Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels
ended his plan to
limit protests at the statehouse by restricting the number of people allowed in the building to 3,000, meaning just 1,300 members of the general public would have access. Daniels had announced the limits as unions geared up to
oppose the push by Daniels and Republican legislators to pass a so-called right to work bill forcing union members to pay to represent their
free-riding non-union coworkers.
Today, though:
Daniels told reporters at a quickly called news conference that traditional rules will apply at Statehouse. If comes point where safety in jeopardy state police can react.
Daniels said he wants to show respect for all views and err on side of openness.
It's not clear how sticking to traditional rules that have worked all along rather than instituting harsh new restrictions constitutes erring on the side of openness, but I guess that's Republican governors for you. This is a win for unions, who were preparing to take their fight to the statehouse in large numbers anyway. Before Daniels reversed himself today, Indiana AFL-CIO President Nancy Guyott told the Huffington Post that she would be "surprise[d] if, during the first week, we didn't have more folks than they intend to let in," and that "It'd be interesting to try and arrest people for trying to talk to their legislators. I really don't know what to put beyond them at this point."
Apparently, in the end, Daniels decided that instituting a new rule limiting protest and leading to the arrest of union members for the crime of trying to talk to their legislators was a bad way to pass a law that you're trying to sell under the fraudulently pro-worker name "right to work."