INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana’s public labor unions say they have little left
to lose, even if the results of Wisconsin’s recall election inspire state
lawmakers to push anti-union legislation further.
Republican Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker won a recall victory Tuesday despite
union opposition stemming from a law that ended collective bargaining for
most public employees and teachers.
The dissipation of union power has been a reality in Indiana for some time,
as Gov. Mitch Daniels, another Republican, stripped state employees of their
collective bargaining rights on his first day in office in 2005. And this
year, he signed a bill restricting teachers’ contracts to salaries and
wages. Unions in Indiana were also stung this year by a new right-to-work
law.
Indiana State Teachers Association spokesman Mark Shoup said there’s not
much left for the Republican-controlled Legislature to take away from the
unions.
“There’s so little left,” he told The Indianapolis Star in a Wednesday
report. “They just decimated collective bargaining for Indiana teachers.
They had their way with unions. My God! Maybe they’ll do more, but they’ve
done so much damage I can’t imagine that there’s anything else to do.”
Central Indiana Labor Council president Brett Voorhies said he’s afraid
lawmakers may take bargaining rights away from other public employees, such
as local police and firefighters.
“That’s one of our fears going into this next session,” he said. “The
teachers, they are already starting on that. Next will come the
firefighters. They’re just chopping it away.”
At the local level, state law doesn’t require binding arbitration; it only
requires counties and cities to confer with unions representing police and
firefighters.
Bill Owensby, president of the Indianapolis Fraternal Order of Police Lodge
86, said police are concerned they could lose their rights and benefits.
“It’s a trend. It isn’t just a Wisconsin thing. It’s a national trend,”
Owensby said.
A spokeswoman for the Indiana Economic Development Corporation didn’t return
a phone call from the AP on Wednesday seeking comment on how the state’s
labor legislation affects the business climate. But the IEDC website touts
the fact that Indiana is now a right-to-work state, saying that makes the
state more attractive to developers.
ISTA President Nate Schnellenberger said Wednesday that he doesn’t think
Walker’s win was a sign that voters endorse his policies, and believes
Walker will lose if he seeks re-election at the regular time.
Schnellenberger said he thinks people are just reluctant to remove someone
from office at midterm.
“I think if he runs for re-election he’ll be voted out of office by a fairly
wide margin,” he told The Associated Press. “I think it’s erroneous to think
that the people have approved his policies.”
Owensby said legislators in Indiana may go after union pensions next.
Owensby told the AP that a legislative study committee last year looked at
changing the state’s Public Employee Retirement Fund from one based on
defined benefits, where a new hire knows how much he’ll receive when he
retires, to a defined contribution basis, where the benefits depend on the
performance of the stock market.
Rep. Jerry Torr, a Carmel Republican who helped lead the effort to pass the
right to work law, told the Star he doubted lawmakers would want to tamper
with local control of collective bargaining.
Tom Hanify, president of the Indiana Firefighters Association, said he
didn’t think lawmakers would touch the PERF, which he and Owensby both said
is financially solid. And he said local labor fights are rare in Indiana.
“I don’t think (Wisconsin) will have much negative impact on us,” Hanify
said. “That’s because we don’t have much, for one, and number two, cities,
towns and my members, they really try. Hoosier common sense prevails.”
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