Face The State features a story today about a Denver construction site that has posted a sign restricting work to union membership:A sign at a downtown Denver construction site warns, "If you are not currently an active member of a building trades local union, you are NOT allowed to work on this site." Picture by Steve Brown - Posted at Face The State This story prompts a reaction from two different angles. First, from the legal technical policy wonk side.... Under existing federal law that dates back to the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947, private sector "closed shops" are illegal. Simply put, a "closed shop" requires workers to be union members when they're hired. That seems to be the message of the sign, which would make it patently … [Read more...]
Big Labor Ritter Low on Credibility
As a leading political consultant notes in the Denver Post today, Gov. Bill Ritter planted the pro-union seeds, and now he is reaping the right-to-work whirlwind:Political observers don't have high hopes that the situation will improve. "If (Ritter's) goal is trying to get business to back off right-to-work, I don't think he has the credibility to do it," said Katy Atkinson, a Republican political strategist, pointing out that he is seen as pro-labor. Atkinson said right-to-work bills in the legislature never got off the ground in the past — even under Republicans — because businesses never really saw organized labor as a threat in Colorado. But that view changed, she said, after the passage of an amendment in 2006 to increase … [Read more...]
Ritter Throws Weight Behind Big Labor, Says: “Holster Your Weapons”
Yesterday we learned that Big Labor has pulled out some more big guns to blast a hole in Colorado's economy, in the form of five new anti-business ballot initiatives. Supporters of right-to-work - who are well on their way to getting their measure on the ballot - and union bosses - who appear to be calling their bluff - may be loading up for a real duel, High Noon-style. It didn't take long for Governor Bill Ritter to come riding into town, telling everyone to "holster your weapons":Hoping to avoid an ugly confrontation between business and labor this fall, Gov. Bill Ritter wants the two sides to withdraw their competing ballot measures, his spokesman said Tuesday. "The governor believes the best thing for all of Colorado would be if … [Read more...]