‘You’ll Be Tarred and Feathered!’: Union Protesters Growing Desperate in Indiana
- Posted on January 12, 2012 at 4:42pm by
Becket Adams
“For his final experiment in the conservative laboratory that is Indiana, Gov. Mitch Daniels is tinkering with a labor bill that could bring more jobs to the state, is guaranteed to bring massive labor protests to the Statehouse during the 2012 session and may temporarily shut down all other legislative business,”
The Blaze reported earlier this month.
And make no mistake about it, Indiana
is inching towards becoming a “right-to-work” state. However, as everyone expected, Republican lawmakers in the Hoosier state are meeting fierce opposition from Democrats and their union allies.
Watch union protesters erupt in protest on the House floor:
This was written on the video’s YouTube description:
Before the gavel even fell on the Indiana House Committee on Employment, Labor and Pensions, protestors erupted on the House Floor claiming everything under the sun you’d expect to hear from a union protestor including that the legislators were unpatriotic and dictators. One even called for legislators (presumably only the Republican members who voted for the bill) to be “tarred and feathered.”
But what were they so upset about?
“The
latest development in the process came when the legislation cleared the House Employment, Labor and Pensions Committee and a first vote on amendments in the full body is scheduled for next Tuesday,” writes Jazz Shaw of
Hot Air.
What does this mean? It means that if the measure clears the next round of voting, it could be passed into law, making it illegal for Indiana businesses and unions to negotiate contracts that require all workers to pay union fees.
Naturally, in a show of political acuity, Indiana House Democrats boycotted the chamber four out of the first five days of the 2012 session.
By the time they returned, they had missed the deadline for submitting amendments to the measure. Therefore, under Indiana
House Rules, Committee Chairman Doug Gutwein — being within his rights — refused any Democrat amendments to the bill.
And
that’s why they’re freaking out in the video.
However, if Democrats hadn’t staged a four-day walkout, “they would have been able to submit amendments to the Joint House and Senate Committee hearing last Friday,” writes Josh Gillespie of
HoosierAccess reports.
“But in an utter disregard for anything remotely resembling a coherent thought, Minority Leader Pat Bauer and most of the Democrats walked out, preventing a quorum and preventing their participating in a hearing that lasted over five hours and produced quite a bit of testimony.”
Maybe now House Democrats will realize that it may be more useful to their cause to stick around and debate the issues.
Same protesters, different angle:
[
Editor's note: Although the protesters have some great lines including, "This is a dictatorship!," we think the best line is at the 5:55 mark: "Does 'aye' mean 'yes'?"]
