Face The State Staff Report
A pro-labor executive order signed into law by Gov. Bill Ritter six months ago now has union representatives popping up all over Colorado's government buildings and facilities in their effort to represent state employees in "employee partnerships." At an information session hosted by one union this week, however, the response was less than eager.
Face The State attended an informational open house held by the Colorado WINS union coalition Wednesday, run by union representative Andy Young. Young maintained that state employees have been very receptive to his pro-union message but during the 30 minutes that the FTS reporter attended the forum, however, no employees stopped by for information. The event targeted information technology workers at a government building off Sixth Avenue and Kipling in Lakewood.
The session follows a series of meetings hosted by various unions to help aid in their recruitment efforts. In addition to Colorado WINS, which has also been holding meetings at the Department of Personnel and Administration, the Teamsters hosted a “Lobby Day and Lunch” at the Capitol, and the Service Employees International Union is targeting state-employed nurses.
Under Ritter's November order, unions are allowed to serve as “exclusive representatives” of state employees under a system of "employee partnerships". Under the order, eight different groups of workers are possible targets: Administrative support and related services; enforcement and protective services; financial services; health care and medical services; labor, trade, and crafts; physical science and engineering; provisional services teachers; and professional services. At least 30 percent of workers from each category must support a vote over whether to accept the representation, with a majority of workers then voting in support of union representation.
Late last month, state troopers announced that they signed on with the Colorado State Patrol Professionals. Colorado WINS has its sights set on the seven remaining groups that are up for grabs.
"We are hoping to file requests for elections with the several remaining groups," said Young.
According to Jon Caldara, president of the Independence Institute and a lead backer of a proposed ballot initiative that would prohibit unions from using government payroll systems to automatically deduct member dues, "there is no question that unions are working at every level of government. The public sector is the low hanging fruit for them."
While union membership has been on a steady decline in Colorado's private sector for the last several decades, and now stands at less than 8 percent, Colorado WINS and other unions are attempting to gain inroads to public employees under Ritter's order. "This will be a slow, methodical approach to bring collective bargaining to every level in Colorado government," Caldara added.
Note: The original version of this story incorrectly omitted the professional services group from the list of employment areas covered by the executive order. We regret the error. Face The State welcomes comments about our news coverage; click the "Contact us" link above to e-mail the editors.