The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette and the Lafayette Journal & Courier both have editorials today that raise questions about whether RTW is good policy, deserves the emphasis put on it by the state Republicans, or is well understood by the public; but both agree that a referendum is not the right way to decide this issue. If we have a referendum on RTW, why not any other policy choice the General Assembly makes?
(The Indy Star has an editorial on the subject, but it’s low grade work compared to the Journal & Courier and Journal Gazette — engaging in a “both sides suck” type equivalency (only the Democrats suck more and are stupid for caring so much about RTW))).
Much as I’d like to see RTW fail, I don’t think a referendum is the way to go. About the best the Democrats can do this year is to fight it as best they can, make the public pay attention to who stood where, and hang this around the necks of RTW supporters every election until wages improve.
I just don’t think that people are going to find the status quo – pay dues, or pay an equivalent to charity, as I understand it – deeply unfair. RTW means, in effect, right to freeload, and that seems more unfair to my sensibilities.
They keep bringing up ISTA as a thriving union in an RTW carve-out, but are there data on overall freeloading in RTW states?
It is hilarious that the main knock against RTW is “freeloading”, when the requirement that unions bargain for everyone, union and non-union, is from a federal law that the unions pushed through. Probably so that they could argue that RTW creates a bunch of freeloaders!
If unions don’t want to bargain for non-union members, they should get their Democrat allies that they have bought and paid for to change that federal law.
There’s little doubt that the referendum effort is a delay tactic; hats off to the Democrats for using whatever strategy available to hold back the continuing onslaught against the middle class. RTW legislation is nothing more than an effort to carve out more flesh from Indiana’s employment-at-will class.
I agree totally with every point you make in this post.
With respect to referenda, we elect representatives to make policy decisions on our behalf, on the theory that they have access to better information about the issues. When they do a lousy job, the remedy is to replace them, not to substitute a plebiscite.