MARK KIESLING: Postal Service sees a right-to-work -- in Illinois

I found it somewhat ironic that a column on the right-to-work bill appeared in The Times the same day as protesters took to the streets in front of the main Gary post office.

Proponents of the right-to-work bill say higher salaries driven by mandatory union membership in so-called "closed shops" is driving jobs out of Indiana.

Yet on the same day, people employed at the main mail processing center at 15th Avenue and Martin Luther King Drive in Gary gathered to protest the proposed closure of that large facility and the transfer of its employees to Bedford Park, Ill.

We all know salaries in Illinois are higher than those in Indiana. It's why commuting into Chicago and its environs are so popular among people from Northwest Indiana.

It's cheaper to live here, and you make more money there. It doesn't take Alan Greenspan to figure out this makes financial sense.

But the postal jobs, some 100 of them, in Gary were among our higher-paying jobs. The same type of jobs the right-to-work proponents say will be lured to Indiana if folks are not required to join a union, even if one exists at the workplace to which they were hired.

The U.S. Postal Service might not be the best example because of outside influences, as more people are communicating free by such things as email and texting rather than slapping a 45-cent stamp on a letter that will get there in days rather than seconds.

But there is still plenty of reason to use the post office, and we are seeing the transfer of high-paying jobs from Indiana to Illinois.

OK, I realize the post office pays what the post office pays. And I know the facility in Bedford Park is bigger than the one in Gary.

But I think it came at an interesting juncture as the Indiana General Assembly continues to debate right-to-work and how it will lure jobs into Indiana.

Last week, Republicans (who generally favor the measure) rammed the bill through the House Labor Committee as Democrats (who generally oppose the bill) cried foul and resumed their boycott of the House sessions.

It's like watching kids on a playground. The GOP, now in control of the legislature, says their dad can beat up the Democrats' dad.

The Dems, on the other hand, say if the Republicans don't want to play by their rules they are going to take their ball and go home.

Ah, isn't it refreshing to see our leaders behaving like fifth-graders?

I apologize to my fifth-grade readers for that, by the way.

The opinions are solely those of the writer. He can be reached at mark.kiesling@nwi.com or (219) 933-4170.