The Super Bowl comes to Indiana just days after the passage of an
anti-union law in the state. With the NFL Players Association having vocally opposed that law, it's an opportunity to draw attention to labor issues in the state. At the same time, you don't want to be the assholes who actually disrupted the Super Bowl, so there's a line to walk here.
Indiana AFL-CIO President Nancy Guyott issued a statement saying that "the Indiana State AFL-CIO does not plan nor condone any attempts to disrupt the Super Bowl," including a reminder that "the Super Bowl in Indianapolis is made possible because of the very working men and women our movement represents and that our state legislature has attacked."
At the same time, unions are highlighting not just the recent anti-union vote but ongoing labor struggles in the state. Think Progress reports that:
The AFL-CIO will have a “constant presence” at Super Bowl events, [Indiana AFL-CIO Communications and Outreach Coordinator Jeff] Harris said, but its actions will be informative rather than disruptive. The union, which encouraged workers to meet with their state representatives in the days before the law passed and organized rallies outside the statehouse Wednesday, will pass out leaflets and pamphlets around Super Bowl village and Lucas Oil Stadium, the site of the game, Harris said.
Unite Here has planned a Friday afternoon rally at the Hyatt Regency Indianapolis, where 20 workers may lose their jobs as Hyatt switches from one low-wage subcontractor to another; the original subcontractor was recently sued for wage theft. DeMaurice Smith, the executive director of the NFL Players Association, is slated to participate in that rally.