Judge hears arguments in right to work lawsuit
Attorneys for Indiana and a local union argued Friday afternoon whether a federal lawsuit aimed against the state’s right-to-work law should continue.
The state argued that the lawsuit, filed at U.S. District Court in Hammond by the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150, should be tossed because the law follows similar right-to-work laws already approved in other states.
Dale Pierson, general counsel for Local 150, argued Friday that federal law gave states the right to ban only requiring union membership as a rule for employment with a company. It did not go so far as to allow a ban on union contracts from requiring employees to pay for just the bargaining and grievance activities of a union, which Pierson argued is not full membership.
When U.S. District Judge Philip Simon questioned the chances of this lawsuit succeeding when 25 states have right-to-work laws, Pierson said most of the legal cases on those were settled 50 to 60 decades ago and that the legal landscape of the country has since changed.
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