Dau-Schmidt comments on Indiana right-to-work legislation
Proponents of right-to-work legislation have emphasized its potential for bringing businesses to Indiana, but an IU Maurer School of Law professor says the ones who stand to benefit most, are the companies already in the state.
Chris Schrader is the Director of Government Affairs for Indiana State Council of the Society of Human Resource Management. Speaking on WFIU’s Noon Edition, Schrader said a recent poll shows right-to-work legislation is key to a company’s decision on where to re-locate.
“They listed availability of financial incentives as number one, number two was environmental rules and regulations and the ease of navigating those within a state, and number three was its right to work status.”
But IU law school professor Kenneth Dau-Schmidt, an IU law school professor who specializes in labor and employment law, says he thinks companies already in the state will benefit most.
“The Right to work states have lower wages and benefits both for union and for non-union employees. So, basically the people that stand to directly benefit from this I would say would be the existing businesses in the state will have less pressure on wages in the future and they’ll make more profits.”
Dau-Schmidt says right to work would limit unions’ bargaining power and allow large corporations to take advantage of their employees by keeping wages low. The right-to-work bill is still being debated in the legislature.
(Indiana Public Media)