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Unions and Occupiers vs. the Super Bowl
· Friday, February 3, 2012
On Wednesday morning, the Indiana state Senate passed right-to-work legislation, making Indiana the first Rust Belt state to take such a turn. The 28-22 vote in the Republican-controlled chamber occurred after two hours of debate in the General Assembly session. The bill was sent to Governor Mitch Daniels, who signed the legislation later that afternoon. The bill prohibits employers from entering into any agreement that would force employees to join a union or require them to pay dues, fees, assessment or any other charges to a labor organization. Indiana becomes the 23rd right-to-work state in the nation and the first to pass right-to-work legislation in ten years. "The only change will be a positive one," the governor said in a statement released today by his office. "Indiana will improve still further its recently earned reputation as one of America's best places to do business, and we will see more jobs and opportunity for our young people and for all those looking for a better life." Could a new epoch reining in the excesses of the failed union era be in the offing?
Union members and their supporters were furious. Approximately 3000 people gathered inside the Statehouse chanted "Shame on you!" and "See you at the Super Bowl!" as the vote was announced. 3000-4000 other protesters gathered outside the building on the Statehouse lawn for a rally that spilled into the streets of Indianapolis. Approximately half the protesters then marched to the Indiana Convention Center, carrying posters with slogans such as "Hands off My Union," "Stop the War on Workers" and "Ditch Mitch."
The bill's passage followed last Wednesday's 55-44 vote in the Republican-controlled House in favor of the bill, days after an identically worded bill previously passed the Senate. It then moved to the Senate's Pensions and Labor Committee on Monday, where it passed in a 6-1 vote, despite Democrats being absent from the chamber. Democratic senators, who contended they were protesting, not boycotting, Monday's hearing, characterized the session as a "mockery." Senator Karen Tallian (D-Portage) contended that Republicans were trying to get the bill passed before the Super Bowl. Other Democrats said they were protesting because Republicans would not allow them to bring up amendments to the bill on Monday.
This is far from the first time Democrats have employed such boycotting tactics. Almost a year ago, House Democrats literally fled the state in order to prevent a quorum from being achieved to allow a vote on the same right-to-work legislation. All but two of 40 Democrats hid out in Illinois, leaving only 58 legislators present to conduct business. 67 House members are the minimum number required by Indiana law. Two Democrats remained behind to make any necessary motions and block Republicans from moving the legislation through in the absence of a quorum. The rest of the House Democrats remained out of the state for five weeks.
They continued using a similar quorum-avoidance tactic for weeks during the bill's debating sessions, walking out of the chamber to hold private caucuses. The walkouts once again prevented the House from holding a vote. State Rep. Clyde Kersey (D-Terre Haute), one of 35 Democrats who used the maneuver, claimed it was aimed at keeping Republicans from avoiding national media scrutiny, or debating the bill without public or opposition input. "This is all part of the democratic process that we're going through here," Kersey contended.
Such contentions are absurd. The democratic process is not served by preventing a vote from occurring, nor is it true that any kind of scrutiny or input was being avoided, unless one considers daily protests staged by union supporters at the Statehouse -- including one in which their chants could be heard as Gov. Daniels delivered his State of the State address earlier this month -- to be irrelevant.
On January 18th, the issue reached another level when Republicans voted to fine Democratic state representatives $1,000 per day if they continued to boycott sessions to purposefully delay action on the right-to-work legislation. Two days later, Marion County temporarily blocked the fines of those Democrats who challenged the House's authority to impose them. This marks the second time such a fight occurred. House Democrats are still fighting fines imposed on them for their five week sojourn in Illinois. That case is headed to the Indiana Supreme Court.
Yet after two legislative sessions during which Democrats, in addition to the boycotts, offered amendments aimed at changing the bill, and sought to put it before voters in a referendum, the reality of a substantial Republican majority in the House became impossible to overcome. It was a reality for which Democrats have no one to blame but themselves. Prior to the 2010 election, Democrats held a 52-48 majority in the House, and while they were outnumbered 33-17 in the Senate, that number was high enough to prevent Senate Republicans from achieving the two-thirds vote necessary to maintain a quorum without a single Democrat. The mid-term election was a bloodbath for Democrats. They are now outnumbered 60-40 in the House, and Senate Republicans got their two-thirds majority, holding a 36-14 edge. Thus, the bill's passage was only a matter of time.
Yet as is becoming drearily expected, the will of the electorate means little or nothing to unionists and their Democrat enablers when that will is reflected in legislation antithetical to their agenda. Incredibly, labor activists are talking about taking their protest to what they consider one of the biggest stages in the nation -- the Super Bowl game on Sunday, February 5th. That protest could reportedly include such tactics as Teamsters jamming city streets with trucks, and union electricians staging a slowdown at the Super Bowl Village convention site. Even more incredibly, they could be joined by protesters from the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement.
A combination of both groups has already staged two protests in the Super Bowl Village last Friday and Saturday. And many of those protesters indicated that a signed right-to-work bill would not, as some are hoping, end the demonstrations, but rather provide the impetus to ramp them up. "If the Governor signs, I want to shame him out of this state," said Heath Hensley of Occupy Anderson. "He doesn't want us screwing up this Super Bowl." Tim Janko, a steelworker from northwest Indiana was equally upset. "I'm going to picket the Super Bowl because this is wrong," he said. "I'm going to have a Teamster drive me into town."
The Nation's Dave Zirin stirs the pot by describing the Super Bowl itself as yet another object of scorn for the class warriors in order to justify such demonstrations. "The Super Bowl is perennially the Woodstock for the 1 percent: a Romneyesque cavalcade of private planes, private parties and private security," he writes. "Combine that with this proposed legislation, and the people of Indiana will not let this orgy of excess go unoccupied." That odious motif was echoed by Jeff Harris, spokesman for the Indiana AFL-CIO, who called the game "the ultimate party for the 1%," and Occupy Purdue organizer Tithi Bhattacharya, a professor at Purdue University. "If the bill becomes law this week then it is very important for all of us to protest this Sunday," said the professor. "We should show the 1 percent that the fate of Indiana cannot be decided with the swish of a pen by corporate politicians -- the Super Bowl should be turned into a campaign for justice and jobs."
The bet here is most Americans still think it's a football game, and there is the possibility that cooler heads might still prevail. "These guys have worked all their lives and this is their only shot," said Pete Rimsans, executive director of the Indiana State Building and Construction Trades Council. "We don't want to do anything that could ruin that." Union boilermaker Pete Etoler also saw the potential for a backlash. "I think it will hurt our cause," he said. "We're trying to build up Indiana and bring businesses here. That won't help." Governor Daniels noted that anything detracting from what is arguably the highest profile sports event in America "would be a colossal mistake."
If a Rasmussen poll is any indication, a large-scale Super Bowl protest would indeed be a colossal mistake. Seventy-four percent of likely voters think non-union workers should not be forced to pay dues in a closed union shop. Just 15 percent disagree, and 11 percent aren't sure. Furthermore, only 11.8% of America's entire workforce belongs to a union, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics -- and only 6.9 percent of those workers were private sector employees. The rest were public sector employees. Thus, any Super Bowl protest aimed at winning public sympathy is likely to backfire. Big time.
That doesn't mean it won't happen. Union thugs and their enablers have long grown comfortable with the idea that coercion and intimidation, no matter how ill-advised, is the ultimate fallback position when their agenda is thwarted by the democratic process. Staging a game-disrupting protest however, could be a fatal miscalculation: no matter how miserable or dangerous thuggish tactics employed by union members and/or OWSers might make it for 150,000 people expected to show up in Indianapolis, tens of millions of other Americans will be watching any unseemly spectacle from the comfort of their homes, neighborhood bars, etc. Will those Americans be intimidated? Disgusted is far more likely.
However Super Sunday turns out, one thing is certain: in Indiana, any employee who wishes to be a member of a union, or any workforce that wishes to be represented by organized labor, is still free to do so. The bill's passage means workers can no longer be compelled to join a union, or pay dues to a labor organization whose views may be completely out of synch with their own. Labor leaders call that union-busting. One suspects a majority of Americans call it freedom.
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Jeremy
"Labor leaders call that union-busting. One suspects a majority of Americans call it freedom."
Exactly.
I'm required to make monthly payments to a pathetic union that spends its time and (my) money on political causes that I disagree with. This seems like an obvious violation of my freedom of speech. I cannot understand how anyone can justify such a situation. Unfortunately, here in California, it's never going to change for the better.
Posted February 3, 2012 at 10:32:37 AM
wjmccrindle
Freedom, what a novel idea. The union thugs would love to continue to force dues collections, to then forward the money to the communist in chief at the Democrat Headquartes. Marxist tyranny knows only coersion and strong arm tactics, and the Democrats are now the champions of Marxist Statism and tryanny. They only know power through force. Vote Democrat for the Destruction of America.
Posted February 3, 2012 at 10:33:31 AM
Allen
I live in Indy, & this whole situation ticks me off. Even in "The Region" (near Gary & Chicago) section of Indiana, which has the strongest union support in the state, the vast majority of the people support the passage of this law. The weak minded democrats in the Indiana State House claim they are doing this because the voters support them. That's just no the case. If it was indeed the case, then do your damn job, show up, & vote against it. If the majority of the voters agreed with you, they would vote the Republicans out at the next election, then the Demo's could have the law repealed.
I'm telling you right now, that's not going to happen. The people support the passage of this law, and think the Democratic lawmakers are no better than the thugs who are planning the protests.
Posted February 3, 2012 at 11:09:18 AM
BNgranny
Could this proposed temper tantrum by unions at the Super Bowl cause this show to be one of the most watched and increase the backlash?
BTW - why are employers made to collect the dues and send it to the unions? Since unions have all this money couldn't they afford the staff needed to collect it themselves? If the members had to write a check every month might they not start questioning just how much that membership is costing them and what it is they're getting for their dollar?
Just a thought.
Posted February 3, 2012 at 11:19:35 AM
Holmes Simons
The brain of a Teamster. The strong arm of a Longshoreman. The substance abuse of an Auto Worker. The gigantic rear end of a tenured Teacher.
Sounds like participants in the Super Bowl to me.
Posted February 3, 2012 at 11:36:06 AM
Ken
I have dealt with unions for many years. Some local leaders have been excellent to work with, while others were purely political and could care less about their good members.
I have consistently noticed that the international representatives and officials do not view kindly or tolerate independent thoughts, words or actions by anyone within the organization. Solidarity, right or wrong, is their mantra and the individual be d*#^ned.
There once was a dire need for the ideals and dedication of unionism, in the private sector. Over time they have morphed into public sector money laundering machines for left wing politicians who protect and pander to them.
Unions do not compete well, much less thrive, in the real world and their hard working private sector members have paid a severe price...
Posted February 3, 2012 at 11:56:04 AM
Dave S
Perhaps these union folks should pause to consider that the players in the Super Bowl are all union members.
Will the players go on strike to support the other unions in Indiana? I'm waiting with bated breath.....NOT!
Posted February 3, 2012 at 1:22:12 PM
KN
@DaveS: One huge difference between professional sports union and unions I have dealt with over the years. Athletes negotiate their own pay and, in many cases, their working conditions based on their skill level and position importance to the team. Regular unions negotiate pay for a job regardless of the person's ability to perform that job thus all similar rated jobs are paid the same. You don't see all NFL QBs or all middle linebackers earning the same pay.
If union members believe unions are "like awesome" as my son would have said at one time they have nothing to fear from this legislation. People will continue to cough up the money to remain a union member. I may add that I don't believe that for one second.
Good for Indiana. Libs are all for choice so a right to work state fits right in with this philosophy. Correct?
Posted February 3, 2012 at 4:01:10 PM
Abu Nudnik
"Stop working so hard. You're making us look lazy." -a union member to me in the 1970s
Posted February 3, 2012 at 5:26:06 PM
lady
The last poll taken by our local news station 71% of voters wanted a referendum. I moved here from Georgia and believe being a rtw state is not great. Lower wages suck. I do not work for a union but they do keep wages up. The Koch brothers and the tea party have a lot to do with this but I blame mitch Daniels. He has always looked out for big business and himself. Let me just say ipalco.
Posted February 3, 2012 at 11:48:12 PM
mmccrindle
Unions should NEVER be in the public sector.
Case in point is a Buff. N.Y. teachers union. One district was forced to pay out $6 million in one year for cosmetic surgery. This after having to lay off a few teachers for budget constraints.
I thought how awful! Then I really got mad after someone said sex change operations were considered to be cosmetic surgery. - So now tax payers are now forced to pay for someones perversions!!!
The left is ruining our country.
Posted February 4, 2012 at 2:34:36 PM
pete
Must be rough being a union member in Indiana. If they can gather nearly 10,000 members in one city to protest, either no work is getting done for their employers, or the unions have failed to keep their members working.
Posted February 4, 2012 at 6:07:54 PM
Terry Webb
To lady? - Possibly in Georgia you were being paid commensurate with your contribution to the bottom line . A company that pays more than the job is worth in the open market is being strangled by union contracts and destined to fail. Perhaps you should not have an unrealistic view of your worth to the company and try to increase your value.
Posted February 4, 2012 at 6:32:42 PM
mmccrindle
To Lady-
Well, Obama and his vermin have done an admirable job villifying the Koch brothers.
The reality is that those two have done more to the good for this country than a creep like Obama could do in his entire life.
Go ahead and keep believing in the union and leftist talking points without doing any of your own research so you can claim to be another useful idiot for Obama.
You must remember all of Lenin's useful idiots too!
Posted February 5, 2012 at 9:49:12 AM
wow6528
Wow lady did not call anyone idiots. I worked as a rn in a Florida hospital, we make no where near are worth. Hopefully you have no loved ones in our care since we are idiots. Some unions are needed. Koch has done nothing for me. I am not a factory worker. Koch did threaten employees on how and who to vote for. Check the debt counter you are wrong if you think obama is as bad as Bush. Sad you all are spoon fed.
Posted February 5, 2012 at 4:51:07 PM
Hondo
Arizona, where I was born (Some say I was found under a rock) has been a Right To Work state forever. Yes, we have unions, but nobody is forced to join them. It is a personal choice.
The only real fiscal difference between union and non-union jobs is the benefits. Union jobs, in general, offer benefits that equal pay - This makes the union shop pay twice. In the main, non-union businesses pay the employees and said employees can make their own decisions as to health care, retirement, and so forth.
While the Arizona economy is not booming, by any means, we are doing alright, even considering the onerous demands of the federal government.
Some "government" unions, a few, exist in Arizona. I predict that they will go the way of the dodo, in time.
Why, you ask?
Don't be silly! Even that old closet Marxist, FDR, refused to allow government unions. For what should be obvious reasons.
If those reasons are not obvious to you, perhaps you should peruse a history book, or two, or more.
Posted February 6, 2012 at 2:23:57 PM
Bill from Texas
@Lady - I am sorry that you missed a valuable lesson on personal gain and self worth. You say lower wages suck, I totally agree with you. However, if you want the higher paying position, get out of your chair and go get it. Big business may be bad. Unions are equal to the problem of big business. You say you like the fact that Unions keep pay up, but how does that help a small business grow into a big business if they can't pay the higher wages? Right to work is one of the great equalizers in our economy. Also, you will find that even without unions, the economy seems to find a way to make it where everyone is in the same general pay grade anyway.
Posted February 6, 2012 at 3:07:59 PM
p3orion
presumably, workers in Indiana can still join a union if they choose to; this bill simply makes it illegal to REQUIRE union membership and dues.
What ever happened to liberals' love affair with "freedom of choice?"
Posted February 6, 2012 at 3:53:02 PM
lady
Forgot all about my post. I do have a better paying job. Now that I live in Indiana. My parents brought us up under strict rules. I have never needed any government hand outs. Graduated high school and college, started working when I was 14. I also believe government is to big, money is spent across the board on to much stuff we do not need. My point was products do not get cheaper even when wages do down. Big business gets bigger paychecks smaller and the first business to suffer is small business.
I also think the tax breaks need to go away. With that said I also believe the earned income credits for the poor need to be cut in half. 5000 or 6000 because someone decided to have 3kids they cannot afford is not our problem. Maybe even more than half. While I am at if those said poor people are on government asst. Their credits should be returned to the government.
I realize by the comments you pretty much called me an idiot and think I am a free loader. I did not attack anyone here. I pointed out not everyone thinks unions should go away. They are only 10% of the workforce. Interesting how you all seem to have a problem with them but not the people who suck the government dry.
Obama did not do a number on me. I know all about the Koch brothers. Oil spills all the way to the products they sale. It may be legal to encourage votes but in a bad economy it is criminal to make people feel like they are going to lose their job if you vote a certain way. 9 times out of10 I vote republican but if I chose to vote democrat it is for good reason. Last election I voted straight republican except 1vote. Charlie white did not get my vote. His fraud came out before the election and he still ran. Saturday he was found guilty of 6 felonies. Good luck and I wont be back since my kind is not really welcome.
Posted February 6, 2012 at 8:57:58 PM