National group pushing 'right to work' in Indiana

[highplainsdem]

Source: AP via BusinessWeek

A national group of conservative lawmakers is teaming with Indiana Republicans to push for "right-to-work" legislation and an end to the state's inheritance tax.

American Legislative Exchange Council Tax Policy Director Jonathan Williams said Wednesday the two issues are key measures that separate "rich states" from "poor states."

Sens. Jim Banks of Columbia City and Jim Buck of Kokomo joined Williams during an appearance at the Statehouse.

The "right-to-work" bill would ban employers from negotiating contracts with unions that require workers to pay union fees. Indiana's Republican House and Senate leaders said last month they will make passing the measure their top priority during the 2012 session.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9RFRNP80.htm

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ALEC again, out to strangle democracy and help the rich.

[Brigid]

1. Gotta love the Repugs in this state . . .

Still keeping it a low-wage, anti-worker corporatist paradise. :eyes:

[denverbill]

2. Yeah, I'd like to see a list of their 'rich states' and 'poor states'.

AFAIK, most of the richest states are also the bluest and least likely to have 'right to work' laws in place.

[madmom]

3. Wonder if this is the same group working for this in Ohio?...n/t

[Larkspur]

4. 2 Notre Dame professors shoot holes in the misnamed "right to work" laws

Right to work law leads to lower wages for all
The South Bend Tribune
Dec. 4, 2011
SNIP

The committee gave five reasons for its recommendation. Four of the five reasons assert, in one form or another, that a RTW law would attract businesses to Indiana. The committee stated that businesses often "exclude Indiana and other non-RTW states from consideration because of a perceived lack of flexibility and higher costs in their potential dealings with organized labor." However, the committee did not identify any specific employers that chose not to locate in Indiana because of RTW.

RTW laws clearly limit the financial resources available to a union and therefore the ability of the union to negotiate higher wages and benefits for workers in its bargaining unit -- an effective way to limit the "higher costs" found in non-RTW states.

But at the study committee's public hearings, many people testified that trying to attract businesses to Indiana on the basis of lower wages and benefits is a poor idea. Workers who are poorly paid buy less from local businesses and pay less in local taxes. Local economic growth and job creation are negatively affected, and local governments have less ability to improve infrastructure, job training, education and the quality of life -- all important considerations in the site location decision.

As a report by the Higgins Labor Studies Program pointed out, trying to attract businesses to a state based on low wages is the "low road" to economic development. It is a "trickle-down" approach that leads to a "race to the bottom." It undermines living standards for most workers and, in a globalized environment, is unlikely to lead to a long-lasting increase in economic growth.

Most people would agree that lowering wages and benefits for Indiana workers is not the best way to promote economic development in Indiana. RTW advocates seem to recognize this and go to great lengths to deny that RTW laws lower wages and benefits. In a section in its report titled, "Testimony Supporting RTW," the committee states that "RTW states have ... higher wages when adjusted for cost of living ... than non-RTW states."

But this line of argument is hard to sustain. In the very next sentence in its report, the committee states that "RTW lowers the cost of doing business and makes labor costs more affordable." Now how is it possible for a RTW law to lead to higher wages when RTW "makes labor costs more affordable"?

The truth of the matter is that RTW laws do lower wages and benefits -- for all workers in RTW states. In a recent thoroughly documented and well-researched study (which, by the way, adjusts for the cost of living), economists Elise Gould and Heidi Shierholz demonstrate that workers in RTW states make $1,500 less in wages annually compared to workers in non-RTW states.

SNIP
Barbara Fick and Marty Wolfson teach law and economics, respectively, at the University of Notre Dame. Both are affiliated with the Higgins Labor Studies Program at Notre Dame.

Notre Dame is my alma mater and this op ed makes me proud of her again.

[Hestia]

5. This crap has worked out so well for Arkansas.

:sarcasm: