Indiana's Union-Busting 'Right-to-Work' Bill Becomes Law, Thousands Take to Streets in Protest
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The Indiana Senate voted 28-22 Wednesday to pass the so-called 'right-to-work' bill that forces unions to represent workers who do not pay dues. The bill is widely seen as an attack on the ability of private sector unions to organize and to carry out political activity. Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels (R) signed the bill into law shortly after.
Advocates for labor rights stress that unions negotiate for better working conditions for everybody, not just union members, and that barring these payments is a blow to labor organizing. Indiana is the first state in the manufacturing belt to pass such a bill, though it is the twenty-third 'right-to-work' state in the country. The bill created such controversy in Indiana that Democrats in Senate repeatedly walked out over what they described as Republicans' unwillingness to hear debate.
Thousands of Hoosiers protested the legislation today, packing the Statehouse and lining up outside. According to the Indy Star:
Union protestors marched from the Statehouse lawn into the Super Bowl Village about 12:30 p.m., shortly after the vote. Some protestors marched along Capitol Avenue toward Lucas Oil Stadium — passing beneath the popular zipline attraction that’s part of the city’s festivities before Sunday’s Super Bowl — while others marched onto Georgia Street, where concerts and displays greeted visitors for the game.
Protestors were chanting “United we stand, divided we fall” as they were shown on local television news during the noon hour.
Despite the mass of reporters in town for the Super Bowl, there has been little coverage of the protest in the mainstream media. Sunday's game is likely to be the target of even more protest.
States - Indiana
Indiana News
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Read moreIndiana's Union-Busting 'Right-to-Work' Bill Becomes Law, Thousands Take to Streets in Pro…
The Indiana Senate voted 28-22 Wednesday to pass the so-called 'right-to-work' bill that forces unions to represent workers who do not pay dues. The bill is widely seen as an attack on the ability of private sector unions to organize and to carry out political activity. Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels (R) signed the bill into law shortly after. Advocates for labor rights stress that unions negotiate for better working conditions for everybody, not just union members, and that barring these payments is a...
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PDA Issues
PDA is organized around several core issues. These issues include:
- End Corporate Rule
- Healthcare for All/Single Payer
- ERA 3 State Strategy
- Economic and Social Justice
- End Wars and Occupations
- Stop Global Warming
- End Mass Criminalization
- Clean, Fair, Transparent Elections
- Stop Voter Suppression
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IN Legislators with ALEC Ties
House of Representatives
- Rep. Brian Bosma (R-88)[17], ALEC Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force Member and Civil Justice Task Force Member
- Rep. Timothy Brown (R-41)[17], ALEC Health and Human Services Task Force Member
- Rep. C. Woody Burton (R-58), ALEC Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development Task Force Member
- Rep. Bill J. Davis (R-33)[17], ALEC Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development Task Force Member
- Rep. Richard A. Dodge (R-51), ALEC Civil Justice Task Force Member
- Rep. William C. Friend (R-23), ALEC Civil Justice Task Force Member
- Rep. David Frizzell (R-93)[17], ALEC Health and Human Services Task Force Member
- Rep. Douglas L. Gutwein (R-16), ALEC Public Safety and Elections Task Force Member
- Rep. Eric Koch (R-65)[17], Telecommunications and Information Technology Task Force Member[20]
- Rep. Richard McClain (R-24), ALEC Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force Member & International Relations Task Force Member
- Rep. Cindy J. Noe (R-87)[17], ALEC Education Task Force Member, spoke on "Enacting a Comprehensive K-12 Education Reform Agenda" at the 2011 ALEC Annual Meeting on August 3, 2011[73]
- Rep. Phyllis J. Pond (R-85), ALEC Public Safety and Elections Task Force Member
- Former Rep. William Ruppell ( R-22)[20][17]
- Rep. Thomas E. Saunders (R-54), ALEC International Relations Task Force Member
- Rep. P. Eric Turner (R-32)[17], ALEC International Relations Task Force Member
- Rep. David Wolkins (R-18)[17], State Chairman,[74] Co-Chair of Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force[20] and 2011 ALEC State Legislator of the Year[1]
- Rep. David Yarde, II (R-52), ALEC Education Task Force Member
Senate
- Sen. Jim Buck (R-21), ALEC State Chairman[75], Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force Co-Chair[76] and Member of the Board of Directors[77]
- Sen. Brandt Hershman (R-7), Majority Whip, ALEC Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force Member[78]
- Sen. Jim Banks (R-17), ALEC Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force Member [79]
- Sen. Jean Leising (R-42), ALEC Health and Human Services Task Force Member
- Sen. Frank Mrvan, Jr. (D-1), ALEC Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force Alternate
- Sen. Carlin J. Yoder (R-12), ALEC Education Task Force Member