Whaley: 'Building middle class is key'

Oct. 24—LIMA — Former mayor of Dayton Nan Whaley (D) met with Union workers Monday morning to discuss statewide jobs. Whaley is running as the Democratic candidate in the gubernatorial race for governor of Ohio against incumbent Mike DeWine (R).

Whaley hopes to uplift small businesses and rebuild the middle class. She expressed that many people in Ohio are encouraged to move to Columbus to receive a better-paying job. Whaley wants to have great jobs in each county, not just the big cities. She also believes that one good job should be enough to provide for families.

Whaley created a campaign to help workers across the state of Ohio.

With the 'One Good Job Pledge,' Whaley wants to provide access and training to rebuild Ohio. The plan is to invest $65 million in apprenticeship programs for building and trade workers. The pledge will also ensure that any project that costs more than $10 million has a Project Labor Agreement. The agreement will guarantee workers are paid a living wage.

According to Whaley's campaign, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services predicts the new Intel project will leave open 22,000 jobs in construction.

The goal is to close the gap by investing in the middle class.

"We want people from Ohio to build Ohio," said Whaley. "So the folks in Lima will build Lima. We can build our middle class from the middle out which is what organized labor has done for decades."

Over a year ago, Whaley joined a rally in Lima outside of the refinery. Laborer Tim Lucewireman participated in the same rally to protest the hiring of a company outside of Ohio to bring in workers. Lucewireman recalled Whaley's efforts.

"We were rallying in front of the refinery to let refinery management know Ohio workers should be employed at the Ohio plant," said Lucewireman. "Unfortunately, they hired an out-of-state company to come in. It is not just here in Lima; it happens all over the state."

"She comes prepared to be on the side of workers," added Lucewireman. "It is interesting that her program is labeled similarly to our program. We called it Ohio jobs for Ohio workers. It is a big deal for us to know that people who grew up in this area will have an opportunity to work here and have a good job."

Reach Precious Grundy at 567-242-0351.