Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) Feb. 1 signed into law a new right-to-work bill that will protect all workers in the state from being forced to pay union dues as a requirement of employment. Daniels signed the bill hours after it was passed by the Indiana legislature and ABC immediately expressed its support for the action. 
 
“No American should be forced to join a labor union just to keep a job, and no resident of Indiana should be required to pay dues to an organization he or she does not believe in,” said 2012 ABC National Chairman Eric Regelin, president of Granix, LLC, Ellicott City, Md. “The new right-to-work law will allow workers to freely decide whether to join a union."

Indiana is the 23rd state in the country to enact a right-to-work law. It also is the first state to pass a right-to-work law in more than 10 years since Oklahoma enacted its law in 2001; however, other states are now considering similar bills.  

“Right-to-work legislation has been introduced in 13 other states,” Regelin said. “This suggests that state lawmakers – strapped with massive budget deficits, falling revenues and stagnant economic growth – are considering right-to-work laws to lure new businesses into their states and help turn their economies around.