Democrats Flee an Indiana Vote on Union Bill

With Republican-controlled Indiana on the verge of becoming a “right to work” state, Democrats in the State House on Tuesday took the only step they have left to prevent it, if only for a bit longer. They disappeared. Again.

A final vote on the measure, which would ban union contracts from requiring nonunion members to pay fees for representation, had been expected on Tuesday in the House, which Republicans dominate 60 to 40. But with scores of union members and supporters filling the Statehouse halls in Indianapolis in protest, most Democrats refused to turn up for floor sessions — not once but twice on Tuesday afternoon.

The absences, only the latest in a series of absences and fierce partisan debate over the issue during the state’s legislative session, meant Republicans did not have enough members on the floor to do business; 67 representatives are required.

And so, with the national spotlight soon to descend on Indianapolis for the Super Bowl and with the tense standoff only rising among lawmakers and protesters, Indiana finds itself at the center of a fight over the role of unions and their power, not unlike the issues that boiled over last year in Ohio and Wisconsin.

full: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/25/us/indiana-democrats-flee-vote-on-anti-union-bill.html