Indiana's so-called "right to work" bill, which would force union members to pay to represent their non-union coworkers, will be going to a vote of the full state House after it was voted out of committee along party lines. And Republicans are really committed to getting this thing done as quickly as possible:
Republicans just said they would not allow any Democratic amendments today, saying they did not meet the rule requiring them to be turned in 24 hours in advance. Democrats said that wasn’t possible because the bill wasn’t handed down on the floor Monday until 18 hours before this hearing.
Republicans didn’t allow amendments to the Senate bill, either. Today, there was not even any discussion on the bill as Republicans called for a roll call and Committee chairman Douglas Gutwein, R-Francesville, adjourned the hearing even before the roll call was announced.
There are two reasons you push like that: abuse of power doesn't bother you, and you're afraid of what happens if you give people time to hear and think about what you're doing.
Despite the no amendments thing, one senate Republican wants a significant amendment to the bill. Brent Waltz, the Republican who voted against the bill in committee, wants to carve out an exception for building trades unions:
During a committee hearing on the bill Friday, an influential Republican lobbyist, Indianapolis lawyer Joe Loftus, testified in favor of the building-trades exemption. Loftus represents the Indiana Building Contractors Alliance, a coalition of construction contractors who employ the building trade union members. Loftus said the building trades should be carved out because contractors rely on the unions to train workers in the skilled trades and to select competent workers for construction projects.
To this point, the building trades have stood with other unions in simply opposing passage of the free rider bill and have not engaged with this possibility; now, several are in favor, while the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers sees the carve-out as divisive. That's a key question: Once we're talking about a last-ditch thing, everyone having opposed the bill until it was clearly headed for passage, is it better for overall union strength to stand and fall together and show that you will not be divided, or for some unions to continue to exist as they are now, perhaps helping to hold union membership and presence in the state and serving as a reminder that RTW isn't actually helping anyone? Of course, the point may be moot, since there's no guarantee Waltz has the votes for his proposal. And whatever the case, a large number of Indiana workers are about to take a gratuitous hit designed only to drive down wages and working conditions in the state.
