Days before the Super Bowl – a game played by union members, with a halftime show performed by union members, with commercials created by union members, in a stadium built by union members – Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels made Indiana a right-to-work-for-less state. Not only is the bill he signed unjust and unfair to union workers, it will also lower wages, reduce benefits and shrink pensions.

The irony of enacting such an anti-union law days before such a pro-labor event was not lost on Twitter users:

On Sunday, when you tune in to watch the biggest sporting event of the year, be sure to raise a pint to the union workers who made it possible. And on Monday, let us all continue to beat back right-to-work-for-less legislation in Indiana and across the country.

AFSCME Local 1180 members prepare to do house calls as part of their VMO training to reach out to fellow co-workers and have a greater voice on the job. (Photo by Aisha Salleh)

It’s intimidating knocking on someone’s door and asking them to join a union. Even knowing it’s a co-worker may not calm the jitters. But when you begin to explain that there is power in numbers and that coming together as a union gives workers a voice, it gets easier.

That’s what eight members of AFSCME Local 1180 learned one recent weekend in Tulsa, Okla., when they knocked on co-workers’ doors to encourage them to join the union. These Volunteer Member Organizers (VMOs) have never done anything like this before. But the preparations, field training and house calls made believers out of them.

Local 1180 represents approximately half the city’s employees, which means there are about 2,000 who are not yet members.That’s the challenge. The citizens of Tulsa deserve the vital services provided by the city’s water, sanitation and road maintenance workers, airport safety officers, 911 emergency operators and administrative employees. But ongoing threats of privatization and anti-worker legislation could mean not only loss of jobs but a deterioration of these services.

The VMOs participated in a three-day training, learning one-on-one communication skills. Each day, participants partnered with experienced organizers as they headed out to make house calls.

“Yes, it was intimidating at first but once you try it, you become comfortable and can successfully move a non-member into action,” says Michael Rider, Local 1180 president. He is also one of the VMOs. “The value of the VMO program is critical in helping us create a culture of continuous organizing, so that we can make improvements for ourselves, our families and the public we serve.”

Similar VMO training programs are held across the nation with positive results.At the AFSCME Women’s Conference last year, more than 70 members signed up to become champions of their fellow co-workers and middle-class workers everywhere.

In his final State of the State address this week, New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch drew loud applause when he praised the work of the state’s public service employees and vowed to block any attempts to strip workers of their collective bargaining rights.

“Sadly, it has become too commonplace to attack public employees,” Lynch said. “And that needs to stop.”

Watch highlights from Governor Lynch’s address here:

William Tandy

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels has just signed legislation that will make his state the first in years to enact right-to-work-for-less legislation. It’s a shame he didn’t consider the views of those who will be impacted by the legislation.

Take William Tandy, for instance. A Richmond Street Department employee and member of Local 1791 (AFSCME Council 62), he was demonstrating at the statehouse “to support our local and our elected representatives who have fought for Indiana’s workers. I want to look back on this fight and know that I was here and I helped fight this until the end.”

If the right-to-work-for-less bill becomes law, Tandy says, “training will suffer and safety will become more of an issue. It might take a while for businesses to notice, but this will cost them more in the long run. Equipment will get torn up, more people will get hurt.”

Jamin Isaac Green

For Richmond Sanitation Department worker Jamin Isaac Green – also a member of Local 1791 – this fight for worker rights is his first as a union member. “I’ve been here for six months,” he says. “The guys at work have taught me that it’s important that blue-collar workers like us have a voice. We need to stay together so we’re not being taken advantage of by a company owner or our city.”

Green says it’s not fair “that right-to-work is being pushed by these legislators. They didn’t run on this issue when they took back the majority in 2010. Nobody should be able to benefit off another, and that’s what this law allows. We’re going to keep on fighting.”

Scott Lotich

Scott Lotich, an equipment operator for the Richmond Street Department and a member of Local 1791, says, “This right-to-work attack is just the next step in the anti-worker attack against unions that began in the 1980s. This should be called the ‘right-to-sponge.’ It makes unions represent every worker even though they’re not required to pay anything for that representation.”

Lotich adds, “This fight is not over. If we have to, we’ll fight it at the ballot box in November.”

Right-to-work-for-less laws are bad for everyone. They lower wages. They endanger health and safety standards. They hurt pensions. And they are just plain unfair for union members.

South Dakota state Sen. Stan Adelstein (R-Rapid City), chief sponsor of a bill banning collective bargaining for public employees, had a change of heart after meeting last Saturday with public service workers, including members of AFSCME Council 59.

“Conversations with friends and supporters on both sides of the aisle have persuaded me that the proposed legislation is unnecessary and poses unintended consequences for police, firemen and teachers,” Senator Adelstein said in a statement.

Despite Adelstein’s reversal, others of his party are still interested in pushing the bill. It is not yet dead. That’s a shame. Although South Dakota’s state public service workers do not currently have the right to collectively bargain for better wages, benefits and working conditions, taking that right away from those who do – teachers, firefighters, police and some county and city employees – is an attack on the Main Street values of workers everywhere.

We’re glad Senator Adelstein took the time to listen to the people who would be most hurt by his bill. “Too often legislators take a knee jerk reaction to unions and collective bargaining without knowing the issues and the importance they serve,” said Council 59 Exec. Dir. Matt Miller. “We think anyone who studies the issue in depth understands collective bargaining is a fundamental part of American life. We hope other legislatures look at it in as much depth as Mr. Adelstein does.”

Until the bill is officially killed, however, Miller said that Council 59 members will remain vigilant. “We want to make it clear to Senator Adelstein or any other legislators who support a bill banning collective bargaining that it is unacceptable to public employees in South Dakota,” said Miller. “We are on alert and ready to debate this issue wherever it’s riSenator”

Senator Adelstein said he came to realize that passage of the legislation “would be in opposition to my values of supporting fair compensation, and recognition for our state’s capable public employees.” Also, he said, it “would cause grievous harm.”

But we are still concerned that Senator Adelstein doesn’t understand the true nature of collective bargaining. Just days before reversing course, he stated, “I’ve opposed collective bargaining through the years, because it’s always seemed to me that it benefits those who are not interested in compensation based on their efforts.”

Senator Adelstein is plain wrong on this point, and he also does not seem to realize that collective bargaining is about more than compensation. It’s about the basic right of public service workers to negotiate with their employer to improve their jobs, their safety, and even (in the case of nursing staff ratios) to better protect the lives of those in their care.

Voters in Ohio recently came to the same conclusion as Senator Adelstein and voted down a measure that also would have repealed collective bargaining rights. A similar effort was recently blocked in Nebraska. But workers’ union rights are under attack in Indiana, Michigan and other states.

But we’re fighting back. Check out how registered voters in Wisconsin are dealing with a governor who repealed collective bargaining rights last year.

For more about the importance of collective bargaining rights, click here.