Preventative care

No one should be shocked that the Ohio Roundtable opposes organized labor's attempt to mandate a minimum number of sick days employers have to provide. What is telling is that Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, a first-term Democrat, is trying to keep the measure off the November ballot.

Strickland's opposition should give backers pause. The measure is, after all, meant to drive Democrats and other liberals to vote. Why would a Democratic governor try to keep off the ballot a measure meant to help round up people who will vote for his party's presidential candidate, U.S. Sen Barack Obama?

Because the measure could pass, that's why. And, given this state's economic woes, the last thing Ohio needs is to add mandatory expenses to those operating businesses.

Service Employees International Union District 1199 is leading the effort to put on the November ballot a measure that would require Ohio businesses with at least 25 employees to provide seven paid sick days off a year to full-time employees. Strickland - did we mention he's a Democrat? - opposes the measure, in part because he believes it would harm Ohio's ability to attract new business.

Leave aside that many businesses already offer sick days as part of a normal compensation package. Labor wants everyone - regardless of education, skill and experience - to get the exact same treatment from every employer. Many workers without sick days tend to be in low-skill and entry-level jobs, with better compensation awaiting them as they gain experience and/or better education. But equality of outcome, not equality of opportunity, is what organized labor appears to be after here.

Yet backers of the misnamed Ohio Healthy Families Act never have identified where all those "greedy" business owners will come up with the money to pay people not to produce. Which do you prefer: price hikes or those on the lowest rungs of the employment ladder having fewer opportunities? Those are the most likely results of forcing extra costs on small-business owners. Of course, no one can measure uncreated jobs, so the unions would claim success for those with low-skilled jobs who picked up seven sick days.

One needs only look at the state's unemployment average compared to national figures to see Ohio is struggling to keep up with the rest of the country. Strickland knows better than to want another hurdle for businesses to cross to bring jobs to Ohio.

The Ohio Roundtable gets this. You expect it to. It is a conservative-leaning organization. Businesses and their industry groups - the Ohio Society of CPAs and the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, for example - already have come out against the Ohio Healthy Families Act. The Ohio Roundtable joining in against mandatory sick time is expected but still welcome. The group said Tuesday that it planned to send 12,000 business leaders information opposing the Ohio Healthy Families Act.

Again, the Ohio Roundtable's action should surprise no one. Those who believe they're doing workers a favor by supporting this measure should consider Strickland's reaction to it. The governor sees the measure for the jobs killer it would be. It's not a burden he wants added to economic development efforts during his watch.