Plan to get Hoosiers back to work rejected by Republican majority controlling the House

INDIANAPOLIS – State Rep. Clyde Kersey (D-Terre Haute) said Indiana House Republicans missed out today on a golden opportunity to provide true job creation for Hoosiers by refusing to get rid of our state’s failed right-to-work law.

The House majority voted against a proposal offered by Kersey to repeal right-to-work, which has not made a significant dent in Indiana’s unemployment rate since becoming law in 2012, despite continued claims made by supporters of the initiative.

“There has been no empirical evidence offered that right-to-work has worked, apart from supporters continually saying that it works,” Kersey said. “While our jobless numbers have gone down a little, Indiana still lags behind the rest of the country in improving household incomes.

“Indiana’s household incomes have declined by a greater percentage than 47 other states, and the income of the average Hoosier is more than 10 percent lower than his or her fellow Americans,” he continued. “Right-to-work has done nothing to improve those figures, and I seriously doubt that it ever will.”

Kersey also noted that provisions of the law have been ruled unconstitutional, with appeals adding to the amount Indiana taxpayers will have to pay to defend the legislation.

“What has never been denied is that this law has only one measure of success, and that is trying to dismantle the unions that have successfully fought for the rights of all working men and women – even those who complain about them – for years,” Kersey said.

“Of course, it is not surprising that the House majority chose to turn its back on this proposal, but they need to know that this will not be the last opportunity they have to make up for the mistake they made two years ago,” he noted.

“People will know who stands up for the rights of working Hoosiers, and who prefers to follow the lead of the corporate masters who care nothing about workplace safety and paying a decent living wage, only about lining the pockets of their shareholders and themselves.”