Brewery descendant key to ballot brouhaha

'Right-to-work' plan has been met by labor measures

By Joanne Kelley, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published April 15, 2008 at 7:30 p.m.

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Any hope of avoiding a November ballot fight between labor and business interests still boils down to this: convincing brewery descendant Jonathan Coors to abandon his plan to turn Colorado into a "right-to-work" state.

Mayor John Hickenlooper said he made little headway when he spent 40 minutes with the 28- year-old executive in a private meeting room this month on opening day for the Rockies baseball team at Coors Field.

"We had a good discussion but at the end of the day he said, 'You have to understand this is very important,' " Hickenlooper recounted. "I don't think there is any leverage with individuals like that. The only leverage is trying to demonstrate to them that we're a modified right-to-work state."

If successful, Coors' ballot initiative would make Colorado the 23rd "right-to-work" state. The measure would prohibit any agreements between unions and employers that require workers to pay for union representation even if they decline to join the union representing them.

Labor interests have fired back with a raft of other ballot initiatives that would give all workers cost-of-living increases and require companies to provide health care. Other measures would take aim at corporate fraud and require employers to prove they have "just cause" before firing workers.

Taken together, politicians and business leaders fear the issues could drastically change the business and labor climate in the state.

Hickenlooper said he has already received promises from top labor leaders, including those at the national level, that they would pull their various initiatives if "right-to-work" proponents pull that measure.

"I trust 'em," Hickenlooper said of the labor groups. "We've got a much longer-term relationship."

Hickenlooper noted that Colorado already requires a second election to set up an all-union workplace, the type of workplace right-to-work proponents seek to outlaw.

"I'm trying to think of ways I can demonstrate there's broad feeling we don't need any of these initiatives," he said. "I'm trying to figure out what to do next."

The spokesman for the campaign behind the "right-to-work" proposal called any negotiations "private" and declined to speculate on the matter.

In an attempt to avert the ballot-box showdown, Gov. Bill Ritter has pledged to "preserve" the existing state law that requires a second election, according to his spokesman, Evan Dreyer.

While Ritter initially supported last year's legislation that would have eliminated that second step, he vetoed it when business interests cried foul. If another bill managed to get through the legislature, Ritter would need to veto it to keep the current law intact.

Sen. Jennifer Veiga, D-Denver, the sponsor of the legislation Ritter vetoed, called Ritter's offer to stand behind current law "significant" leverage because "he holds the ultimate card."

Veiga noted she did not reintroduce the measure this session. But she said it would be a "reasonable assumption" to expect the issue to come up again.

While Ritter has proposed various ways to avert a ballot fight, one option hasn't been part of the negotiations: repealing his controversial executive order permitting state workers to be represented by unions.

"These are unrelated issues. The employee partnership program is very specific to state employees and very narrow in its focus," said Dreyer. "This larger conversation impacts the entire state of Colorado, the entire state's economy and the entire state's future."

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