House passes right-to-work legislation

After weeks of stalemate in the Indiana Statehouse, the General Assembly has passed the controversial right-to-work legislation.

The statehouse was full of union protestors, who shouted as the House debated the issue for two hours Wednesday.

The vote comes after weeks of bickering in the statehouse between Democratic and Republican lawmakers in this session and a walk-out about the issue last spring.

In 2011, Democrats fled the state to avoid a vote on the legislation.

This year, Democrats refused to show up to the House floor for days on end, even incurring fines from the Republican-controlled House, in order to bring the issue to public attention and delay a vote.

“The only places where today’s events will be cheered is in the boardrooms of big businesses and corporations across this state,” House Minority Leader Pat Bauer, D-South Bend, said in a statement. “The House Republicans just helped increase the profit margins for these companies at the expense of their workers.”

Indiana will now be the 23rd right-to-work state in the nation. This means workers in Indiana will no longer be forced to pay union dues, a blow to organized labor in the state.

Gov. Mitch Daniels, who originally did not take a strong stance on the bill, came out to support the legislation in December. He made it one of his legislative priorities for the new year, saying it would attract new business to the state, which in turn would help in job creation.

“The mission we set out to undertake this year in the House, to address this critical job creation and individual freedom issue, is completed,” House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, said.

The last state to pass right-to-work  legislation was Oklahoma in 2001.

— Charles Scudder