As expected, the Indiana Senate
voted Monday to pass a so-called "right to work" law forcing union members to pay the costs of union representation for their non-union coworkers. The vote was 28-22, with nine Republicans joining Democrats in opposition.
Indiana Democratic legislators have been staunch in their opposition to this bill. In the Senate:
State Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Ogden Dunes, linked right-to-work to a struggle between unrestricted capitalism and the power of collective action.
"Right-to-work is the crown jewel of fundamentalist capitalism and right-to-work is being pushed today, not because we need it, but because they can," Tallian said. "This legislation is about breaking and eliminating unions, and it's always been about that."
In the House, Republicans squashed the Democrats' attempt to get the bill sent to the public for a vote, and:
Democrats tried to make Republicans stand by their glowing predictions. If this bill will boost incomes and jobs, they said, then state in the bill that the law will expire if they don't materialize.
Republicans brushed those concerns aside with virtually no comment.
The House could vote as early as today, if enough Democrats come back to allow a vote.
Gov. Mitch Daniels, meanwhile, will be giving the Republican response to the State of the Union tonight, with the Indiana AFL-CIO airing an ad to remind voters of Daniels' past opposition to changing Indiana's labor laws.