'Right-to-work' could be most contentious issue of 2012 Indiana Legislature

Right-to-work states prohibit unions and employers from requiring workers to pay union dues or join unions. Indiana would become the 23rd state to enact such a law.

Supporters claim the legislation will give workers more freedom in the workplace and help attract businesses wanting to avoid dealing with unions to the state. Opponents claim the legislation will weaken unions and drive down wages and working conditions.

Lucinda Caudill, President of the Grant County Central Labor Council, was among the protesters at the statehouse for the Legislature’s Organization Day on Nov. 22. She said local legislators may not be swayed by the protests.

“Our problem is I think their minds are made up,” she said.

In October, an out-of-session summer study committee released a report recommending the state take up the issue. State Sen. Jim Banks, R-Columbia City, said the study committee spent a good deal of time studying and fleshing out the issue.

“I think it takes some of the controversy out of it,” he said.

Rep. Kevin Mahan, R-Hartford City, said he intended to support the legislation because it would create jobs, but said it wasn’t a“knee jerk decision.” He said he was elected to support his district and believed the legislation would help create jobs.

“Look at that Boeing plant in South Carolina because it’s a right-to-work state,” he said. “I would love to have that in Blackford or Grant County.”

Mahan said for him the issue was about “economic development, small business, job creation and about America, which is the freedom to choose.”

Rep. Jeff Espich, R-Uniondale, said though he believes it would create jobs, the issue was more about freedom.

“People shouldn’t be forced to join a union for any reason,” he said.

Supporters anticipate heated opposition from union members and are making moves to match them.

The Indianapolis Star reported Tuesday that Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma is using campaign funds to pay for 30-second television ads in Indianapolis and Fort Wayne supporting right-to-work legislation.

“For someone adamant on pushing (right-to-work) through, it’s interesting they have to drum up support for it,” said Jody Mauller, legislative director for IBEW Local 983. “Things must not be going so well.”

Mauller said he anticipated protests similar to and perhaps larger than at the beginning of the year. He said an Ohio voter referendum repealing collective-bargaining legislation and growing efforts to recall Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker after he signed a law limiting public sector collective bargaining rights showed people had“bigger fish to fry” than laws that weaken unions.

“Across the nation workers and people in general will not put up with attacks on working families,” he said.

Mahan said he believed most of the opposition to the legislation came from union leaders rather than the rank-and-file, but acknowledged it was a very polarizing issue for some people.

Espich said he was confident the “silent majority” of people across the state would support the legislation. He said despite the fact the Indiana economy is doing “terribly,” it still is doing better than the rest of the Midwest.

“It’s not good enough and we’ve got to pull out all the stops,” he said. “If this encourages one company to bring in jobs, it’s a pretty good deal.”

Caudill said simply bringing jobs was not enough, but maintaining and attracting jobs with livable wages, safety regulations and pensions.

“The jobs they think they’re creating, they wouldn’t do,” she said.

State Sen. Travis Holdman, R-Markle, said he would need to look more closely at the research done by the summer study committee and other sources. He said he wanted to make sure the legislation would not have the “unintended consequence” of lowering wages.

“I want to see what other states have done with right-to-work,” he said. “I think whatever we do to create a better economic environment for corporations to come here is good, but I certainly don’t want to do anything that will have an affect on wages.”

The minority report to the summer study committee cited research that claims right-to-work improves wages are based on statistically flawed data and the legislation may actually lower wages between $1,500 to $5,538 per person per year.

Holdman said he was mailing out a questionnaire to gauge how his constituents feel about certain issues, including right-to-work.

Marion-Grant County Chamber chief operating officer Michelle Bunker said the organization does not currently have an official business statement on the issue.

“We do know it’s an issue that affects many of our members so we keep a close eye on it,” she said.

Bunker said the chamber is polling its members and any position would come by the first of the year.

Banks said no bill was being offered yet, but he intended to be a co-author. He anticipated it would be a “straightforward” bill, but acknowledged that there was talk of exemptions for certain trade unions or even public sector unions.