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INDIANAPOLIS - This city is in full preen for its moment in the spotlight, its first Super Bowl. Everywhere, workers sprouted from cherry pickers over the weekend, hanging football banners from signposts, windows, buildings. The constant beeping of machinery backing up filled the air as an 800-foot zip line was built in a Super Bowl Village that is emerging downtown. And right outside the Statehouse, the intersection formally known as Capitol and Washington has fancy new honorary street signs — Dolphins Drive and Browns Boardwalk.
But inside the Statehouse, people are consumed by something else entirely: a partisan fight over union strength has boiled over. The standoff, three weeks old, is over whether Indiana should become the first state in the Midwest manufacturing belt to adopt legislation banning union contracts from requiring nonunion members to pay fees for representation. And it threatens to linger even as the national attention on the Super Bowl arrives — a possibility that Indiana Republicans want to avoid but that some union supporters seem to be hoping for.
“We had known from the start that there was a remote possibility that some extreme opponents might try to leverage this, but now it’s being pretty openly threatened,” said Brian Bosma, the Republican speaker of the House, who says the right-to-work legislation will improve Indiana’s ability to recruit new businesses. “It would be a horrible mistake to use the Super Bowl in this way, and I think it would backfire terribly.”
Through the debate, the Super Bowl has always loomed in the background. Democrats accused Republicans, who dominate both chambers of the legislature and control the governor’s office, of trying to rush the measure through in the first days of the session. That way, it would be long resolved by the time thousands of people, including the National Football League Players Association, which has issued a statement opposing the legislation, began arriving. And Republicans accused Democrats, who hold enough seats in the House to prevent a quorum, of refusing to come to the floor for about six days over the last three weeks, in part to try to stall the discussion until a Super Bowl crowd was on hand.
Occupy the Super Bowl: 'Right to Work' Fight Heats Up in Indiana
Article Source: The New York Times
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... the issue itself seems unlikely to fade by Friday when the flurry of pre-Super Bowl parties begins here in earnest. And that was creating an odd combination of moods: partisan fury inside the Statehouse and cheery anticipation on the streets.
#2 - Mon Jan 23, 2012 4:23 PM ESTUnions have turned into corporations, and aren't relevant in most industries these days. If I were a coal miner, I'd want a union - but since I'm not, I want to be able to advance based on my work, instead of my tenure. And the union demands have killed many companies.
If you disagree, you should have the right to join a union and pay dues. But if not ..
The standoff, three weeks old, is over whether Indiana should become the first state in the Midwest manufacturing belt to adopt legislation banning union contracts from requiring nonunion members to pay fees for representation.
People who don't want to join unions shouldn't have to pay the unions a dime. Especially when so much of your dues will go to political lobbying which you may or may not agree with. If you want to contribute to a candidate or party, do it yourself, instead of having the union decide where your money goes.
- 2 votes
#3 - Mon Jan 23, 2012 11:22 PM ESTPeople who don't want to join unions shouldn't have to pay the unions a dime. Especially when so much of your dues will go to political lobbying which you may or may not agree with. If you want to contribute to a candidate or party, do it yourself, instead of having the union decide where your money goes.
Corporations' profits are generated from the work of their labor forces. They use those profits to lobby for business-friendly legislation. So how is it wrong to have unions use their revenue from members' dues to lobby for worker-friendly legislation? How does the playing field get levelled between business and labor if business holds all the cards?
Saying that unions are no longer relevant implies that corporations can be trusted to do what is in the best interest of workers. What leverage does an individual have in negotiating with the front office? Are you of the opinion that he/she can simply request a meeting with the head of the company and ask for safer working conditions? a raise? better benefits?
Being represented by a union doesn't guarantee you will get what you ask for, it simply gives more clout to your request. It doesn't mean you can't be fired, but that there is a chance for a hearing/review before you are let go.
If an employee doesn't belong to the union and the union negotiates raises/benefits with the company he/she works for, is he/she going to expect to benefit from the new contract?
- 1 vote
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