Union says lack of data on RTW 'telling'

Leaders from the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 said Monday responses to an open records request to Indiana leaders seeking right to work information has produced little proof the legislation will spur job creation efforts.

In December, the union's Merrillville-based financial secretary, David Fagan, called for Gov. Mitch Daniels, House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, and Senate President David Long, R-Fort Wayne, to produce a list of companies that passed over the Hoosier state in the past 12 months and where they went instead.

A response to the request from the governor's office said Friday that it doesn't maintain records related to the request. Recent responses from the Republican lawmakers included transcripts of testimony in support of right to work from legislative study sessions this past summer.

James Sweeney, president and business manager of Countryside, Ill.-based Local 150, said the fact the governor's office didn't produce information in support of claims was "telling."

"This legislation is being presented as a heal-all for Indiana's unemployed, yet the same legislators beating the drum cannot provide one concrete example of a business that has passed up Indiana for another state because we are not a 'right to work' state," Sweeney said in a statement.

Katelyn Hancock, a spokeswoman for the Indiana Economic Development Corp., said in an email to The Times last month that the job loss information the agency received is from numerous conversations with site selection consultants.

"... We know that Indiana loses new job and investment opportunities between a quarter and a half of the time because we are not a right-to-work state," Hancock said.