Students, staff protest bill to outlaw unions

The group of about 50 moved in closer to huddle together and listen as the rain fell harder.

“We care about our teachers in the state of Indiana and in the nation and are not standing idly by,” Bryce Smedley, president of Communications Workers of America Local 4730, told those around him.

People cheered and clapped, and a few even stomped their feet on the rain-covered pavement in approval.

The group of students, staff and community members gathered in the rain Monday to stand in solidarity with Wisconsin and Indiana teachers against proposed state legislation concerning the future of unions.

The Right to Work bills proposed in Indiana would make it a misdemeanor to require employees to be in a labor organization and pay dues to it.

“The right to organize is an American right,” Smedley said.“That’s right,” a crowd member responded.

Minutes before, the group had been spread out on the cement stage in Dunn Meadow beneath an array of umbrellas, including solid red, solid blue and IU red and white. Several protesters stood facing Indiana Avenue holding signs. Two cars and an IU bus passed by them and honked in support, causing the group to cheer.

Education student and senior Tamara Dworetz stood in the crowd and held a blank sign folded in half over her head to block the rain.

“It’s a blank slate,” she said, laughing about the sign. But Dworetz said unions are important to teachers because they are a way to push things forward and be connected to what’s going on.

Under an umbrella next to her stood graduate student Jacob Hardesty, who said he had both union and non-union teaching jobs before coming to IU as a student. He said unions gave teachers more time to prepare to be a teacher instead of worrying about pay and sick days.

“It’s intimidating having to negotiate your pay with a boss who is old enough to be your parent,” Hardesty said.

Young people may have bad impressions of unions, and teaching is an example of a profession where people in their 20s and 30s aren’t joining unions, said Amber Frost, a Bloomington resident and co-chairwoman of Young Democratic Socialists. She added that young teachers can benefit from unions.

“But they only function with participation,” Frost said.

After Smedley’s speech, several politicians, including Bloomington Mayor Mark Kruzan, voiced their support for the power unions give to the middle class.

“Never underestimate your individual or collective rights,” Kruzan said. 

Unions are a way to have collective bargaining and people coming together, Smedley added.

Frost said the number of people who attended the protest despite the rain shows there is a movement behind unions especially for young people. And Smedley said he was amazed by the number of people who attended.

It proved people are passionate about education and can have an impact on local and national education issues, Smedley said.

He added that students and members of CWA Local 4730 organized the protest together.

“Let today be a prime example of unions as a positive thing, standing for working families.”