The Super Bowl won’t be the only big battle this winter in Indianapolis.
Local lawmakers, unions and business groups are lining up to wrestle over “Right to Work,” legislation that would prohibit contracts that require workers to pay fees to support a union as condition of employment.
“A real extreme option is taking it to the Super Bowl,” said state Sen. Tim Skinner, D-Terre Haute, who strongly opposes making Indiana the 23rd RTW state in the union. Democrats, who walked out of the Legislature last year to block RTW, are considering all their options this year, including bringing national attention to the battle during the NFL championship game Feb. 5, he said.
Democrats are talking with attorneys and looking at the state Constitution for any possible means of “putting a wrench in these gears as much and as often as we can without violating state statute,” Skinner said.
On the other side, Republicans also are mustering their forces on behalf of Right to Work. House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, and Senate President Pro Tempore David Long, R-Fort Wayne, have made passing RTW legislation their top priority in the upcoming session, which begins Jan. 4. Gov. Mitch Daniels, who took a sidelines approach to the measure earlier this year, has announced his intention to not only sign RTW into law should a bill cross his desk, but also to support the effort from the get-go.
State Chamber: Yea
Outside the state capital, business groups and labor unions also are marshaling their forces and making their arguments for and against RTW. The Indiana Chamber of Commerce is backing “Right to Work,” while state labor organizations are opposed.
“Passing a right-to-work law is the single most important action our lawmakers can take to put more Hoosiers back to work,” said Kevin Brinegar, president of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, speaking in November.
Terre Haute Chamber: Maybe
Closer to home, in Terre Haute, a city with a long union tradition, the local Chamber of Commerce is taking a quieter role than the state organization. The Chamber’s 24-member board of directors wants to wait until the text of an actual RTW bill is presented before taking an official position, said Bob Quatroche, interim president of the Chamber.
“The local chamber will have a position, of course,” Quatroche said. “I think I can basically surmise that, when they take their position or release their position, it will be one that probably will be [in] support [of] what’s going on in Indianapolis,” he said. However, the local chamber had no intention of playing an advocacy role in the legislative battle, rather it will simply hold informational sessions designed to inform local chamber members about RTW, Quatroche said.
“We will leave [advocacy] to other people who are more close to it in Indianapolis,” he said.
Labor unions: No way!
Local labor unions are far less cautious in their approach to RTW. There is no question they strongly oppose it.
“I even hate to say ‘Right to Work,’” said Todd Thacker, business manager and financial secretary of IBEW local 725. “It’s false advertising. It’s really the right to work for less.”
The Indiana AFL-CIO is leading a campaign against Right to Work, which unions are calling “Right to Work for less.” The unions are painting RTW as a broadly unpopular and unnecessary “attack on working families’ collective bargaining rights” driven by the GOP state leadership.
Local unions are working to educate their members and the general public about Right to Work, Thacker said. They are also trying to communicate with state lawmakers, he said.
“We’re going to try and reach out to small business,” Thacker added. “We’re thinking if there’s less disposable income for people to spend, it’s going to drive them more to the big box stores. It will further undermine the small business in our community.”
Lawmakers: Hot and cold
Among Wabash Valley lawmakers, Democrats seem united in their opposition to RTW while Republicans are more divided.
State Sen. John Waterman, R-Shelburn, echoed Democratic criticisms when he said he believes RTW is being driven by Republican leaders at the Statehouse. He believes Republicans representing rural districts, such as his 39th District, are less supportive of Right to Work.
“So far, it’s been a huge majority” of his constituents opposed to RTW, Waterman said. “I’ve only had one person that was in favor of it.” Even non-union workers and business owners in the 39th District oppose the legislation, Waterman said. “They understand … it’s going to affect them.” When top wage-earners see pay cuts, those earning less will also see lower wages, he said. “That domino effect takes off and starts reducing wages,” Waterman said.
Bob Heaton, R-Cory, a first-term lawmaker representing Indiana’s 46th District, said he will support Right to Work.
“Basically, it boils down to whether the individual, whether he or she, wants to join a union or not. That’s what it boils down to,” Heaton said. “To me, it’s the freedom of that individual to decide whether they want to join or not.”
In the middle, at least for now, is Bruce Borders, R-Jasonville, whose constituency mirrors Waterman’s. The four-term Republican said he is talking to people on both sides of the issue to help him make up his mind.
“I really am sincerely looking into it,” Borders said, adding that he favors the idea of carving out an exception to RTW for the building trades.
No agreement on what it’s about
Supporters of Right to Work say it will promote economic growth in Indiana. Many companies write off any state that is not a Right to Work state when they are looking to locate a new facility, they argue.
“Site selection experts from across the country will tell anyone who will listen that between one-third and nearly half of the companies that hire them to find a good location won’t even consider non right-to-work states for their business growth and expansion plans,” state Chamber President Brinegar said.
Heaton echoed that argument.
“I just think for the 290,000 plus-or-minus [unemployed] Hoosiers out there, they want jobs. They want work. We need to give them the best opportunity we can.”
Even if that’s true, opponents of RTW counter, do we really want such companies in Indiana?
“I don’t want them in Indiana,” Skinner said of companies that might be so concerned about RTW. Right to Work drives wages down for everyone, he said.
“Union existence in a state is actually beneficial for nonunion people because companies have a tendency to think that they have to compete with [union] wages that are offered by those union companies,” he said. “Statistics kind of prove that out.”
Supporters of RTW also say it is about freedom, allowing workers the right to refuse to pay a fee to support a union against their will. But opponents believe those mandatory fees or dues are necessary since those workers salaries would still be negotiated in collective bargaining agreements by union leaders. Indeed, the National Labor Relations Act forbids individual employees in union companies from representing themselves in contract negotiations. As a result, RTW would allow nonunion workers to become “free riders” on union contracts,” Skinner said, adding that such a situation currently exists among Hoosier teachers. Skinner is a recently retired public school teacher. “They pay absolutely nothing but they reap all the benefits,” he said.
RTW: The battle ahead
And so the stage is set for a colossal battle this winter in Indianapolis over Right to Work. Last year’s Democratic walkout over the issue just gave both sides more time to rally their troops and make their cases to the public. Republicans hope to bring Right to Work to a vote quickly. Democrats, who are the minority party in both houses of the General Assembly, hope to block the measure at nearly all costs.
“Probably, I think, on Day One, on Wednesday, January 4th, that very first day, it’ll be brought up,” Heaton said. “We’ll just kind of see what happens that first week or two in January and take it from there,” he said.
On the other side, Skinner is also expecting RTW to dominate the start of the session.
“I see more activity this year, already, than I saw [all of] last year” on Right to Work, Skinner said. Unions are educating their members and Democrats are looking at all legal means to delay or avoid a vote, he said.
“Every option is being looked at,” Skinner said. Filibuster is an option. Going into caucus is an option. “Anything [we] can possibly do to delay a vote to keep it from coming to the floor.”