Unions Don't Trust Kasich and Neither Does the Tea Party

Ohio GOP Gov. John Kasich's shameless plea this week to strike a bargain with public unions in order to save his own job managed to irk members of the anti-union Tea Party and insult workers who do not trust his bad-faith negotiating style.

After all his chest-thumping when he signed his anti-worker law, Kasich is sweating out a Nov. 8 ballot question that aims to overturn the GOP union-busting law that stripped public employees of many of their collective bargaining rights.

Kasich's appeal this week to unions to give him a break apparently looked like old-fashioned, tail-tucking cowardice to Tea Party types.

"The stunt by the governor is not helping our cause. I can't see what he gains out of this, he looks foolish," the anti-union Mason Tea Party boss Ray Warrick told ONN-TV.

For the unions, Kasich's ploy was seen as a ruse. The pro-worker We Are Ohio campaign rejected Kasich's call for a meeting yesterday to see if he could talk the leaders of the union group into selling-out their members and take a deal on a promise to water down the 

The unions do not trust Kasich and his GOP sidekicks in the state legislature, a pair of national union organizers explained today. So with the majority of Ohioans on the side of the workers, Kasich's popularity melting like a scoop of vanilla ice cream on a hot August day and $7 million on hand to spend in the repeal vote campaign.

"A complete repeal would go a long way toward creating an environment for compromise, restoring trust in government by the electorate and setting the table for meaningful negotiations about creating jobs, rebuilding Ohio's economy and moving the state forward," We are Ohio director A.J. Stokes wrote to Kasich.

The deadline to remove a repeal question from the Nov. 8 ballot is Aug. 30. If yesterday's decision by the unions to ignore a request for a meeting with Kasick, GOP Senate President Tom Niehaus and House Speaker William Batchelder is any indication, the repeal vote will go forward.

Kasich tried to spin it like he was being magnanimous. 

"Woody Allen says that 90 percent of life is just showing up. And they’ve obviously flunked that test today," Kasich whined.