Local unions trying to stop right-to-work bill
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Monday the Indiana Senate Pensions and Labor Committee approved the controversial bill with a 6 to 1 majority. Today, the bill moves to the Senate floor where members will have the opportunity to offer amendments and Wednesday, the body is expected to vote on the measure.
Since the right to work has passed the Indiana House and the Senate Democrats do not have enough seats to prevent a quorum, conventional wisdom holds the bill will be approved and Gov. Mitch Daniels will likely sign it Thursday.
Wiley, unit chair for United Steel Workers Local 9550 in Goshen, and Raymond, vice president of human resources and labor relations at the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, are on opposite sides of the issue.
Raymond is in favor of the bill while Wiley opposes it. Reviewing the situation at the Indiana Statehouse, Raymond summed up the expectations with a caution.
“We think it will pass,” he said. “Of course, you never know.”
Some local union representatives plan to join the rally in Indianapolis today to try to stop the right-to-work legislation.
“It’s not over until the fat lady sings,” Wiley said, “and she has not sung yet.”
Along with two members of Local 9550, Franklin Troyer, president of United Steel Workers Local 12273, will be among those at the state capitol. He sent a letter over the weekend to state senators and selected state representatives, asking them to support a public referendum on the issue.
If polls show the citizens of Indiana support right-to-work, why not let them vote on the legislation themselves, Troyer questioned.
Unions believe, as Wiley noted, that once people are educated about right-to-work, they do not favor it.
However, Raymond does not believe an amendment calling for a referendum will be proposed. Such an amendment was voted down earlier in the session, he said, and Senators want to approve the bill passed the House because “everyone’s just so tired of messing with it.”
Although Wiley and Raymond agree there is a chance, albeit a small one, the right-to-work legislation could be derailed, they differ on what passage would mean.
Raymond believes it will spark economic development in the state by attracting more businesses to locate here.
“We think it will create lots of job opportunities,” he said. “We think it will bring a lot of companies here.”
Conversely, Wiley contends union and non-union workers will see their wages drop and possibly lose the benefits they enjoy like vacations and pensions.
“It’s really an important issue to us,” she said. “It’s not going to hurt the rich. It’s going to hurt us and the children of tomorrow.”
If the right-to-work bill gets passed into law, Raymond noted the economic impact will not be immediate. The job growth will probably not happen for another two to three years, in part, because the national economy is still weak and companies always need time to settle into a new location and set up operations.
What will happen in the short-term is increased activity in the fall elections. Raymond expects opponents to make right-to-work a “major campaign issue” and seek to defeat officials who supported the measure at the ballot box.
