Indiana Legislature opens session with House dispute over GOP bill to bar required union dues

Source: Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS — Sparks flew on the first full day of the 2011 legislative session Wednesday when Democrats in the GOP-dominated Indiana House tried to derail so-called right-to-work legislation.

The proposal, which would prevent workers from being required to pay union dues, is backed by Republicans who believe the law impedes business. Democrats tried to force a vote on a day that typically consists of handshakes and pledges from both parties to work together.

Giving new legislators their first taste of party-line voting, a skirmish over the rules began just minutes after lawmakers said the Pledge of Allegiance. Democrats requested — in a largely symbolic move — that the bill be read so they could force an initial on-the-record vote. But House Speaker Brian Bosma ruled they were too late, which moved the legislation to a committee for a possible hearing.

... The right-to-work issue has the potential to be so divisive that Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels has said he would prefer to avoid it to focus on other issues.

Read more: http://www.greenfieldreporter.com/view/story/5757693f601c4b859fc8307a65f78fe4/IN-XGR--Indiana_Legislature/

The evidence is clear. Some states already have RTW laws and in every one of them it has had the effect of lowering ALL wages.

Right to work laws lower wages for everyone. The average worker in a right to work state makes about $5,333 a year less than workers in other states ($35,500 compared with $30,167).<1> Weekly wages are $72 greater in free-bargaining states than in right to work states ($621 versus $549).<2> Working families in states without right to work laws have higher wages and benefit from healthier tax bases that improve their quality of life.

http://www.aflcio.org/issues/legislativealert/stateissues/work/index.cfm?elink