-By Warner Todd Huston
Back in November, we mentioned that Colorado Governor Bill Ritter slighted his legislature and the people of the state by slipping in through the back door a sop to the SEIU labor union. Ritter was paying back his big union thug pals in the typical way that Democrats do, via fiat as opposed to through the legitimate, democratic process.
Now, the unions are taking Ritter’s illicit gift and running with it… hard.
Ritter’s unwelcome executive order allows unions to force public workers to vote on unionizing with only 30% of the workers petitioning for organization. With that tiny hurdle to jump, unions are flooding Colorado’s public workers with ads to sign these petitions.
Naturally, the unions are starting to push for more from Ritter.
CPEA has taken issue with recent fliers that Colorado WINS has distributed to state workers. In the materials, Colorado WINS tells state employees that it can negotiate health care benefits on the employees’ behalf, a statement that CPEA president Jo Romero questions.
Romero said CPEA began getting phone calls over the weekend from state workers and CPEA members who were concerned about Colorado WINS’ fliers.
She doesn’t think Ritter’s order allows unions to negotiate with the state on health benefits or salaries, and her group is asking the governor’s office for clarification.
So, before they even get their first member, before their petitions are even filed, the unions are lying to the members and using that lie to push for more power.
All this will do nothing positive for the people of Colorado, for sure. All this will result in more expensive and more expansive government which will cause taxes to rise to meet those new expenditures. Colorado can thank Gov Billy Ritter for bloating government and making government harder and more costly to operate.
And this seems to be beginning to dawn on state workers that oppose unions.
Kathy Zamperini, a CAPE/SEIU member and state worker, said she has gotten signatures from fellow employees in support of Colorado WINS, but reaction is often mixed.
“We’re having a difficult time with some of our employees,” she said. “I think some people are just apathetic. A lot of people don’t know what the governor has done.”
Others, she said, don’t want to be saddled with union dues.
Raymond Hogler, a professor of management at Colorado State University, said he is not surprised that some workers are resisting.
“This is a not a very pro-union state, and employees may decide they don’t need a union,” he said. Others may be afraid to join a bargaining group for fear of retaliation from a manager, Hogler said.
The guv’s backdoor, underhanded payoff to unions is beginning to see the light. Let’s hope that the light is shinned on the Ritter’s perfidy soon enough to stop these unions.