Transportation55

Today, the General Assembly passed a bill to make Indiana the 23rd right-to-work state.  Governor Mitch Daniels has promised to immediately sign the bill into law.  The law will make Indiana the first state in the nation’s traditionally union-heavy manufacturing region—or “rust belt”—to pass such a law. 

Labor organizations, including trucking and transportation unions like the Teamsters, fiercely opposed the bill because it prohibits union security provisions in collective bargaining agreements entered into, modified, renewed, or extended after March 14, 2012 and carries criminal penalties.  Union security provisions require employees to (1) become or remain a union member, (2) pay union dues, fees, assessments, or other charges to the union, or (3) pay the equivalent of union dues, fees, assessments, or other charges to a charity or third party.  The new prohibitions stand to greatly affect the way unions attempt to organize workers, a company’s response to organizing efforts, and how contracts are negotiated.