INDIANAPOLIS | In a rare move, Democrats on the General Assembly's right-to-work study committee have challenged the findings of the official report issued by the committee's Republican majority.
State Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Ogden Dunes, and state Sen. Jim Arnold, D-LaPorte, are among the co-authors of a minority report that claims a right-to-work law will harm Hoosier workers and businesses.
The Democrats say the committee's endorsement of a right-to-work law ignored research showing right-to-work reduces wages and benefits for all workers -- union and non-union -- by an average of $1,500 to $5,538 per person.
"This presents a considerable loss to the Indiana economy and all businesses reliant on consumer spending," they write.
Despite claims by right-to-work proponents that the labor law change will attract new companies to the state, the report finds most business leaders and site selectors say right-to-work is not a significant factor in where companies locate.
The Democrats point out Indiana is already rated among the best states to do business in, higher than a majority of right-to-work states.
A right-to-work law allows non-union members at an union workplace to not pay "fair share" fees for union services they receive, such as collective bargaining, which the union is required to provide for all employees.
The Democrats say corporations intent on weakening unions to drive down wages and boost profits are behind the right-to-work push in Indiana.
"It is our strong belief that Indiana should not be in a competition for low wages that will lead to job losses in the name of eliminating collective bargaining rights for all Hoosiers," they write.
Right-to-work is expected to be the most contentious issue of the 2012 legislative session.
An attempt to enact right-to-work last session led in part to a five-week walkout by House Democrats that shut down the Legislature until right-to-work was taken off the table.