DENVER | Colorado lawmakers took a major step toward making it dramatically easier for labor unions to organize. The state Senate agreed last week to repeal the law that requires two votes for a union to represent workers.
Democrats have made undoing the Labor Peace Act one of their priorities for this year’s legislative session. The unique law has framed labor negotiations in Colorado since World War II.
Colorado is the only state to require two organizational votes: one to form a union, and a second to collect mandatory fees for representing workers. Republicans say the law keeps the state competitive. Democrats say two votes is an unnecessary hurdle that discourages unionization.
“This is a relic of the past,” said Sen. Jessie Danielson, D-Wheat Ridge. “It’s been referenced as this great, grand compromise, but really it’s not.”
The measure moved ahead on a 22-12 party-line vote, with no Republicans voting yes.
The vote on what Democrats have named the Worker Protection Act, Senate Bill 25-005, came after a grueling debate at the Colorado State Capitol. Republicans spent hours attempting to reduce the impact of repealing the Labor Peace Act, suggesting amendments that ranged from exempting agricultural workers and businesses with fewer than 100 employees to requiring unions to itemize how they spend the money they collect.
But GOP opposition was essentially fundamental. Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen, R-Monument, argued changing the state’s labor laws will take away workers’ freedom of choice – and reshape the character of Colorado.
“You pay the union dues whether you want to or not,” he said. “That’s what a union state looks like. That’s what this bill wants to turn our state into.”
Democrats say two elections is a high bar. Not only do unions have to win a majority to be recognized. They have to get support from three-quarters of workers to start collecting fees to represent them through paycheck deductions. All the while, businesses can pressure their workers to vote against unionization.
What’s more, times have changed, Senate Majority Leader Robert Rodriguez said. The Colorado of the 1940s was more unequal, less tolerant and far less accommodating toward labor unions.
“Returning to the politics of 1943 – or allowing their legacy to persist – would undermine decades of progress and hinder the state’s future,” he said.
The Senate needs to act again to confirm Thursday’s vote, a largely procedural move. The state House of Representatives would also have to approve the Worker Protection Act before it could be sent to Gov. Jared Polis’ desk.
The governor’s signature is far from assured. Polis has said the Labor Peace Act has been good for the state, and he’s called labor and business groups to come together on a compromise. So far, that has not happened.
This story was made available via the Colorado News Collaborative. Colorado Capitol Coverage is produced by the Capitol News Alliance, a collaboration between KUNC News, Colorado Public Radio, Rocky Mountain PBS, and The Colorado Sun, and shared with Rocky Mountain Community Radio, Sentinel Colorado and other news organizations across the state.
The Senator from Wheatridge says that this law is a “relic of the past”. I say unions are the same thing. We’ll see over the next ten years which is correct. Colorado continues to take the same path as California in most aspects. See what it got them.
I was thinking the exact same thing; union ARE a relic of the past!! We need to remain a right to work state, plain and simple. If people don’t like their jobs they have every right to look elsewhere or start their own company.
Unions are very important. California is a wonderful place, but that has nothing to do with unions. My dad was Union and I’m from New England we are very strong union people. Right now on my block alone there are five families all from New England. We’re strong union people and we live in Colorado so I don’t know what that has to do with California. The right wing always has a slam on California but it’s a wonderful place.
Twice you said “California is a wonderful place”. We get it that you believe that. Lot’s of people believe that unions are useful. You are one of them.
Someday you may get what is happening. Someday.
As a high school kid, I once took a summer job in a union factory in Milwaukee where I was scolded and ostracised by union members for working too hard. I formed my attitude toward unions back then. It was management’s job to get as much work out of employees as possible, while unions attempted to get as much money as they could, for as little work as possible. It seemed like such a misguided waste of energy – to be fighting one another rather than uniting to fight the real threat of foreign competition.
There was a time when the fight for workers’ rights could only be made by forming unions and forcing corporations for improved safety, pay, and decent hours. Now that we have employment laws to protect employees, Unions bring no value other than disrupting society and the economy. One need not look any further than France to see how disruptive unions are even in one of the most socialist countries on the planet! Unions need to go the way of the dinosaurs.
Simply another step the legislature can take to increase the flight of businesses from Colorado. Don’t they see the statistics on how many companies have left due to their past actions? You would think they would learn from their past mistakes.