Indiana Passes Right To Work — National Right to Work Committee Statement

On February 1, 2012, By NRTW Committee Staff

Indianapolis, Indiana – Today, Mark Mix, President of the 2.6 million-member National Right to Work Committee, praised the Indiana House and Senate for passage of the Indiana Right to Work Law.

Mr. Mix said, “This is a great day for Indiana’s workers and taxpayers.

“After a ten-year struggle involving hundreds of thousands of mobilized Hoosiers, Indiana will finally be able to enjoy all the benefits of a Right to Work law,” said Mr. Mix.

“Today, the Indiana Senate passed the Right to Work Bill by a vote of 28 to 22. The bill has already passed the House, so it now goes straight to Governor Daniels, who has vowed to sign it, making Indiana America’s 23rd Right to Work state,” continued Mix.

Mr. Mix continued, “The Right to Work Law will free nearly 200,000 Hoosiers who have been forced to pay tribute to a union boss for the privilege of getting up everyday and going to work so they can provide for their families.”

Proponents of the bill expect that passage of the Right to Work law will provide significant economic benefits for Indiana and Indiana workers.

For the past decade, non-agricultural employment in Right to Work states grew twice as fast compared to that in non-Right to Work states like Indiana, according to data from the Department of Labor.

“On the job front,” said Mr. Mix, “virtually every site selection consultant on record has testified that as many as half of their clients will not even consider expanding or relocating to non-Right to Work states.”

Governor Daniels experienced this problem firsthand, reporting recently that when Volkswagen was looking to build a production facility in America, he was unable to get the company to even return his phone calls.

Volkswagen ended up choosing to open its new facility in the Right to Work state of Tennessee.

Today’s action makes Indiana the first Right to Work state in the Manufacturing Belt, and supporters say it will give Hoosiers a significant advantage over all of its neighbors and the rest of the 27 non-Right to Work states.

“Besides enjoying an influx of new jobs, Right to Work states also enjoy higher personal income,” said Mr. Mix.

In particular, Mr. Mix drew attention to a study by Dr. Barry Poulson, a past president of the North American Economics and Finance Association and also a professor of economics at the University of Colorado, who compared household incomes in 133 metropolitan areas in Right to Work states with those of 158 metropolitan areas in non-Right to Work states.

“Among other results, he found that the average real income for households in Right to Work state metro areas, when all else was equal, was $4,258 more than non-Right to Work state metro areas,” said Mr. Mix. (more…)

Tagged with: • • • • • •
Posted in: Economics, Indiana, Intimidation Tactics, Legislation, NRTWC Press Release, Right to Work, Right To Work States, State Right To Work, State RTW
3 Comments
Leave A Response

ERA would require employees to reaffirm unions every 3 years

On January 31, 2012, By NRTW Committee Staff

Most employees working under a union contract have never voted to be organized by a union.  Sen. Hatch and Rep. Scott want to fix that wit the Employee Rights Act.  From the Washington Times:

In an effort to loosen labor’s grip on workers, two GOP lawmakers want legislation that would require workers to re-affirm the existence of their unions with new votes every three years.

Sen. Orrin G. Hatch of Utah and Rep. Tim Scott of South Carolina are pushing the Employee Rights Act that also would place limits on strikes, how fast a union can organize and how membership fees may be used to support political candidates. The bill has yet to receive a committee hearing in either chamber.

Few workers – less than 10 percent of union members – vote to organize. Instead, most workers join an existing union as a condition of employment.

This bill, however, would give workers a chance to voice their opinions. Union officials would be up for re-election every three years. At that time, employees could decide whether to keep or eliminate their union.

“My goal is to make sure that employees of a company make the decision on joining unions,” Mr. Scott said. “This just gives them an opportunity to say, ‘Yes, I want to be a part of the union.’” (more…)

Tagged with: • • • •
Posted in: Exclusive Representation, Government Grants to Unions, Legislation, Organizing, South Carolina, Utah
1 Comments
Leave A Response

Indiana Right To Work Update: Final Vote on Wednesday!

On January 30, 2012, By NRTW Committee Staff

Indiana Senate committee moved the House Right To Work legislation out of committee and to the Senate Floor for a vote on Wednesday.  If passed in the Senate, Gov. Mitch Daniels could sign Indiana’s Right To Work bill into law before the day is over.

From the Indystar.com:

Gov. Mitch Daniels says he’ll sign into law a controversial labor law “as soon as it comes to me.”

That could be Wednesday, after a final vote on the so-called “right to work” legislation is taken in the Indiana Senate.

A Senate committee cleared the way for that vote on today, voting 6-1 to approve the bill and send it to the full Senate.

Under the “right to work” legislation, companies and unions could no longer negotiate a contract that requires non-members of the union to pay fees for representation.

 

Tagged with: •
Posted in: Indiana, Legislation, Right to Work, Right To Work States, State Right To Work, State RTW
16 Comments
Leave A Response

Union Rules, Taxpayers Bleed

On January 30, 2012, By NRTW Committee Staff

The New York Post and Daily Caller report on a disgraced typing teacher in New York who hasn’t taught a class since 2001 but collects over $100,000 a year from taxpayers thanks to union rules that prevent his firing.  ”His case is one of seven in the New York City Department of Education, where teachers the department can’t fire are “rubber-roomed” — essentially meaning they don’t do any real work but keep getting paid, the Caller reports.  Six other teachers also find themselves collecting hefty checks and accumulating pensions for not working.

Read it and weep:

In a defiant raspberry to the city Department of Education — and taxpayers — disgraced teacher Alan Rosenfeld, 66, won’t retire.

Deemed a danger to kids, the typing teacher with a $10 million real estate portfolio hasn’t been allowed in a classroom for more than a decade, but still collects $100,049 a year in city salary — plus health benefits, a growing pension nest egg, vacation and sick pay.

Mayor Bloomberg and Gov. Cuomo can call for better teacher evaluations until they’re blue-faced, but Rosenfeld and six peers with similar gigs costing about $650,000 a year in total salaries are untouchable. Under a system shackled by protections for tenured teachers, they can’t be fired, the DOE says.

“It’s an F-U,” a friend of Rosenfeld said of his refusal to quit. “He’s happy about it, and very proud that he beat the system. This is a great show-up-but-don’t-do-anything job.”

Accused in 2001 of making lewd comments and ogling eighth-grade girls’ butts at IS 347 in Queens, Rosenfeld was slapped with a week off without pay after the DOE failed to produce enough witnesses at a hearing. (more…)

Tagged with: • • • •
Posted in: Forced-Dues for Politics, New York, Public Employees, Teacher Unions
6 Comments
Leave A Response

Schumer: WI Big Labor “Cash Drain”

On January 30, 2012, By NRTW Committee Staff

Union bosses are spending so much money trying to recall Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Democrats are expressing concern that their won’t be enough political cash left for their coffers.  The Hill reports that New York liberal Sen. Chuck Schumer  is expressing concern about a “cash drain” that will leave elected Democrats without the usual hundreds of millions of dollars from union coffers spent on their behalf.

The one thing we have never had to worry about was the union bosses not spending enough of their union members due’s money on politics.  While elected officials who benefit from union political largess care about a political cash drain they certainly express little concern about the fact that union workers continue to see their union dues flushed down the drain on wasteful political spending like recall elections.

Tagged with: • • •
Posted in: Forced-Dues for Politics, Political Activity, Wisconsin
5 Comments
Leave A Response

Big Labor planning to disrupt Super Bowl activities

On January 28, 2012, By NRTW Committee Staff

The pull quote: “’You can tell them we’ll take the Super Bowl and shove it,’ said Combs, the Teamsters organizer.”

From BigGovernment.com:

Recently, former-SEIU Radio Voice, current-MSNBC Host Rachel Maddow and Indiana State Rep. Scott Pelath appeared eager to see Big Labor’s anticipated disruption of Super Bowl Week in Indianapolis, site of the 2012 event. Threats of using the Super Bowl to intimidate lawmakers have been increasing over the past weeks. From the Associate Press:

Facing a legislative vote that would make Indiana a right-to-work state … Labor activists are deciding whether to go ahead with protests that could include Teamsters clogging city streets with trucks and electricians staging a slowdown at the convention center site of the NFL village.

“The last thing the city needs is a black eye,” said Jeff Combs, organizing director for Teamsters Local 135. [But, apparently Combs is willing to give it one.]

“You can tell them we’ll take the Super Bowl and shove it,” said Combs, the Teamsters organizer. Teamsters gathered at the Statehouse Wednesday wearing T-shirts with the roman numerals 46, referring to the Super Bowl, crossed out on the back. He said truckers would be willing to risk arrest by causing traffic jams. (more…)

Tagged with: • • • • • • •
Posted in: Right to Work
1 Comments
Leave A Response

Attention MI Gov. Snyder: Right To Work Debate Worth Having

On January 27, 2012, By NRTW Committee Staff

As Indiana soon becomes a haven for business in the “Rust Belt,” an influential columnist in Michigan is imploring Gov. Rick Snyder to display leadership on Right To Work.

Tom Walsh writes:

By discouraging a right-to-work debate in Michigan, is Gov. Rick Snyder guilty of “kicking the can down the road” — and thereby perpetuating the stigma that Michigan has an unfriendly business climate dominated by militant labor unions?

It’s an interesting question, especially since the kick-the-can analogy has been used so often — by Snyder himself, among others — to assess blame for allowing Michigan’s other economic woes to reach crisis proportions.

Snyder has said that the state of Michigan, too, suffered from a kick-the-can refusal to face up to fiscal problems until he took office last year.So why do I raise the kick-the-can issue now in connection with right-to-work? Several reasons: (more…)

Tagged with: • • •
Posted in: Indiana, Intimidation Tactics, Michigan, Right to Work, Right To Work States, State Right To Work, State RTW
4 Comments
Leave A Response

Right to Work President Applauds House Passage of Indiana Right to Work Bill

On January 25, 2012, By NRTW Committee Staff

Hoosier state residents will soon enjoy more robust economic growth, workplace freedom

Indianapolis, Indiana – Today, Mark Mix, President of the 2.6 million-member National Right to Work Committee, praised the Indiana House and Senate for passage of the Indiana Right to Work Law this afternoon.

Mr. Mix said, “This is a great day for Indiana’s workers and taxpayers.

“After a ten-year struggle involving hundreds of thousands of mobilized Hoosiers, Indiana will finally be able to enjoy all the benefits of a Right to Work law,” said Mr. Mix.

“Today, the Indiana House passed the Right to Work bill by a vote of 54 to 44.  Because the Senate passed an identical bill on Monday and Governor Daniels is on record in favor of the bill, it now seems certain that after the Senate approves the House bill, Indiana will become America’s 23rd Right to Work State,” continued Mix.

Mr. Mix continued, “The Right to Work Law will free nearly 200,000 Hoosiers who have been forced to pay tribute to a union boss for the privilege of getting up everyday and going to work so they can provide for their families.”

Proponents of the bill expect that passage of the Right to Work law will provide significant economic benefits for Indiana and Indiana workers.

For the past decade, non-agricultural employment in Right to Work states grew twice as fast compared to that in non-Right to Work states like Indiana, according to data from the Department of Labor.

“On the job front,” said Mr. Mix, “virtually every site selection consultant on record has testified that as many as half of their clients will not even consider expanding or relocating to non-Right to Work states.”

Governor Daniels experienced this problem firsthand, reporting recently that when Volkswagen was looking to build a production facility in America, he was unable to get the company to even return his phone calls.

Volkswagen ended up choosing to open its new facility in the Right to Work state of Tennessee.

Today’s action will make Indiana the first Right to Work state in the Manufacturing Belt, and supporters say it will give Hoosiers a significant advantage over all of its neighbors and the rest of the 27 non-Right to Work states.

“Besides enjoying an influx of new jobs, Right to Work states also enjoy higher personal income,” said Mr. Mix.

In particular, Mr. Mix drew attention to a study by Dr. Barry Poulson, a former president of the North American Economics and Finance Association and a professor of economics at the University of Colorado, who compared household incomes in 133 metropolitan areas in Right to Work states with those of 158 metropolitan areas in non-Right to Work states.

“Among other results, he found that the average real income for households in Right to Work state metro areas, when all else was equal, was $4,258 more than non-Right to Work state metro areas,” said Mr. Mix.

Mr. Mix concluded, “I want to take a moment to thank Governor Daniels, House Speaker Bosma, Senate President Long, the bill sponsors Jerry Torr and Carlin Yoder, and the men and women of the Indiana Legislature who stood up for the rights of the individual worker and voted to pass Right to Work.

“But most of all, I want to thank the thousands of dedicated Hoosiers who have stood up over the years to demand passage of the Indiana Right to Work Law.”

###

 The National Right to Work Committee, established in 1955, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, single-purpose citizens’ organization dedicated to the principle that all Americans must have the right to join a union if they choose to, but none should ever be forced to affiliate with a union in order to get or keep a job.  Its web address is www.nrtwc.org.

Tagged with: • • • • • • • • • •
Posted in: Indiana, Legislation, Right to Work, Right To Work States, State Right To Work, State RTW
14 Comments
Leave A Response
« Previous Entries Next Entries »
Go To Top »