Pushy Union Rep Making Himself at Home on Colorado State Property

Regular readers of this blog and followers of the Colorado political scene generally are aware of Gov. Bill Ritter’s executive order that has given union leaders the keys to state government. Already the “Colorado WINS” labor union coalition has ridden the popularity of the “don’t give a crap” mentality to become the “exclusive representative” for a majority of state workers.

Right now, two elections are pending that would unionize the remaining 9,500 Colorado state employees. Disturbed by the “don’t give a crap” mentality and wanting his fellow public servants to judge the union’s promises for themselves, state employee Dave Ohmart has started the tongue-in-cheek group “Colorado Loses.” He has a regular e-mail list of interested state employees that continues to grow. Ohmart created and received permission to hang posters like this one around his office:

A poster since has gone missing.

Ohmart forwarded this account of his run-in yesterday with the resident Colorado WINS union representative who has an office in the state-owned building where Ohmart works:

Ryan (of WINS) came over and sat with me today at my lunch table. Scott Frazier was there, too, so you might want to ask him what went on.

He told me he didn’t like the inaccuracies in my poster. I explained where the information came from. He couldn’t refute anything I said.

Dues:
I asked what the dues were going to be…he said that dues will be considered at the convention when it is held here…so no one knows. So, my poster could be right???

Number of votes:
I asked him how many votes were cast: he said something like 30% (?) of the state population; he wasn’t sure. I asked how many voted for the union: he said from 50%-80% of those. WOW…that’s pretty close to what my poster said.

He said (three times), “I really want to encourage you not to suggest that people vote ‘no’ on this issue.” I took those as veiled threats.

I told him I had been emailing WINS asking questions, but no one will respond. He told me he didn’t think anyone from there wanted to talk to me. I told him I found it suspect that they are avoiding me. Imagine if we have a union and anyone asks them a question they don’t like…where does that leave us? Is that the “representation” you were looking for?

I asked him where he was from…Michigan. He lives here, now, and is paid by SIEU [sic]. He offered to tell me his salary, but I told him I wasn’t interested….

I asked several other questions, but got no meaningful answers from him. I found him pushy and a bit dodgy (personal opinion). It’s hard to get away from him. I told him about a story I heard of a WINS rep hounding an employee at her home. When told to leave and not come back, the rep still came back – three times. He said he didn’t like that either.

I asked him if he knew who took my poster. He told me he doubted that it went missing. I was the one who found it missing and had to replace it. I looked around, but couldn’t find it…wonder if it found its way into a red bin…hmmm

Reminiscent of a local reporter’s experience getting barred from state offices by Colorado WINS. Ohmart’s account also kind of reminds me of this oldie but goodie.

Look at what Bill Ritter has unleashed.