Indiana is another state where Republican legislators, and a Republican governor, are considering a bill to strip unions of their collective bargaining power. Union members are not taking this lying down. Even though the bill has just cleared committee, they are letting their voices be heard in the hall of the statehouse.
Indianapolis Star, Feb. 21 2011.
According to the Star,
The thousands of union supporters that packed the Statehouse this morning and spilled out onto Downtown sidewalks hoped their show of solidarity would be enough to dilute legislative support of a proposed right to work bill.
"With the support we see today? I hope somebody would listen to us," said Rex Ambrose, president of United Steelworkers of America Local 2958, as he stood in the pouring rain waiting to get inside the Statehouse this morning.
So far, the national MSM have ignored this story altogether. I was surprised it hadn't hit the front page here on Kos; hence this short diary.
The Star continues that this particular item is not on Gov. Daniels' agenda,
How far it will get after that is unknown. Gov. Mitch Daniels has said this isn't the year for such legislation, perhaps fearful it will derail the rest of his legislative agenda.
but it's clearly gaining traction in the state assembly. We should be watching this story closely. Workers are taking a proactive stance here, and with the protests in Wisconsin and Ohio in full sway, it will be interesting to see if any "moderate" Republicans in Indiana take notice and move to kill this legislation before it has a chance to advance to Daniels' desk. With Daniels having presidential aspirations, will he side with the extreme elements of his party at the expense of disaffecting thousands of government workers?
Updated by Fish in Illinois at Mon Feb 21, 2011, 01:44:26 PM
The bill out of committee is one of a trio of bills at the heart of the protest. Collectively, these are similar to the bills being protested in WI and OH.
http://www.indystar.com/...