Unions scramble to represent workers

Joanne Kelley, Rocky Mountain News

Published November 6, 2007 at midnight

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Colorado's largest public employee unions hope to avoid a messy turf battle by forming a coalition group that would seek to represent workers in the partnership agreements backed by Gov. Bill Ritter.

The executive order issued Friday allows employees in each of several different occupation categories to pick a single union to negotiate on their behalf. Currently, some unions represent employees in more than one job category.

The largest group representing state workers, an alliance between the Service Employees International Union and the Colorado Assocation of Public Employees, figures all of the public sector unions need to band together or they will end up fighting each other.

"At the end of the day this is really about unifying state employees, it's not about dividing them," said Mitch Ackerman of Service Employees International Union's Colorado Council. "Shame on us if we can't figure out how the state employee organizations can work as partners."

SEIU-CAPE counts about 5,200 active and retired Colorado state employees among its members.

The labor organization has been talking with groups such as the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees to craft a cooperation arrangement.

AFSCME's Colorado presence includes about 1,000 state workers, according to spokesman Dave Paladino.

The Colorado Federation of Public Employees, which recently split with the American Federation of Teachers, also represents state workers. An official at the Colorado Federation did not return a phone call seeking comment.

The potential coalition among the groups currently representing state workers is unlikely to include the union for Colorado state troopers.

Ritter's order put those employees in their own occupational category. Unlike other workers, troopers have a union that represents only them.

"We're a standalone group," said Lonnie Westphal, retired state patrol chief and executive director of the Association of Colorado State Patrol Professionals "I see life kind of going on as usual."

Still, the union has already started the process of having people sign up to elect the union as the bargaining agent for troopers.

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