A current mayor and former union leader says passage of right-to-work legislation would force labor groups to modernize. Kokomo Mayor Greg Goodnight, speaking on WFIU’s “Ask the Mayor,” says he’s not in favor of the bill currently circulating in the Indiana General Assembly, but concedes unionized labor could use the changes as a push to change how they do business.
“Sometimes you have to have that heart attack or something that makes you change your lifestyle or focus on things a little differently,” Goodnight says.
Goodnight, the former auto union boss, says he doesn’t feel unions in Kokomo have become complacent, but says right-to-work might cause current leaders to think about expanding their membership to more shops in an effort to cover the loss in membership the bill forecasts. Under the law, employees at union workplaces would not be required to pay union dues if they didn’t want to be in a union.