Indiana and Wisconsin Become Focal Points for Curbing Union Influence

Employment Law

This week, opponents of Republican Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker filed more than enough signatures on a petition to secure a recall election this year based on his efforts to rein in public sector unions, even as a right-to-work bill moved forward in the Indiana legislature.  With 540,208 signatures needed, United Wisconsin claimed to file more than 1 million valid signatures.  The recall movement was prompted by the enactment of Walker's "Budget Repair Act" (Wisconsin Act 10) which, among other things, limited public sector collective bargaining to wages only while also limiting wage increases to consumer price index increases.  Governor Walker seemed little surprised by the success of the petition and said he "expects Wisconsin voters will stand with me and keep moving Wisconsin forward" based on his elimination of the state's $3.6 billion budget deficit without raising taxes and "add[ing] thousands of new jobs."  Meanwhile, Democrats in the Indiana House have been seeking to block consideration of a right-to-work bill supported by Republican Governor Mitch Daniels by boycotting the session in the face of $1,000 per day fines.  The stalemate could end as early as today, however, as the Senate is also planning to take up the measure.  The actions in both Wisconsin and Indiana assure that union influence–both in the private and public sector–and its impact on the economy will continue to play into the debates in the 2012 campaigns.