From the University of Colorado newspaper comes a story about union organizers accused of harassing state employees:Last week, human resource directors from many state agencies met with leaders from several unions to voice their concerns about union organizers' tactics, which some called over-aggressive. One union organizer, employed by Colorado WINS, was arrested in downtown Denver in November for allegedly trespassing on Regional Transportation District property after attempting to distribute leaflets in an adjacent private building where a state agency is located. In a more recent incident, a union organizer who visited a Department of Corrections (DOC) employee at home, found himself on the business end of a gun. (The DOC could not … [Read more...]
Search Results for: Ritter union executive order
Non-Union State Employee Closes Up Tongue-in-Cheek ColoradoLoses
Today marks the end of an era. The state employee who started the non-union group ColoradoLoses as an answer to Colorado WINS, the union coalition outgoing Governor Bill Ritter invited into Denver by executive order in 2007. Dave Ohmart posted the announcement on his website earlier today:I am shutting ColoradoLoses down. Thaks so much for the support you showed me over the past two and a half years. WINS will be shutting down too, I believe. They have lost support and are near bankruptcy. I don't have any independent information to confirm or challenge Dave's assessment and prediction. But it's important to note that Colorado WINS (a joint coalition of SEIU, AFSCME and AFT) did gain its semi-exalted bargaining position, after … [Read more...]
John Hickenlooper Coddles Government Unions, Makes Guv Race Clearer
(H/T Who Said You Said) Another reason for conservatives to unite their support behind the more electable candidate for governor: Democrat John Hickenlooper is going to perpetuate the Bill Ritter legacy and coddle government employee unions. Specifically, Hick wouldn't want to revoke Ritter's executive order giving union leaders gold-plated access to state government for fear of hurting somebody's feelings -- even if some state employees have suffered. Wow, what leadership: Meanwhile, as WSYS reports:Contrast the mayor’s comments with those of Tom Tancredo, the American Constitution Party candidate, who on Friday released a statement that read, “I’ll repeal the Executive Order unionizing state government before lunch on my first … [Read more...]
State Employee Suffers Under Union Executive Order: Where’s Hick?
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 … [Read more...]
Democrats’ HB 1181 Union Buy-Off: Pushing the State Capitol Panic Button
Update, 5/8: Colorado LOSES has a great idea about what to do with HB 1181. If Republicans can't kill it, the least they should do is offer an amendment to ensure transparency of state employee union finances. In the waning days of the legislative session, is anyone up to the challenge? (H/T Complete Colorado) The Denver Post's Tim Hoover reports today:Days before the legislature adjourns, some Democrats are pushing a proposal that would guarantee unions could still collect dues from state employees — even if the next governor is not union-friendly. The effort comes in the form of an amendment to House Bill 1181, a mostly technical bill dealing with policies of the Department of Personnel and Administration. The bill's sponsor, Sen. … [Read more...]
Post Smacks Bill Ritter on Education Reform: What Did You Expect?
Update, 3/5: Better late than never, I guess. At least Ritter has finally named members to his "educator effectiveness" panel, for whatever that's worth. I don't mean to kick a man when he's down, especially when he's biked his way into the hospital with broken ribs. But it was quite the experience to open the virtual pages of the Denver Post this morning and read the lead editorial raking Governor Bill Ritter over the coals for his weak-kneed half-efforts at education reform:The governor's executive order was quite clear: Members of a panel who were to devise ways of linking teacher evaluations to student achievement were to meet on or before March 1. They have not. But don't blame panel members. Gov. Bill Ritter hasn't bothered … [Read more...]
Colorado WINS State Union Using Coercive Tactics to Grow Membership?
Ever since Governor Bill Ritter signed the executive order laying out a welcome mat to unionize state government, I've wondered if and when the Colorado WINS labor organizing coalition would lobby for the Democratic majority in state government to entrench their status through legislation. Given the state of the budget and the tons of political capital Democrats are spilling to push through their series of tax hikes -- one of which is even opposed by Pueblo labor interests -- prospects for comprehensive union legislation have faded dramatically. But Colorado WINS has other means to extend its reach, and grow its dues-paying membership base, inside Colorado government. As Dave Ohmart of Colorado LOSES points out, reluctant state … [Read more...]
AFSCME Sends Union Membership Cards to Colorado State Employees
Reports indicate that thousands of Colorado state employees received AFSCME (American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO) union membership cards in the mail yesterday. Many of them are wondering just why they received them, as they never signed up to join any union -- especially not one that is spending plenty of member dues money to shill for the unpopular Obama Care socialized medicine fiasco. AFSCME is one of three partner unions (SEIU and AFT are the others) that joined together to form the Colorado WINS organizing coalition but a few days after Bill Ritter signed an executive order opening the doors of state government to unionization. According to Section 12, page 9, of the Colorado WINS organizing … [Read more...]
How Bill Ritter Has Made Union Leaders Feel at Home on Taxpayers’ Time
Have any doubts that Ritter's union executive order has made Big Labor feel all cozy at home in state government? The intrepid Colorado Loses team reports on their union counterparts soliciting for members at an official meeting, on taxpayers' time:This past week, WINS organized and held a budget information meeting at the unemployment office. There was some budget guy from the state, there, along with a couple of union thugs. After the budget guy showed us the state of the state economy, a union guy got up and started soliciting for members. “We need to organize in our communities and in our offices.” WINS used a formal budget information format to seek membership. THIS IS INAPPROPRIATE USE OF GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS! … [Read more...]
Western Slope Pressure Heightens Bill Ritter’s Bad Policy SB 180 Dilemma
As the Grand Junction Sentinel reports today, the day of reckoning draws closer for Colorado Governor Bill Ritter to decide on the bad policy that is SB 180 -- a costly favor to Big Labor. The Sentinel today also editorializes strongly against SB 180 -- using many of the same arguments I've brought forward before, and even one I haven't really emphasized:Strikes would be prohibited under the legislation, but there are no sanctions listed in the bill for those who violate the provision. Now it would seem that Bill Ritter has an opportunity to start mending fences with folks on the Western Slope, where his popularity is low and heckling is a common greeting for him, by vetoing SB 180. He could listen to Grand Junction mayor Bruce Hill, … [Read more...]
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