Coming off this weekend’s big Republican State Assembly, we have heard both leading Republican candidates for governor — Dan Maes and Scott McInnis — declare the repeal of Bill Ritter’s union executive order. I think we all get the point of how the policy is a raw deal for Colorado taxpayers. But what about state employees themselves?
Enter Dave Ohmart, with his latest report:
In a recent incident in Pueblo, Colorado WINS prevented Sgt. Jeff Hotchkiss, of the Department of Corrections, from participating in a vote that would have affected his work schedule. A few union members, very few, voted to make the correction officers’ work schedule 12 hours per day. The sergeant, and pretty much all other officers, were not allowed to participate in the vote. WINS told Jeff that if he wanted to vote, he had to join their organization and pay (now) 1.25% of his gross salary in dues.
Sgt. Hotchkiss filed a discrimination suit against the department. Tossed around by the bureaucracy, department heads were unsure how to proceed. They eventually held a tier II grievance, but the Sergeant never filed a grievance. He filed charges on discrimination, stating that he was a state employee discriminated against by the “partnership” in the vote.
ColoradoWINS refuses to answer questions about the event. They will not provide the names of WINS members or the number of members who participated in the vote. Even the Department of Corrections is restrictive when it comes to providing this information. Sgt. Hotchkiss is still waiting for a response…
Unintended consequences unleashed. And as Ohmart points out, Democrat gubernatorial candidate John Hickenlooper “has made no commitment” on the issue. We taxpayers have no reason to expect anything less. But what about state employees?
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