INDIANAPOLIS | Gov. Mitch Daniels believes Tuesday's decision by Ohio voters to overturn a state law restricting collective bargaining for public employees will not affect Indiana's right-to-work debate.
"That was all about government unions, it was about firefighters, policemen and teachers, and that would have nothing to do with the bill we're talking about here, which is all about the private sector and jobs," Daniels said. "They're totally different things."
But Nancy Guyott, president of the Indiana AFL-CIO, said the state's Republican governor and Republican-controlled Legislature would be wise to take a lesson from the Ohio outcome and drop efforts to make Indiana a right-to-work state.
"The result in the Ohio election should serve as a wakeup call to all the members of the Indiana General Assembly who are thinking about renewing their assault on Indiana's working families," Guyott said. "Ohioans didn't stand for it and neither will Hoosiers."
Under a right-to-work law, nonunion members at an union workplace are not required to pay "fair share" fees for collective bargaining services the union is required by federal law to provide for all employees.
Daniels said businesses considering relocating often won't even look at Indiana because it's not a right-to-work state.
"There's no question the lack of it costs us jobs," Daniels said.
Though, a recent poll of business site selectors ranked Indiana the sixth best state to do business in, better than 17 of the 22 right-to-work states.
Last month, a Republican-majority legislative committee voted on party lines to recommend the General Assembly consider enacting right-to-work in the upcoming session.
Efforts to pass right-to-work during the 2011 session led in part to a five-week walkout by House Democrats that shut down legislative business until right-to-work was taken off the table.