The five Catholic bishops of Indiana recently made an important contribution to the passionate and ongoing debate about the “right-to-work” legislation being introduced in the Indiana legislature. That legislation would eliminate requirements that non-union employees pay fees to a union recognized in their workplace.
As a long-time union supporter, I have opposed the proposed law, fearing that unions would become weaker as employees became tempted by economic hardship, especially in these tough times, into disaffiliating in order not to pay their fair share of bargaining costs.
The Catholic bishops have brought up a new issue: employee conscience. They point out that some unions “use their resources to support politicians or political parties that clearly devalue the sanctity of human life or the institution of marriage.” President Obama and the national Democratic Party come readily to mind (even though there are a quite few “Democrats for Life,” like myself, at the grassroots level of the Party). Without right-to-work legislation, some employees are forced to violate their consciences, since the required fees indirectly enable mothers and fathers to turn tragically against their own children, dismembering them in the womb.
My own position has thus changed. If the national Democratic Party became neutral on abortion, or if Indiana unions ceased to support that party, I would oppose right-to-work laws. Until one of those things happens, I reluctantly support the proposed legislation.