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Home Archives for Colorado WINS

5/8/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Colorado LOSES: Represent State Employees, No Union Middleman

Having already won Colorado Governor Bill Ritter's November 2007 executive order allowing exclusive union representation in state government, the table is set for organized labor to push for full-fledged and permanent bargaining legislation by next year. Many of those who would be purported to benefit from such legislation might have a different idea, however. On an iVoices podcast, I talk with state employee Dave Ohmart about his developing plan to provide representation for state employees without the costly union middleman services of Colorado WINS: Dave says he's open to input to refine and improve his plan. You can contact him by leaving a comment at the Colorado LOSES website. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, Labor, My Life, PPC Tagged With: audio, bargaining, benefit, Bill Ritter, Colorado, Colorado WINS, comment, contact, costly, Dave Ohmart, developing, exclusive, Executive Order, full-fledged, Governor, idea, improve, input, iVoices, legislation, middleman, organized labor, permanent, plan, podcast, purported, services, set, state employee, state government, table, talk, union, union representation, website

4/14/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Legislation to Unionize Colorado State Government: Coming 2010 Battle?

Via the Right to Work blog comes news that the new Republican Governor of Arizona Jan Brewer has repealed her predecessor's executive order granting union powers to state workers. This scenario (and others like it before - witness Missouri and Indiana as examples) is precisely why the Colorado WINS labor coalition will not rest satisfied with Bill Ritter's November 2007 executive order that introduced collective bargaining to our state government. Odds are strong that the political winds will favor Big Labor pushing a broad piece of government employee collective bargaining legislation in 2010. The question is whether the Democrats in charge at the State Capitol by then will have backed off the cliff's edge, and from governing away their … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, Labor, PPC Tagged With: 2010, Arizona, Big Labor, Bill Ritter, broad, cliff's edge, Collective Bargaining, Colorado WINS, Democrats, Executive Order, governing, government employees, Governor, Indiana, Jan Brewer, labor coalition, legislation, majority, Missouri, political winds, precisely, predecessor, question, Republican, right-to-work, satisfied, scenario, State Capitol, state government, state workers, union powers

3/4/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

“Union in Practice” vs. “Union in Theory” Highlights Card Check Danger

Update: Face The State has more, including Colorado WINS' rude treatment of state representative Amy Stephens. As teased last night to our handful of Blog Talk Radio listeners... If I try to come up with something witty, you can leave it to Mike Antonucci of the Education Intelligence Agency to come up with something even wittier. A few days ago I brought your attention to the most recent exploits of Dave Ohmart and his Colorado Loses, a vocal minority of state employees opposed to Governor Bill Ritter's gold-plated invitation to unionize their workplaces. Apparently, Dave wasn't greeted so kindly by union organizer Ryan when he decided to tag along for last week's Colorado WINS union event at the State Capitol featuring Ritter as … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, clean government, Colorado Politics, Education, General, Labor, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: Bill Ritter, Blog Talk Radio, card-check, Colorado, Colorado Loses, Colorado WINS, Dave Ohmart, Democrats, Education Intelligence Agency, Governor, Mike Antonucci, practice, rally, recent exploits, State Capitol, state employees, theory, unionize, vocal minority, wittier, witty, workplaces

2/27/2009 By Ben 4 Comments

Ask Colorado LOSES Why the Union Card-Check Bill is Such a Bad Idea

Do you still need more reason to understand why union bosses are so keen on taking away the secret ballot from workplace elections? On the Colorado LOSES website, state employee Dave Ohmart gives an account of his experience trying to attend the Colorado WINS union's rally / lobbying event at the State Capitol on Wednesday:Ryan Webber, a union organizer, immediately came to me and asked, “You’re not going to say anything, are you Dave? I’ll have to toss you out of here if you do.” Another security-type person came over and stood behind me. Ryan then asked, “You’re not going to write more lies about me, are you Dave?” (Don’t think I ever have!) I assured him I was not there to make a scene. Governor Ritter spoke … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General Tagged With: Bill Ritter, card-check, coerce, Collective Bargaining, Colorado, Colorado Loses, Colorado taxpayers, Colorado WINS, contact, Dave Ohmart, dissent, e-mail accounts, economic condition, Employee Free Choice Act, employees, Examiner, experience, Governor, intense pressure, lobbying event, monthly access, no bargain, party line, pushy, questions, rally, Republicans, Ryan Webber, secret ballot, signs, State Capitol, state employee, state senate, toe, union bosses, union organizers, union pressure, vandalized, Washington state, website, Wednesday, workplace elections

10/14/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Colorado State Government’s “Non-Union Rep” Launches Site

Dave Ohmart, the unofficial "non-union rep" for Colorado state government, finally has his Colorado Loses website up and running. Look for newsletters, events, and relevant legal information pertaining to employee rights in state government. Colorado Loses is the clever foil to the Colorado WINS union organizing coalition:Colorado WINS, the big state employee union, recently held a convention. Union loyalists were shown a video depicting flood and famine – images from the Gulf Coast of slums, Hurricane-ravaged homes and the like. The moral of the story: state employees are the only line of defense Colorado has against, uh, Hurricanes. No, floods. Wait, I’m confused. Hurricane Katrina was a tragedy, but it has nothing to do with … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, Labor Tagged With: Amendment 49, Amendment 54, Colorado Loses, Colorado WINS, convention, Dave Ohmart, employee rights, events, exploitation, Face the State, foil, good government, Hurricane Katrina, initiatives, legal information, newsletters, non-union rep, politicking, state government, tragedy, union organizing coalition, website

9/8/2008 By Ben 1 Comment

“He’s Proud to Be a Loser”: Dave Ohmart’s Modest Profile in Courage

The Denver Post has a great feature story today about Colorado state employee Dave Ohmart, who has been challenging the union organizing power with a mixture of tenacity, fair-mindedness, and self-deprecating wit:The self-described "nonunion rep" worries that the nascent state workers union will eventually draw dues from even employees who voted against it, a specter other states have faced. It's a scenario Colorado union organizers flatly reject. Nevertheless, Ohmart in June began offering counter-points to union pitches through a group dubbed "Colorado LOSES," a jab at the three-union coalition Colorado WINS that won the right to represent all 31,000 eligible state workers last month. "I don't want someone forcing me to join … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, Labor Tagged With: agency fees, apathy, coercion, Colorado, Colorado Loses, Colorado WINS, Dave Ohmart, Denver Post, fair-mindedness, government employee union, greed, honorary "loser", labor union, losers, non-state employee, nonunion rep, political ambition, poster, self-aggrandizement, self-deprecating with, state employee, tenacity, union coalition, union leaders, union organizers

8/12/2008 By Ben 3 Comments

It’s Official: Colorado Government 100% Unionized, Thanks to Bill Ritter

It's not often I break news on this site, but just remember it was reported here first: As of today, the entirety of Colorado state government is officially unionized. Previously, the "Colorado WINS" union coalition won the right to represent six of eight occupational groups in state government - despite being outvoted by the "don't give a crap" coalition. While political junkies in Colorado await the results of candidate primary campaigns, results from mail-in ballot elections for the final two occupational groups of Colorado state government were counted and tabulated today. Via an email from the state labor department, here are the results (which should be posted here shortly):Financial Services Group: Colorado WINS was successful in … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, Labor Tagged With: Bill Ritter, Colorado Department of Labor, Colorado Loses, Colorado state government, Colorado WINS, don't give a crap, exclusive representative, Financial Services, mail-in ballots, Mike Antonucci, occupational groups, political junkies, primary election, Professional Services, Unions

8/5/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

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 … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, Labor Tagged With: Bill Ritter, Colorado WINS, Dave Ohmart, don't give a crap, Executive Order, poster, state employees, union elections

6/12/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

“Don’t give a crap” WINS Bill Ritter’s State Employee Union Elections

Gov. Bill Ritter's November 2007 executive order at last has successfully completed the loop in unionizing state government in a very un-democratic fashion. Today's Denver Post reports:At least 22,500 secretaries, prison guards and other state employees will soon fall under a union contract following a vote tallied Wednesday, though the majority of eligible workers didn't cast a ballot.... About 6,900 state workers from a pool of 22,500 who were eligible participated in the election, which gave them a choice between Colorado WINS [editorial comment: "Big Labor WINS, Colorado LOSES"] or no union representation. Of those, 5,481 supported the union. That's right. Fewer than one-quarter of eligible state employees voted to be unionized. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, Labor Tagged With: agency fees, Backroom Bill Ritter, Bill Ritter, Collective Bargaining, Colorado taxpayers, Colorado WINS, Denver Post, don't give a crap, election, Executive Order, government services, Intercepts, labor unions, Mike Antonucci, non-union workers, undemocratic, union petition cards, union representation, unionization

5/22/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Colorado State Workers Get Union Ballots, Rocky Reprints Ritter’s Error

Yesterday, as reported by the Rocky Mountain News, ballots were mailed out to 21,000 Colorado state employees for the purposes of choosing exclusive representation. Workers vote yes to be represented by the Colorado WINS labor coalition or vote no to keep the status quo and the right to represent themselves if they so choose. Unfortunately, the Rocky ended their story with a misleading statement:[Gov. Bill] Ritter has emphasized that his order bans strikes, prohibits binding arbitration and bars unions from charging dues to nonmembers. It makes you wonder whether Bill Ritter has read his own executive order. The order does not bar unions from charging dues to nonmembers - it leaves the door open to coercive fees being charged on … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, Labor, My Life Tagged With: ballots, Bill Ritter, binding arbitration, Colorado state employees, Colorado WINS, Denver Post, iVoices podcast, Rocky Mountain News, strikes, union agency fees, union partnership elections

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Ben DeGrow
Grateful and growing Christian, devoted husband and father of 3, public policy analyst, returned to Michigan by way of Colorado, conservative writer, lifelong learner, Detroit Tigers fan.

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