Mike Landram, president and CEO of the Greater Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce, on Monday spoke on behalf of Chamber members before the House Employment and Labor Committee in Indianapolis.
Landram spoke in support of House Bill 1468, the Right to Work legislation which makes it a Class A misdemeanor for an employer to force a person to join a labor organization as a term of employment.
"With all the hard work that has been done to maintain and further develop Indiana as a competitive location for business attraction, becoming a Right to Work state could push us across the finish line," Landram told the lawmakers.
"Right to Work laws do make states more economically competitive. The larger issue is about the workers having an individual right: the right to decide for themselves whether to join a union or not."
Landram quoted a Wall Street Journal editorial article from February 2 in which Gov. Mitch Daniels said a bid for a new Colgate factory in Indiana, which would have employed hundreds of Hoosiers, was lost because Colgate wanted to be in a Right to Work state.
"We urge you not to flinch on the passage of Right to Work," Landram said. "There is minimal if any price tag for Indiana to become a Right to Work state. Indiana needs to grow its revenue through attraction and expansion of businesses. More companies will translate to more jobs, jobs our Hoosier citizens need urgently."
Right to Work is a long-standing Fort Wayne Chamber agenda issue. Landram spoke to the importance of jobs in Northeast Indiana and the fact that Right to Work would expand business and thus jobs.
The Employment and Labor committee passed HB 1468 out of committee by a vote of 8-5, a party-line vote. It will now move to the House floor for amendment.
The Fort Wayne Chamber represents more than 1,650 members employing nearly 100,000 employees and generating more than $18 billion in annual revenues.
CORRECTION: This post originally named Landram as chairman instead of president.
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