Right to strike in Colo. paid with blood

Public sector walkouts granted year after Ludlow

By Chris Barge, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published December 1, 2007 at 12:30 a.m.

Text size  

• 7 Comments
• Email
• Print

Ritter says he'd back a bill to bar state workers from striking.

Mitchell says GOP will hold Ritter's "feet to the fire."

Photo by Denver Public Library/Western History Collection

Members of the Colorado National Guard, called in to suppress the miners' strike against CF&I, pose with their rifles drawn at the workers' destroyed camp near Ludlow in Las Animas County. The photo is from 1914.

Ninety-three years ago the Colorado National Guard killed striking miners in the bloodiest confrontation in U.S. labor history.

The year after the Ludlow Massacre, the state legislature passed the Industrial Relations Act, which "implicitly vests all employees in the public sector with a conditional, legislatively created right to strike, identical to the private sector," according to a written opinion issued this week by Republican Attorney General John Suthers.

Gov. Bill Ritter's executive order of Nov. 2 giving unions a louder voice in state government did not take that right to strike away, despite its no-strike provision, Suthers argued. In order to do that, the legislature and governor would have to sign off on new legislation.

Republicans in the legislature, eager to restrict unions' access to the work place, have proposed a bill that would strip state workers of the right to strike.

Ritter, a Democrat, and leaders of the legislature's Democratic majority, say they'd support such a bill, since Ritter's order intended to bar state workers from striking anyway.

And a coalition of three unions in state government that hope to represent all state workers under Ritter's order say they'd have no problem with the bill either.

"We're supportive of the executive order and we don't feel striking is something state employees are interested in," said Mark Schwame, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

Not everyone on the political left, however, is OK with the prospect of such a bill.

"The right to strike in Colorado was something paid for by people's lives," said Jo Romero, president of the Colorado Federation of Public Employees. "I don't think people even realize that the right to strike was there, much less the history behind it."

Romero was among a coalition of union leaders that secretly urged Ritter not to sign his order, saying it did not go far enough to support state workers. While they were willing to bargain away their right to strike, they wanted real collective bargaining rights, including binding arbitration, in return.

Romero said she would never want to see state workers strike. But because Ritter's order gives unions no real leverage to negotiate wages and benefits, the only card state workers have left to play is the threat of a strike.

"Will a majority of state employees think that they want to protect that right? That remains to be seen. And I think it's because this thing has been buried in law since the Ludlow Massacre," she said.

Republicans, meanwhile, are jumping on the chance to take state workers' right to strike out of state law.

Sen. Shawn Mitchell issued a statement Friday saying it was "time to start counting votes."

"The governor and some legislative Democrats have said they're OK with the Republicans' proposed strike ban, and that's fine and well, but it's also early in the game and easy to make promises," Mitchell said. "My guess is the governor is still hoping this whole issue goes away. That is why we must make one thing clear to the administration and its allies in the legislature: 'We will hold your feet to the fire.' "

The 1915 law at a glance

The law: After the Ludlow Massacre, the Colorado General Assembly in 1915 passed a law giving Colorado's director of labor and employment authority over disputes between employer and employee, touching on conditions of employment or wages and hours. The director gets involved when asked by the parties or when the director determines the dispute "affects the public interest." The law was invoked by then-Gov. Roy Romer in 1991 to impose a settlement in the case of the threatened strike by Denver teachers.

If the director of the Division of Labor relinquishes jurisdiction over the dispute, state workers can strike, according to state Attorney General John Suthers. Striking is illegal while the director is involved.

The penalty: Any employee who strikes illegally is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, faces a fine of not more than $50, or imprisonment for not more than six months, or both. Each day an employee is on strike is a separate offense.

Ludlow Massacre

Most of the coal mines in southern Colorado were operated by Colorado Fuel and Iron, owned by John D. Rockefeller. Workers had long sought better working conditions and union representation.

Sept. 23, 1913: Coal strike begins in Las Animas and Huerfano counties. An estimated 12,000 miners and their families, evicted from their company-owned homes, move into tent cities, including one at Ludlow. The mines respond by asking the state to deploy the Colorado Militia to maintain order.

Oct. 7, 1913: First shots at Ludlow fired at striking miners going to collect their mail.

Oct. 15, 1913: Strikers begin digging cellars under their tents after hearing that mine guards have armed themselves with machine guns.

April 20, 1914: After months of rising tension, a standoff between strikers and militia escalates into shooting. The miners are driven from the camp, most fleeing eastward, and the militia sets the tents on fire. In one of the cellars, 11 children and two women die in the blaze. Five strikers and an 11-year-old boy are killed, as well as an 18-year-old passerby.

• December 1, 2007

  8:15 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  joe writes:

  Workers rights to strike and shut down an employers business, is indeed written in blood in Colorado, as it is in most states where unions and greedy employers had serious confrontations. Colorado republicans efforts to make law denying strikes clearly identifies them as being on the side of greedy employers who wish to dominate their workers and keep wages and benefits low. These are also the same people who want to allow cheap foreign labor into this country in yet another underhanded attempt to keep worker compensation in the form of wages and benefits low so that the employer can make a fortune like John D did. That the state would try to screw it's workers is an ugly turn of events that should be turned back at all costs.

• December 1, 2007

  8:42 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  RJS07 writes:

  And when the state employees strike and shut down all state services in the future, and bring everything to a halt, we'll all remember that this entire executive order was supposedly made to make the state more efficient. I grew up on a farm and can recognize bull when I see it. I don't think the Republicans are talking about restricting the rights of average union workers, just the ones that work for the state. Get a grip.

• December 1, 2007

  10:23 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Dave_G writes:

  Here's a thought, why don't you talk to state workers about what they think about the right to strike instead of continually panicking about a non-issue. State workers have always had the right to strike? I have worked at the state for 2 1/2 years and this is news to me. Despite the new revelation from our Attorney General that state workers have always been able to strike I am quite sure that if state workers had organized and decided to strike during the Owens administration they most likely would have been summarily terminated.
  I think we can all see this for what it is, another desperate attempt by a few disingenuous politicians, business leaders, and media types to maintain the status quo. The same status quo that resulted in unprecedented tax dollar waste, massive failed computer projects, poor management practices, and horrible benefits. That has been the reality and the status quo. Do we really want to maintain that business model? Does anyone really think that is in the best interest of Coloradans? A more logical operational model is the framework laid out by the Governor. With this partnership, which has already been successful with several public and private organizations, both labor and leadership will be on common ground and be able to have open dialogue
  The Ritter administration is fulfilling the Governors Colorado promise by coming up with new cutting edge business models and operational practices. I never would have imagined we would have to endure the venom from those who acclaim to be acting in the "best interest of state workers."
  We support the Governors Partnership 100% because it makes sense and it is the only action taken by political leadership over the past 9 years to truly engage the 35,000+ state workers and draw out the creativity and passion for our jobs that exists in every single one us.
  So, the right to strike has been and will continue to be a non issue for state workers. I would invite those individuals that continue to lash out at what they don't understand to instead embrace Colorado Win's. If your goal is to maintain the high quality state workforce and help us provide world class service to Colorado residents, then there is room in our boat and if we all row in the same direction we can get where we all want to go allot faster.

• December 1, 2007

  11:16 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Brockage writes:

  The greed of unions whether for more taxpayer money or lighter work loads can be worked out with the present system. Striking by employees of taxpayers is too dangerous to allow. If unions want to "shut er down," let them shut down dumb ideas like public employees allowed to strike.

• December 1, 2007

  2:13 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  MTN_Frank writes:

  If you want to see what our great-grandparents lives were like prior to strong unions take a closer look at how they were forced to live and work. I applaud the union organizers of 100 year agos for the great life I have today. 8 hour work days, getting paid in US currency (not corporate script), safe working conditions ...

  check out what happend at Ludlow for yourself

  http://www.du.edu/anthro/ludlow/cfhis...

• December 3, 2007

  12:19 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  kathyM writes:

  Unions have had an important role in improving the workplace for millions of workers. My great-uncle started a union for Great Lakes seamen, which helped raise the working standards for those dangerous jobs.

  However, the unions over the years became greedy and intransigent, making it hard for employers to adjust to economic realities. The Big 3 have nearly gone under more than once because the unions refused to compromise until bankruptcy was imminent (think Chrysler in the 80s). Even with all the concessions the Big 3 unions made, they STILL have the most luxurious benefits anywhere.

  It's hard to strike the right balance between the employer's right to make a profit and employees' rights to decent pay and a safe workplace. Both the state government and its employees should have the freedom to work towards that balance.

• December 7, 2007

  5:12 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  tallport writes:

  I agree Kathy it is about balance in the end. The balance and eqaulity between between the people who do the work and those who sign their paychecks. Employee Rights is a civil right. Yes, I did say right and not a priviledge. Those very rights are what define us as a nation. It is far beyond a money issue and even bigger that the corporate GOP loving power structure that rules every single facet of this society. That is not say that I think "corporations are evil". I do not, but denying somebody the RIGHT to join a union for political reasons should make any red blooded American sick. Hold that to your fire Senator Mitchell. You probably almost came right out of college and into the Senate. You and GOP buddies think you have a political winning wedge issue, but you will find out that idea is going right down the drain just like your losing party of W. Bush.

Featured

• Legislature Blog

  

  Read live updates from the opening of the 2009 legislative session.

• Rocky multimedia

  

  The news comes alive in our videos and slide shows. Catch up on what's happening today.

• Who's next?

  

  Complete coverage of the Broncos' search for a new coach.

• Rocky year in photos

  

  View an audio slide show of staff selections from 2008.

• Winter Escapes

  

  Your insider’s guide to the copious joys of the coolest season.

• Sam Adams' Open Mic

  

  Open Mic: Two-man advantage with Avs

• Shanahan's career

  

  See photos from Mike Shanahan's career as Broncos coach.

• 12 days of Drew

  

  Look back at the year that has been with Drew Litton.

• A dream fulfilled

  

  A Rocky Mountain News and MediaStorm production