A Texas man who took hostages in a northwestern Indiana realty office and held police at bay for several hours suffered three gunshot wounds before dying, likely from two different weapons, a coroner said Saturday. Roy L.INDIANAPOLIS – Legislation to make Indiana the 23rd right-to-work state in the country drew heated debate Monday as a House panel voted 8-5 to move the bill forward amid shouts of derision.
“We have a ton of other advantages. This is just the icing,” said Ed Roberts, lobbyist for the Indiana Manufacturers Association. He and others claim 30 percent of the companies looking to relocate or expand automatically mark Indiana off the list because it is not a right-to-work state.
House Bill 1468 would allow workers to choose not to pay union or representation fees. Under federal law, union contacts would still cover all employees regardless of whether they are members.
Supporters painted it as a bill about fairness, while thousands of union workers from around Indiana flooded the Indiana Statehouse on Monday to fight the bill. They contend it will weaken organized labor and decrease average wages in the state.
“We do not want to win the race to the bottom,” said Nancy Guyott, president of the Indiana ALF-CIO.
Portage steelworker Jerome Davisson said if members decide not to pay dues, that means there is less money for safety training, lawyers and bargaining costs.
“Why buy the cow if you can get the milk for free?” he asked.
About 60 people were not allowed to testify at the House hearing on the matter so that House Republicans could meet a committee report deadline on the bill.
Then, later in the day, House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, moved that deadline back until today.
After the vote, Indiana State Police officers escorted the Republican members out of the cramped hearing room and to an elevator.
A large portion of the hearing was spent volleying statistics back and forth.
A study conducted by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce predicted higher economic growth rates, and said if Indiana had adopted right-to-work in 1977, the state’s per capita income would be $3,000 higher.
But Gordon Lafer, from the University of Oregon, testified that wages and benefits in right-to-work states are 3 percent less for both union and non-union workers.
He said this is because unions usually pressure all sectors to increase wages when they do.
Even the bill’s author, Rep. Gerald Torr, R-Carmel, acknowledged average worker pay is less in right-to-work states though he said it could be a coincidence, not because of cause and effect.
“What I’m trying to do is bring jobs to Indiana,” he said, noting unions can survive and thrive if they are doing a good job of representing their members.
Rep. David Niezgodski, D-South Bend, disagreed, calling the bill a “very blatant attempt to initiate class warfare.”
He and other Democrats voted against the bill.
House Democratic Leader Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, wouldn’t rule out a walkout similar to what has occurred in Wisconsin over labor issues.
Right-to-work states generally are in the South and West.
None of the states surrounding Indiana has a right-to-work law. The last state to become right-to-work was Oklahoma – through a referendum in 2001.
Indiana had done so in the 1950s and repealed it in 1965.
Gov. Mitch Daniels said he personally supports the policy but had asked legislators not to deal with the issue this year. He said it could jeopardize other, more important changes.
And he said something this significant should have been debated during the election, which it wasn’t.
Bauer said “if (Daniels) wanted to pull the plug on it he could do it.”
