T-L Photo/GAGE VOTA At-Large International Vice President of United Mine Workers of America Rick Altman voices his concerns that if Issue 1 isn’t passed, it will be only the tip of the iceberg of rights being taken away from Ohio families. Administrative Director of Communication Workers of America Frank Matthews sits at left.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — We Are Ohio and Union Strong urged Ohio voters to support Issue 1 at the ballot box on Nov. 5.

The groups held a community meeting Thursday at the Kevin Barr Event Center on the St. Clairsville-Richland City School District campus. Meeting organizers believe that a yes vote for Issue 1 is crucial for Ohio workers on both sides of the political spectrum.

“A yes vote on Issue 1 bans gerrymandering and gives us fair districts, fair maps and fair elections,” Business Manager of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 246 Kevin Brown said.

Brown kicked off the meeting by introducing Administrative Director of Communication Workers of America Frank Matthews.

“I’m here to let everybody know that CWA is adamantly in support of Issue 1 and adamantly pushing a yes vote,” Matthews said. “In Columbus, we currently have too many extreme out-of-touch lawmakers who pose a real threat to working families, not just labor but all working families. These out-of-touch extreme lawmakers report only to millionaires and CEOs, and they do everything without their constituents in mind,” Matthews said.

He believes that the reason for this is due to the lawmakers having no fear of being ousted because of the alleged gerrymandering that is taking place.

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, “Gerrymandering is an occasion when someone in authority changes the borders of an area in order to increase the number of people within that area who will vote for a particular party or person.”

“When we pass Issue 1 with a yes vote, we will finally have competitive elections and that means we will have true representation instead of extremism. By voting yes on Issue 1, we will finally have elected officials who will have to respect the will of voters. And if they don’t, we will have a real chance to hold them accountable at the ballot box next cycle, the way democracy is supposed to work,” Matthews said.

He added that he believes this is not a Democrat or Republican issue and said that regardless of the political party gerrymandering, he would still be at the meeting demanding a vote for it to be stopped.

“Enough is enough, we want a fair district. We don’t want an advantage. Labor just wants a level playing field,” Mattews said.

Director of the League of Women Voters of Ohio Jen Miller spoke next. She began by saying that the league is a nonpartisan group that has over 4,000 due-paying members.

“A yes on Issue 1 is a vote for a democracy that works for all of us,” Miller said. “When politicians draw rigged voting districts to ensure their own reelection, it’s called gerrymandering. It’s called cheating, and it hurts every single one of us.”

Miller then introduced John Saunders, international staff representative for the United Steelworkers of America. He said he believes Ohio is being run by out-of-touch politicians who need to be held accountable at the ballot box.

“This is a big deal, not just for organized labor but for everybody who wants a fair and honest election,” he said. “This is a chance for workers to make it right. We can’t win because it’s lopsided one way. They have all the keys.”

Saunders spoke about how he went to a Catholic school while growing up and said that his teachers would always say that nobody can beat the pencil and that the pencil is the strongest tool in the world. He believes that the opposition that wants Issue 1 to fail is controlling the pencil. He proceeded to echo sentiments of the previous speakers, saying that the lawmakers in charge are extreme and out-of-touch.

At-Large International Vice President of United Mine Workers of America Rick Altman was the final person to speak. He agreed with the other speakers and added that he believes this will only be the beginning if Issue 1 isn’t passed. He said the laws made by the “out-of-touch lawmakers” transcend just this one issue. He believes it’s also a larger fight about reproductive rights, health care, LGBTQ+ rights, compensation and pensions.

“This is the tip of the iceberg that they’re going to take,” Altman said.