(Source: International Brotherhood of Teamsters press release, February 1, 2012)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa today denounced Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels’ signing of so-called “right-to-work” legislation into law as an attack on the millions of working men and women in the state.
“Indiana does not need or want this anti-worker legislation,” Hoffa said. “I know that working Hoosiers will not stand by and watch as their wages and benefits are driven down as a result of this new law. As we have seen over the past year, American workers will fight to protect the future of their families.”
Indiana had passed a right-to-work-for-less bill in 1957, only to see the law repealed in 1965 after public outrage shifted control of the state Legislature to the Democrats. In Ohio last year, millions of Ohioans voted to repeal Senate Bill 5, which would have stripped collective bargaining rights from nearly 400,000 public employees.
By signing the bill into law, Daniels broke a promise to his constituents. In 2006, he told the Teamsters that he opposed right-to-work-for-less legislation when he spoke to Local 135 in Indianapolis.
At that meeting, (which can be viewed here), Daniels said, “I’m a supporter of the labor laws we have in the state of Indiana. I’m not interested in changing any of them, not the prevalent wage laws, certainly not a right-to-work law.”
Daniels served as budget director under George W. Bush, during a time when the country went from a large surplus to a budget deficit.
“Gov. Daniels will soon learn the hard lessons that other anti-worker Republican governors are facing after overreaching and launching attacks on the middle class,” Hoffa said. “Catering to your corporate benefactors rather than representing your constituents is not the best course of action if you want to keep your job.”
Despite the political rhetoric that anti-worker politicians tout to sell the public on so-called “right-to-work” legislation, evidence shows it lowers income and benefits and has no impact whatsoever on job growth.
In the more than 10 years since right-to-work-for-less legislation was passed in Oklahoma, the number of new companies coming to the state decreased by one-third while the number of manufacturing jobs has decreased by the same measure. Oklahoma has also seen a rise in migration of jobs out of state since the passage of so-called “right-to-work.”