The first day of a new legislative session in Indiana was halted because most of the Democratic state representatives decided to stay home from work and prevent a quorum, according to the New York Times. The Republican majority had planned to introduce "right to work" legislation, making Indiana the 23rd state to permit voluntary union membership. A similar amendment may soon be on the ballot in Ohio, according to the Toledo Blade.
Indiana
Governor Mitch Daniels favors the "right to work" legislation and stated that the pending bill is designed to create new job opportunities, according to Reuters. Indiana Democrats and union members are preparing to fight any attempted changes to mandatory membership at public employee workplaces and private businesses where unions exist. According to Reuters, pro-union forces are promising statehouse protests like those which occurred in Ohio and Wisconsin last year.
If approved, the "right to work" law ends the ability of labor unions to force employees to join or pay any type of dues to the organization. Last year when similar legislation was introduced Democratic lawmakers fled to Illinois for five weeks to avoid taking a vote on the bill, according to Reuters. Governor Daniels initially planned security changes at the state house to avoid the pandemonium which occurred in Ohio and Wisconsin during union legislation debates last year, according to the Indy Star. Although Daniels repealed some of his initial plans to limit entrance to 3,000 visitors and restrict public access to some elevators and doors, an increased state trooper presence is still visible at the governmental building.
Ohio
The 1851 Center for Constitutional Law is attempting to get a "right to work" proposal on the ballot in Ohio, according to the Toledo Blade. The group began working on the amendment prior to the fall 2011 election which the Ohio Senate Bill 5 repeal issue. Months of statehouse protests in Ohio preceded the approval of the bill which would have required merit based pay for public employees, put an end to teacher tenure and collective bargaining reforms.
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine was unable to certify the initial wording of the proposed ballot issue because the wording failed to detail legal remedies available under the amendment's mandate, according to the Toledo Blade. Like the Wisconsin law, Senate Bill 5 would have limited collective bargaining rights of public employees to specific issues. The Republican sponsored legislation would have also ended the practice of outside arbitration during public employee union contract disputes.
Wisconsin
Ohio, Wisconsin and Indiana began collective bargaining reform battles at approximately the same time last year, only Wisconsin being successful in getting legislation passed, according to the Washington Post. Thousands of protesters gathered on the statehouse law chanting "shame" at conservatives who supported alterations to the state's union membership and bargaining policies. Recall elections prompted to remove those who supported union reform failed, according to the Post. Unlike Ohio's collective bargaining reform legislation, the Wisconsin bill made exceptions for firefighters and police officers.
