clearly they are among the most underpaid members of our society considering the enormous contribution they make. To single these heroes out and remove rights that are available to the rest of society I feel is simply unconscionable and not in line with my personal beliefs.
http://business-journal.com/...
It is nice to see two successful CEO's put principle over profits.