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Union pushes Ritter for bargaining law

Chris Barge, Rocky Mountain News

Published August 29, 2007 at midnight

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City, county and state employees across Colorado could for the first time collectively bargain for higher wages and better benefits under legislation a major union is lobbying Gov. Bill Ritter to write.

Representatives of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees pitched the idea to Ritter's policy staff in May.

State Senate Republicans, who learned only recently of the meeting, are outraged that Ritter's office would even spend time considering such a sweeping change with such heavy fiscal implications.

The legislature is "going to be grabbing a giant tiger by the tail" if it takes up a bill aimed at giving city employees collective bargaining powers, added Sam Mamet, director of the Colorado Municipal League.

Federation Director Mark Schwane said such a law is needed because "state employees real-ly have no voice in the workplace right now."

Ritter's office on Tuesday downplayed the significance of the meeting and declined to say whether Ritter was contemplating a collective bargaining bill.

"Ideas always have a beginning point and the process is somewhat messy," said Evan Dreyer, Ritter's spokesman. "We are engaged in a lot of conversations about how to improve the partnership that state government has with its employees."

Unions have pushed for collective bargaining for Colorado's government employees for several years. But this is the first time in nine years that they have had a pro-union, Democratic governor's ear to bend.

In a 21-page powerpoint presentation titled "Collective Bargaining Legislation," obtained by Senate Republicans and shared with the Rocky Mountain News, the union proposes collective bargaining power for more than 31,000 employees and supervisors of the state, state universities and community colleges, grade schools, cities, counties, commissions, boards and authorities.

Employees who were not union members would be required to make "fair share" payments to the union for collective bargaining representation.

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