Indiana House approves bill restricting labor unions

Didn't the Indiana republicans learn the lesson of Wisconsin? BBB

Jan. 26, 2012
Indiana House approves bill restricting labor unions
Andy Grimm | McClatchy-Tribune News Service

last updated: January 26, 2012 06:28:53 AM

INDIANAPOLIS — Lawmakers Wednesday all but guaranteed Indiana will become the first Midwest, industrial state to limit the ability of labor unions to collect dues, but opponents are not giving up, and plan to leverage next week's Super Bowl here to amplify the debate.

The Indiana Right to Work bill makes it illegal for union membership to be required or for unions to collect dues from non-members. Union leaders say the measures will hobble their ability to bargain for better wages, but business interests said they are key to attracting new investment to the state.

Labor union members packed the Indiana Capitol this week, first to watch a partisan debate over the legislation, then to show support for Democratic lawmakers who staged a walkout to stall it. The Hoosier state debate was the latest battle between economic ideologies defined by the national "tea party" and occupy movements.

On Wednesday, Democrats ended their boycott and the House voted 54-44 to pass the bill. The legislation moves to the Senate, which has already approved a version of the bill, before it goes to the desk of Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels, who has made right-to-work the top agenda item in the last year of his final term and is certain to sign it into law.

"This isn't over for us," said Jeff Harris, spokesman for the Indiana State AFL-CIO. "This is only halftime."

It could, in fact, be the kickoff of similar drives in Indiana's more heavily unionized neighbor states, such as Michigan and Ohio.

Fights over labor rights have polarized the statehouses in Wisconsin and Ohio, manufacturing-belt states where Republican governors have legislative majorities and a strong belief that the 2010 election cycle gave them a mandate to pursue a conservative, small-government agenda.

Indiana is the most conservative of Rust Belt states, and one where natives identify more strongly with those in Southern and Western states where right-to-work laws have been in place, in some cases, since the 1950s.

Daniels and other backers have said in televised ads that union limitations are key to attracting new business to the state - likely drawing investment away from Illinois and other union strongholds that border Indiana. Union leaders say the rules weaken unions' bargaining power and will force down wages for workers.

The steel mills that line the south shore of Lake Michigan in Northwest Indiana employ thousands of union workers, many who live in Chicago and the south suburbs. Those workers will continue to work under the terms of their union contracts but could opt out of paying their union dues when the new law takes effect.

"This isn't always a partisan issue like it has become in Indiana," said Republican Rep. Jerry Torr, who authored the bill and noted that Democratic lawmakers backed right-to-work laws when the issue last was a hot-button in the late 1990s.

"It's simple. There are employers that won't even look at (a state) when they are considering where to locate if you don't have right to work," Torr said.

"This is an opportunity for both sides to create a broader discussion, and a way to tout a conservative governor and bring attention to the issue (of union rights)," said Andrew Downs, director of the Downs Center for Indiana Politics at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne. "There is definitely some political calculus on both sides."

On Tuesday, Daniels gave the rebuttal to President Barack Obama's State of the Union speech and unions began airing ads in Indiana immediately afterward.

The battle over public sector unions in Wisconsin and Ohio in 2011 has been a rallying point for labor interests, with millions of dollars coming from conservative groups and national unions.

Both sides in Indiana have claimed their efforts are homegrown but claim outside forces are driving their opponent's agenda. Republicans say protests have been beefed up with out-of-state union members. Democrats note that Daniels' televised ads touting the need for the legislation have been paid for by the Indiana Opportunity Fund, a private corporation chartered by conservative activist James Bopp of Terre Haute, Ind.

Money is likely to pour into Indiana if the fight draws on, just as it did when Republican Gov. Paul Walker came into office in Wisconsin and pushed successfully for legislation to bar collective bargaining rights for state workers and when similar legislation began working through the Ohio Legislature, said Paul Mishler, a labor studies professor at Indiana University-South Bend.

"This is a national issue, just as you saw with Wisconsin and Ohio," Mishler said. "On both sides (of the issue) you really energize your base, and this is an election year."

Other Midwest states are sure to be watching Indiana, Mishler said.

Some 11 percent of Indiana's workforce is unionized, ranking it among the top half of all states. It is a smaller figure than in neighboring states such as Michigan (16 percent), Illinois (15.5) or Ohio (13). Though Daniels has touted job growth in the state - including a non-union Honda factory that opened in 2008 - the state's unemployment rate of 8.7 percent is slightly higher than the nation as a whole.

With far less fanfare, Daniels ended collective bargaining for state employees immediately after he took office in 2004. Unlike Wisconsin, where state employee bargaining rights were subject to a vote in the Legislature, union recognition in Indiana is determined solely by the governor.

Teamster Jeff Combs scowled Monday while the right-to-work debate raged in the Capitol. He said his members were taking delivery of several hundred T-shirts that read "Occupy Super Bowl."

"I can't give away what the plan is," said Combs, who hinted that union workers might engage in work slowdowns as the Super Bowl approaches, despite no-strike clauses in their contracts. "We've got to do something."

Harris noted similar legislation seemed certain to pass last year until House Democrats staged an unprecedented, 34-day walkout.

"We're not giving up," he said.

Andy Grimm writes for the Chicago Tribune.