INDIANAPOLIS, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- Passing a so-called right-to-work bill will be the top priority among Republicans in the Indiana legislature in the upcoming session, GOP lawmakers said Monday.
Indiana would become the nation's 23rd right-to-work state, allowing workers at unionized private-sector companies to choose not to join a union or pay dues, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, a Republican, issued an executive order in 2005 abolishing collective bargaining for public employees in the state.
Indiana Republicans and some corporations say a right-to-work law would create jobs.
"It's very clear that we're not going to be able to dip into the quarter of a million Hoosiers who are out of work without addressing the last barrier to job creation in our state," Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma told the Journal.
Democrats and union leaders say a right-to-work law would amount to an attack on unions and would not reduce unemployment.
When GOP lawmakers in the state backed a right-to-work bill in the spring, Democrats left for Illinois and refused to return until the Republicans withdrew the plan.
Right-to-work measures were proposed in many state legislatures this year but none passed, the Journal said.
