Indiana Gov. Daniels: Public sector unions a ‘bad idea’

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels said Sunday he would like to see public sector unions’ power curtailed because “government works better without them.”

While calling organized labor a “necessary freedom” in the private sector, the Republican governor told “Fox News Sunday” they were a “bad idea in government.”

“I think we’ve seen through its excesses … now visible to voters almost everywhere that [public sector organized labor] really needs to be brought under some sort of control in the interest of the people who pay the taxes,” he said.

Mr. Daniels said that while Wisconsin GOP Gov. Scott Walker’s successful beating back of a recall effort last week shouldn’t be considered a “watershed,” he said it was a turning point in “trying to address the balance” between public sector unions and local governments.

The Indiana governor added that organized labor’s problems didn’t start with Mr. Walker.

“There’s been a 40- or 50-year decline in union membership. The world of work has changed, workers have changed, and I don’t think unions have changed as sufficiently to go with them,” he said.