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Thursday, 20 March 2008 |
Workers may get "personal time" instead of separate vacation and sick days
The Ritter administration is considering a plan to change the time-off policy for 30,000 state employees, which could cost the state millions of dollars when those employees leave their jobs. The proposal, which the administration says is in response to a 2003 outside audit and to remain competitive with the private sector, is also likely to increase the number of days employees take off each year. Since August, the state Personnel & Administration Department has held 29 meetings attended by 3,000 state employees as well as numerous government representatives to discuss the proposal. The plan would switch from a system in which employees have "vacation" and "sick" days to a single time-off designation called "personal time." The payout for unused time off when workers leave their jobs would increase by seven days. However, the administration has yet to calculate statewide cost estimates for the plan and this week backed off an initial July 1 date for the plan to take effect. "It is under consideration and is something we will continue to examine," said Evan Dreyer, spokesman for Gov. Bill Ritter. "We aren't moving forward with this at this time."... Full story: http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_8631396 |
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Thursday, 31 January 2008 |
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Marianne Goodland
Silver & Gold Record reporter Outrageous. That's the reaction from a Colorado state senator regarding the phone calls and visits to employees' homes made by union organizers since Nov. 2, when Gov. Bill Ritter signed an executive order allowing employee partnerships.
Last week, human resource directors from many state agencies met with leaders from several unions to voice their concerns about union organizers' tactics, which some called over-aggressive. One union organizer, employed by Colorado WINS, was arrested in downtown Denver in November for allegedly trespassing on Regional Transportation District property after attempting to distribute leaflets in an adjacent private building where a state agency is located. In a more recent incident, a union organizer who visited a Department of Corrections (DOC) employee at home, found himself on the business end of a gun. (The DOC could not confirm the incident, but S&GR learned about the incident from two union leaders, both of whom volunteered the information.) |
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Wednesday, 16 January 2008 |
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by Kevin Flynn, Rocky Mountain News ...Drivers at the last of RTD's three private contractors have voted to go union, completing a campaign by the Amalgamated Transit Union to once again represent all of the transit agency's drivers... For the first time since 1989, when the state started to require RTD to farm out some of its operations to private companies, the drivers and operators of RTD's fixed-route buses and light rail are all union. Under current law, RTD can privatize up to 55 percent of its bus services...
...In 2006, RTD was able to use drivers from Veolia and Laidlaw to substitute on the busiest routes that striking drivers handled. Now RTD said it most likely wouldn't be able to call on them to fill in again... Read Full Story: www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jan/15/ |
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Thursday, 03 January 2008 |
Many advocates fear Democrats in Legislature might pass bills that make it harder on them By Ed Sealover The Colorado Springs Gazette DENVER - Business leaders have one request for the Legislature this session: Leave us alone.
Industry and small-business advocates argue there is little they need from the state in terms of tax breaks or infrastructure assistance. But many worry that majority Democrats could pass legislation that opens the door for trial lawyers to be more litigious or imposes stricter environmental regulations on companies.
That fear of an anti-business climate comes two months after Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter signed an executive order giving state employee unions more power to negotiate with department heads, a move commerce leaders said could have negative repercussions. But it also comes just 3½ months after Ritter announced his economic-development proposals for 2008.
Those seemingly contradictory actions have left some people on edge, business representatives said. |
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Friday, 30 November 2007 |
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By Chris Barge, Rocky Mountain News ...Sen. Nancy Spence, R-Centennial, and Rep. Bob Gardner, R-Colorado Springs, have drafted a bill that would do just that. And Suthers' opinion reinforces the need to pass it next session, Senate Minority Leader Andy McElhany said. Ritter, a Democrat, was aware that such legislation was in the works and would sign it, said his spokesman, Evan Dreyer. However, some Democratic lawmakers would have to vote for such a bill for it to make it to Ritter's desk, since they are the majority party. Voting in an election year to deny some union members the right to strike would put Democrats in a tough spot, said Colorado State University political science professor John Straayer....Read full story: http://www.rockymountainnews.com |
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