Pueblo Chieftain Editorial
1/22/07
A pro-union bill is being speeded through the Colorado Legislature, understandably causing state business leaders heartburn.
House Bill 1072 essentially repeals the Colorado Labor Peace Act, a 64-year-old law that puts Colorado somewhere between anti-union right-to-work states and states where unions can easily force the firing of workers who don’t become members. Under the current law, a majority of members or three-quarters of those voting must vote in favor of a closed shop.
Under this bill, closed-shop agreements entered into without a vote will no longer be considered an unfair labor practice. Rep. Michael Garcia, D-Aurora, said the idea was hatched in 2001, when he and then-Rep. Dan Grossman, a fellow Democrat, “were dreaming about what we’d do if we had all three components of the legislative process,” referring to control of the House, Senate and governor’s office.
Here’s what possibly could happen: A company with 100 workers has a union drive in which 80 cast ballots. Of those, 41 vote to become union members. Then 21 of the 41 show up for the contract ratification vote, and 11 of them vote for a closed-shop contract. Allowing 11 percent of a group to dictate to everyone else is about as anti-democratic as it comes.
Chuck Berry, president of the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry, notes that Colorado is surrounded by states - Oklahoma, Kansas, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, Nebraska and Texas - that have right-to-work laws where an employee cannot be compelled to join a union or pay dues as a condition of employment. The regional exception is New Mexico.
Those states that don’t require closed shops are booming economically. This bill would put the skids to job creation.
Puebloans during the November election voted to continue the half-cent sales tax for job creation. But this bill would make potential new employers very leery of locating here.
In essence, Colorado would join Rust Belt states such as Michigan and Pennsylvania. Puebloans can’t afford that, nor can any one else in the fragile economies of Southern Colorado.
HB1072 is scheduled for a final House vote today. We’re not expecting it to fail there.
Perhaps cooler heads will prevail in the Senate. We can only hope that a groundswell of opposition will derail this turkey.