Ritter vetoes union bill

David Milstead, Rocky Mountain News

Published February 9, 2007 at midnight

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Gov. Bill Ritter said he liked a pro-union bill and thought its opponents had engaged in unfair attacks — yet he vetoed the measure.

"In substance, I agree with House Bill 1072, and I made that clear to labor," Ritter said Friday. But, "there should have been dialogue about it. That didn’t happen."

"The message is this: We’re going to do things differently," he said.

The bill repealed a core piece of the Colorado Labor Peace Act: a second, secret-ballot, supermajority election required to form an all-union workplace. In an all-union shop, all employees are required to pay fees to the union whether or not they join.

Ritter had been widely expected to sign the measure after he’d indicated to labor groups during the campaign he’d favor the move.

But business groups complained more and more loudly as the bill moved through the House and Senate in the early days of the legislature. A Republican attempt to delay the bill in the Senate through an eight-hour filibuster failed Feb. 2.

Ritter’s veto surprise Friday sent business and labor groups scrambling to change their previously-planned reactions.

"We are obviously extremely disappointed that Gov. Ritter felt it necessary to break a campaign promise under pressure from big business," Steve Adams, president of the Colorado AFL-CIO, said in a brief statement. "We hope this is not a harbinger for what lies in store for the working men and women in this state."

Tony Gagliardi of the National Federation of Independent Business "congratulate(s) Gov. Ritter on what was a very courageous decision."

David Milstead is finance editor of the Rocky Mountain News. He can be reached at milstead@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2648.

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