News reports by The Rocky Mountain News and Denver Post exposing a backdoor deal between organized labor and business "leaders" have forced Joe Blake, president of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, to publicly distance himself from what opponents are calling an "unholy alliance."
Rumors have been flying that the United Food and Commercial Workers and a coalition of Protect Colorado's Future and the AFL-CIO will pull their four combined measures off the ballot if the business community contributes $4.5 million to the union's opposition campaign against Amendments 47, 49 and 54.
"If business leaders capitulate to labor unions, they are essentially freeing up union dollars that will fund efforts to take out targeted, pro-business Republican candidates," said Sen. Ted Harvey, R-Highlands Ranch.
Tamra Ward, director of public affairs for the Denver chamber, is trying to assure chamber members that Blake is not part of the appeasement deal. She emailed a statement to the members of Coloradans for Responsible Reform, an issue committee formed by the chamber, writing: "The Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce has not, and will not, put any resources into a 'No' on Amendment 47 campaign."
She followed up with another email to chamber staff, this time alleging factual inaccuracies in a Denver Post story"It portrays Joe Blake, President & CEO of the Denver Metro Chamber, as working to raise dollars to fight Amendment 47, and further as asking contributors to Coloradans for Responsible Reform (CFRR) if they would be willing to redirect their dollars to that effort. Both of those statements are factually inaccurate."
Sources say Ward's emails are proof that Blake is backing off from the deal despite his participation in several secret meetings with labor leaders.
Taking Blake's place are hotelier Walter Isenberg and to a lesser degree Pat Hamill, CEO and founder of Oakwood Homes. The duo have been making phone calls to Colorado business owners pressuring them to open their wallets for organized labor. Isenberg and Hamill sit on the Executive Committee of Colorado Concern, an alliance of business leaders, with Blake. CC Founder Larry Mizel is said to support the deal, and sources tell Face The State nothing can be done under CC's banner if Mizel doesn't agree to it.
While business leaders may be guilty of appeasement, Preston Oade, an attorney with Holme Roberts and Owen, says what the unions are doing is politically suspect, though likely skirts a technical violation of law. "The business community is being threatened in a sleazy way, but not an illegal one," said Oade. "The reason this is not illegal is because the unions are not threatening to report someone for doing something unlawful or improper. Threatening economic harm is not illegal extortion."
But some members of the business community are not caving, and sources tell Face The State that Isenberg is having a hard time reaching his fundraising goal. Tim Jackson, president of the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association and executive vice president of the Metro Denver Automobile Dealers Association, was quoted by the Denver Post saying, "Although it's not finalized yet, my belief is that we would not allow our money to be forwarded to a campaign that would be opposed to what we would call the pro-business ballot measures."