Indiana

News Release: Worker Advocate Launches Legal Task Force to Protect Indiana Right to Work Freedom

Anthony Riedel — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:00:59 -0500

Worker Advocate Launches Legal Task Force to Protect Indiana Right to Work Freedom

Law prevents union officials from extracting union dues from workers as a condition of employment

Washington, DC (February 2, 2012) – The National Right to Work Foundation announced today that it is launching a legal task force aimed at protecting Indiana’s newly-enacted Right to Work law.

Union officials publicly floated the idea of challenging the law in Indiana's courts before the law was even passed by the Indiana state senate.

News Release: Union Forced Dues Threats against WRTV Anchor Highlight Need for Indiana Right to Work Law

Will Collins — Thu, 19 May 2011 13:27:54 -0400

Union Forced Dues Threats against WRTV Anchor Highlight Need for Indiana Right to Work Law

Union hit with federal labor board charges for demanding TV anchor pay union dues despite lack of valid contract between her employer and the union

Indianapolis, IN (May 19, 2011) – With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, WRTV anchor Patricia Shepherd has filed federal unfair labor practice charges against the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) union.

Workers' Rights Are At Stake in Labor Battles Nationwide, But Not in the Way Union Bosses Claim

Anthony Riedel — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 17:28:21 -0400

Last week, Mark Mix, President of National Right to Work, pointed out in Investor's Business Daily that the real issue in the ongoing battles between Big Labor and reform-minded public officials in various states across the country is getting lost in the union bosses' self-serving rhetoric.

As Mix notes, given the media coverage of the battle in Wisconsin:

Wall Street Journal: As More States Consider Right to Work, Will GOP Cave to Big Labor?

Nick Cote — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 12:44:24 -0500

In an editorial yesterday, the Wall Street Journal made both the moral and economic case for states to end forced unionism by passing Right to Work laws:

Contrary to much union rhetoric, right-to-work laws don't ban or bust unions. They simply grant individual workers the right to join or not to join, even once a workplace is organized by a union. Workers who decline to join the union can't be forced to have dues taken out of their paycheck and thus used to finance union political campaigns. Most right-to-work states are in the South and West, and only Oklahoma has adopted this freedom to choose in the last 20 years.

Right-to-work states outperform forced-union states in almost every measurable category of worker well-being. A new study in the Cato Journal by economist Richard Vedder finds that from 2000 to 2008 some 4.7 million Americans moved from forced-union to right-to-work states.

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Study: Right to Work Law Would Have Significantly Helped Indiana Workers, Families During Past Four Decades

Anthony Riedel — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 12:37:20 -0500

As Indiana's state legislators discuss the merits of passing Right to Work protections for Hoosier workers, a group of scholars released a study last week confirming (pdf) workers and their families in Right to Work states benefit from workplace freedom in a very tangible way. From a press release announcing their findings:

Improving the per-capita income of Indiana workers and creating more job opportunities for Hoosiers would be among the major benefits of Indiana becoming the 23rd state to pass a right-to-work (RTW) law, according to research released today by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce. In addition, statewide voter polling results show Hoosiers favoring adoption of RTW by a 3-to-1 margin.

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New Right to Work Video: The Truth About Card Check

Will Collins — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 12:26:17 -0400

With all the controversy surrounding card check legislation, it's worth talking to workers who've actually experienced the procedure first-hand. With that in mind, the National Right to Work Foundation interviewed several employees who endured intimidation, harassment and coercion at the hands of union organizers during an actual card check drive. After UAW organizers forced their way into the workplace through the coercive card check scheme, the workers forced a secret ballot decertification vote (using a precedent won by National Right to Work Foundation attorneys) and tossed out the unwanted union.

Here's the video:

School Bus Drivers File Charges against AFSCME Union for Illegal Threats, Dues Collections

Nick Cote — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 11:50:41 -0400

School Bus Drivers File Charges against AFSCME Union for Illegal Threats, Dues Collections

Lack of Right to Work law leads to ugly union abuse of workers

Indianapolis, IN (April 24, 2009)– With free legal aid from staff attorneys at the National Right to Work Foundation, three bus drivers have filed federal unfair labor practice charges against union bosses for an illegal scheme to bully nonmember employees into paying full union dues.

Regular Working Mom Fights Off Abusive UAW Union Operatives

Will Collins — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 14:59:35 -0400

Using card check, UAW operatives muscled their way into a plant in Albion, Indiana. The courageous working mom featured below joined with her coworkers to exercise legal rights won by the National Right to Work Foundation to throw the union back out.

Check out the National Right to Work Committee's latest video on one working mom's encounter with professional UAW organizers:

"Let us have our vote" - Deck Stacked Against Workers Trying to Throw Out Unwanted Union

Will Collins — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 17:27:54 -0400

Sonoma County grape pickers aren't the only workers facing prolonged union occupation - an employee decertification election aimed at ejecting International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 from a Northwest Indiana plant has also been repeatedly stalled by frivolous union blocking charges:

New Right to Work Video: Real Faces of Card Check Intimidation

Nick Cote — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 16:33:00 -0400

In this new special National Right to Work Committee video report, Dana Corporation employees in Albion, Indiana, share their stories of harassment and intimidation by UAW union operatives during a militant card check organizing drive. The workers discuss how union organizers specifically targeted and ramped up their coercive tactics against female employees.

As one worker explains in the video, “People in the UAW will call you their sister or their brother. I never treated any of my brothers and sisters that way.”

UAW union organizers were able to collect a majority of signatures after weeks of pressure on the employees. Thanks to a precedent won by attorneys with the National Right to Work Foundation, the employees eventually forced an election and defeated the UAW union hierarchy.