Gazette Editorial 

1/17/07

Union payoff will cool state’s business climate

      Just a week after Democrats in the U.S. Congress paid off big labor for its political support by voting to give 56,000 airport security screeners collective bargaining rights (a subject we raised alarms about Sunday), Democrats in charge of Colorado’s Statehouse did likewise, approving a bill in the House Business Affairs and Labor Committee that makes it easier for unions to establish closed shops at Colorado businesses.
       “A House committee on Monday approved a change to the state’s 63-year-old Labor Peace Act that would make it easier for unions to secure agreements requiring all employees at a job site to join or pay dues,” The Gazette reported Tuesday: “The bill, adopted 7-4 by the House Business Affairs and Labor Committee on a party-line vote, would eliminate a requirement that the union win a second election allowing it to negotiate with an employer for an ‘all-union clause.’ ”
      Republicans correctly call this an anti-business, anti-competitiveness change of law, that will undermine the state’s ability to attract and retain businesses. “Colorado is competing with other states for jobs, for employers relocating to the state, and for employees,” said Rep. David Balmer, R-Centennial. “This bill will put us at a competitive disadvantage.”
      The new majority climbed to power in Colorado stressing that they weren’t flaming liberals, but a more restrained, responsible, business-friendly breed of Democrat. New Gov. Bill Ritter has also stressed his desire to boost economic development and improve the state’s business climate. So it seems incongruous of these pro-business, pro-economic development “new Democrats” to be making it easier to create union-only shops in Colorado.
      Democrats deny this change of law will dissuade companies from relocating to Colorado. But why take the chance, if your aim is to make the state business-friendly? Creating a “union shop” isn’t illegal in Colorado, because Republicans, when they had the opportunity, never took steps to make this a “right to work” state. It’s an oversight we may now come to regret.
      It’s wrong to compel employees to join a union, or to pay union dues, against their will. A closed shop undermines the rights and freedoms of employee and employer alike. And there’s little doubt that where such rules apply, productivity and competitiveness suffer.
      Look at the nation’s most union-friendly states — Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania, for example — and you’ll find them located, not coincidently, in the so-called rust belt, and mired in the economic doldrums. Look at the most heavily unionized American industries, past and present — including the on-the-ropes American auto industry — and the ties between big labor and a lack of competitiveness become obvious. Do we really want Colorado to become a Rocky Mountain extension of the rust belt?
      Assuming the bill passes — and the prospects are good, say Republicans — it will serve as an early test of Ritter’s willingness to buck fellow Democrats and demonstrate his pro-business bona fides. He should veto this legislation if it lands on his desk.