Monday, November 21, 2011

Indiana: The next battleground

Rallying against Right to Work for Less in March. Look for a repeat next year.
Republican lawmakers in Indianapolis did not learn any lessons from the recent defeat of SB5 in Ohio. Nor are they paying attention to the massive campaign to recall Koch whore Gov. Scott Walker in Wisconsin. Instead, they're barreling ahead with legislation to destroy unions.

They need to be more careful of what they wish for.

From today's Indianapolis Star:
House Speaker Brian Bosma and Senate President Pro Tempore David Long today said that making Indiana the 23rd “right to work” state in the nation is their top legislative priority.


Identical bills will be introduced in the House and Senate which would ban a company and union from negotiating a contract that requires non-union members to pay fees for representation.
The decision to pursue this legislation was widely expected, but is nonetheless sure to launch a firestorm of protests by Democrats and labor unions.
Indiana Teamsters will be fighting right-to-work for less as hard as they fought it over the winter and spring. Teamsters helped organize some 30,000 Hoosiers to protest the Legislature's attempt at union busting. House Minority Leader Pat Bauer acknowledged those efforts at the Teamsters International Convention in July:
This is a war we have to win or the middle class is gone in this country. You know it and I know it.
And the Teamsters, we are so proud. We’re so proud of the Bartons, the Buhls, the Warnocks. Those are the people that organized and helped organize 30,000 people, 30,000 people in Indianapolis —
(Applause)
— 30,000 people in downtown Indianapolis to fight back against this tyranny. And with you, we’re going to win. ... And we will win this by sticking together, by every day reminding people that our standard of living is at stake, our families’ welfare is at stake; in fact, the dream of the United States is at stake.
These anti-worker politicians may not stop at right-to-work for less. They may attack automatic dues collection,  public worker pensions and public schools.

And they may just face a ginormous backlash.