Greeley Tribune Editorial

1/30/07

Anti-business legislation is on a runaway train at the Colorado Capitol, and all of Colorado should be concerned.

      House Bill 1072 significantly changes how employees vote for union participation.
      Under the Labor Peace Act of 1943, employees vote first for whether there will be a union at their workplace. If that vote passes, a second vote then determines if the business will be a closed shop; that is, whether all employees must pay dues to the union regardless of membership.
      HB1072 would eliminate that second vote putting the question of a closed shop in the hands of the unions to use as a bargaining tool when negotiating labor contracts with employers.
      If passed, this bill would negatively alter Colorado's status as a business-friendly state.
      The bill's proponents, mostly Democrats, claim HB1072 upgrades the Labor Peace Act and brings it into the 21st century, streamlining the process for a company or industry to become unionized.
      We don't see it that way.
      In the first place, the Labor Peace Act has never presented problems in Colorado's free market atmosphere. And, as a process it is unique legislation which enhances this state's ability to attract new businesses because of the possible second vote regarding unionization.
      Right-to-work states are attractive to corporations because they provide for open union shops, which means that workers decide whether to join up. The first step of the Labor Peace Act embraces this philosophy, but the second vote gives workers as a whole another opportunity to determine what that union membership will look like.
      Colorado's business and economic leaders find this to be a positive element when wooing prospective employers to our state.
      If HB1072 passes, Colorado will lose this significant asset and will put us in direct competition for new business with all the states in our region. (New Mexico, as a non-right-to-work state, is the only exception.)
      No one wins if we lose out on bringing more jobs to our state.
      This measure just doesn't make sense to us and we're curious about why it's even an issue. The Democrat-sponsored and -supported bill has clearly been fast-tracked -- just 10 days into the session it had passed out of committee and was voted on and approved along party lines in the House. It is being heard today by the Senate's Business, Labor and Technology Committee.
      It's likely, given the strong partisan nature of HB1072, that the measure will easily pass. The place to halt this particular train then is when it reaches the station -- Gov. Bill Ritter's office. He has the veto power and we call on him to exercise his authority to halt this bill.
      On Monday, more than 40 Republican legislators wrote a letter to the governor asking him to do just that. Likewise, we ask any Weld County resident who cares about the availability of jobs in our state and its economy -- and that should be all of us -- to call or write the governor and let him know House Bill 1072 is bad for business, bad for workers, bad for Colorado.