By Peter Marcus, DENVER DAILY NEWS
State employees gathered at the Capitol on Friday in favor of several pieces of legislation that they believe would help create jobs.
Organized by the state employees’ union, Colorado WINS, and the AFL-CIO union, state workers — some unemployed — pointed especially to the Democrats’ centerpiece of energy reform legislation this year, which they believe would create more green jobs in the state.
House Bill 1001, sponsored by Rep. Max Tyler, D-Golden, would increase the state’s current renewable energy standard of 20 percent by 2020 to 30 percent by 2020. The bill would also set a requirement that 3 percent of total electricity sales come from so-called distributed generation systems powered not just by solar resources, but also by other renewables like wind. The measure passed through the Senate Friday on a final vote of 21-13 and is expected to be signed by the governor.
Tony Gamino, an unemployed printer, said during the rally Friday that legislation such as HB 1001 will put Americans back to work, which is the best fix for the down economy.
“Nothing will put people back to work like a strong economy, but we are not there yet,” said Gamino. “We need to take care of the families that have been hit hard by this crisis É we need to invest in green jobs and green technology.”
Republicans, however, blast HB 1001, arguing that the measure unfairly mandates utilities to rely more heavily on “taxpayer subsidized energy sources.” Utilities themselves actually support the measure, but Republicans argue that it would raise costs for the average business owner.
“This proposal may as well be called Colorado’s own ‘cap and tax’ bill because it is going to strangle our state’s economy and our pocketbooks,” Sen. Bill Cadman, R-Colorado Springs, said in a statement. “Economic growth does not come from political mandates; it comes from increases in productivity.”
Democrats and union members on Friday also pointed to two other bills aimed at creating jobs and helping the struggling economy.
Senate Bill 58, sponsored by Sen. Abel Tapia, D-Pueblo, would provide up to $20,000 in loan forgiveness for students pursuing masters or doctoral degrees in exchange for a five-year teaching commitment at a Colorado school of nursing; and Senate Bill 28 would create a so-called work share program allowing for the payment of unemployment benefits to employees whose work hours have been reduced.
“If we’re gonna ever get out of this recession it’s going to be because we put people back to work,” said Sen. Rollie Heath, D-Boulder, sponsor of SB 28. “That’s what this whole conversation is all about.”

In other coverage:

Colorado News Agency: “Justice for jobs” was the rallying cry today on what was dubbed “Labor Day at the Capitol” by Democratic lawmakers and area labor unions. House Speaker Terrance Carroll fired up the crowd with all the fervor that he usually reserves for Sunday mornings, when he occasionally preaches to a local congregation. Carroll began by asking the crowd if anyone wanted to get baptized across the street at the First Baptist church.

By Gene Davis, DENVER DAILY NEWS
A new report from the union representing Colorado state employees claims that state services and personnel have been stressed to the limit by Colorado’s budget crisis.
However, a Republican lawmaker blasted the union as being blind to the recession and massive state budget shortfall as they “continue to push their Chicago-style politics.”
“Colorado’s State Employee Workforce; Stressed to the Limit” claims that Colorado has the leanest workforce in the Rocky Mountain Region, drastically under invests in assets like education, highways, police protection and natural resources, and is disinvesting in its state workforce. Colorado WINS (Workers for Innovation and New Solutions), the bargaining group created in 2007 to represent state employees, believes the state as a result is heading down the wrong path.
“Our report verifies what state employees in the field have been saying for the better part of a year,” said a statement from Colorado WINS Executive Director Robert Gibson. “We have been cut to the bone, and not only are Colorado WINS members suffering, but so are the citizens of Colorado.”
But Rep. Frank McNulty, R-Highlands Ranch, offered a sharp rebuke Monday, calling the report politicized and unhelpful.
“We are in the midst of a recession and facing a massive state budget shortfall and the union is blind to it as they continue to push their Chicago-style politics,” he said in a statement. “As a former civil servant myself, I know that our state employees take pride in what they do for our state, and while union bosses are busy whining and issuing politicized reports, Colorado’s state employees are going above and beyond to serve their fellow Coloradans, and I thank them for that.”
Colorado is currently facing a two-year budget shortfall of $1.5 billion.
Meanwhile, the state is home to the fewest state employees per capita in the Rocky Mountain Region, and the state employee pay, adjusted for inflation, has been stagnant since 2002, according to Colorado WINS.
“Calling for mass layoffs and pay cuts may make for great sound bites but defies logic when our workforce is already stretched to the limit,” said David Pertz, secretary of Colorado WINS and correctional officer at Delta Correctional Facility. “We need balanced, rational solutions that look at all options.”
But McNulty remains unconvinced. He is using the union’s report as a chance to bash Gov. Bill Ritter for signing an executive order in 2006 that granted unions access to state government employees. The executive order resulted in the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the Colorado Association of Public Employees/Service Employees International Union, and the American Federation of Teachers teaming up to form Colorado WINS.
“Colorado taxpayers are paying the bill for increased bureaucracy in the form of higher fees, taxes and car registration fees,” said a statement from McNulty. “We can now thank our governor for an impending union-taxpayer showdown that threatens to hurt state employees and put state services at risk.”
However, Lynea Hanson of Colorado WINS said the report was not an impetus for a “showdown,” as McNulty said, but just a year-long fact-finding study.
“It’s unfortunate that Republicans and McNulty have chosen to attack the union when we were just trying to put the facts out there,” she said.
For his part, Ritter spokesman George Merritt said the governor is making the tough decisions to lead Colorado through the worst economy since the Great Depression. Merritt said that budget balancing in a recession is always tense, but that Ritter is spreading the burden across the board in his balanced approach.
“We’re eliminating hundreds of jobs, imposing unpaid furloughs and proposing a 2.5 percent pay cut to help keep the budget balanced,” he said. “These are hard times and Gov. Ritter appreciates that employees are doing their part and making sacrifices.”

Distributed by Colorado Capitol Reporters

In front of a crowd of about 100 steelworkers and other union officials, Gov. Bill Ritter signed an executive order Wednesday afternoon to require state agencies spending federal stimulus money to give a preference for contracts that pledge to use U.S.-made steel, iron and manufactured goods. Ritter’s support from organized labor was shaken earlier this year when he vetoed several bills sought by unions, but he was given a standing ovation by the Pueblo steelworkers in the Local 2102 union hall Wednesday afternoon, The Pueblo Chieftain reports.

20091216_ExecutiveOrder

By Peter Marcus, DENVER DAILY NEWS
Grocery workers have split on a vote over whether to reject their respective supermarket chains’ “last, best and final” offers, bringing Safeway workers one step closer to a strike.
In an unusual vote, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 members split their vote, with Safeway workers rejecting the corporation’s latest offer, while King Soopers/City Market workers voted to accept the offer.
The split puts both the union and grocery chains in an odd situation, as both sides had been negotiating as a unified front, with union members seeking improved contracts for both King Soopers and Safeway workers, while the two chains presented similar contract offers.
There had even been a lockout agreement between the two chains, where if workers from one store went on strike, the other store would lock out employees who are part of Local 7. But because King Soopers workers agreed to accept the contract, the lockout agreement is void, said union spokeswoman Laura Chapin.
Safeway workers hope to return to the bargaining table, but a spokeswoman for Safeway said it was too premature Tuesday to speculate on whether the company might entertain another round of bargaining. If the chain does not agree to go back to the table, a strike is imminent, say sources close to the negotiations.
Safeway workers have already voted to authorize a strike, and some units voted to reauthorize a strike, said Chapin.
Despite the clear rift within the union, Local 7’s legal counsel, Crisanta Duran, said the union continues to operate as a unit.
“The workers have stayed united and made every decision by majority vote to improve the contract offer,” said Duran. “The workers are the union, we respect their decisions, and we hope Safeway will, too.”
The split vote comes despite calls by union President Ernie Duran, Jr. to reject the contract offer and authorize a strike. The outgoing president recently lost his bid for re-election after challenger Kim Cordova pointed to nepotism and excessive spending. It was unclear Tuesday how much the split decision rested on a lack of faith in Duran, his daughter Crisanta, and the rest of the union’s current leadership.
Grocery workers are seeking preventative health care coverage to be added to their policies, and for their pension plan to be fully funded. The grocery corporations have proposed cutting pension funding, but have reached a tentative agreement to include preventative health care coverage.
Workers are also looking for a “modest” wage increase that equals about 75 cents per hour.
Negotiations have been taking place for the past eight months. Contract extensions for about 15,000 Safeway and King Soopers employees expired in September — the workers are working without a contract.
Safeway spokeswoman Kris Staaf seemed baffled Tuesday that Safeway workers would reject the offer while King Soopers workers accepted it.
“SWY’s last, best and final offer to Local 7 contained core economic terms virtually identical to the one presented by King Soopers,” she said in a statement.
Staaf added that it was unclear Tuesday from her chain’s perspective as to whether Safeway workers were seriously considering a strike. She said some early reports stated that Safeway workers rejected the offer by the two-thirds necessary to authorize a strike.
The two chains have said that they have an entire fleet of temporary replacement workers ready to fill in if a strike becomes reality.
Meanwhile, Safeway employee Arlys Carlson says it is time for Safeway to listen to its workers.
“We’ve now rejected the offer four times, so Safeway should listen to their employees,” said the 30-year Safeway worker. “Especially in light of the millions of dollars these corporations are earning, workers deserve the pension they have earned and were promised, plus livable wages and affordable, accessible health care.”

Distributed by Colorado Capitol Reporters

The family members that run one of Colorado’s most powerful labor unions are being forced out of power, but not before they receive parting gifts paid for with union dues. Ernie Duran, Jr., the longtime president of UFCW Local 7, will receive his union-issued vehicle, a 2007 Ford F350 pickup, as a retirement gift, 9News reports.
Duran’s daughter, Crisanta, who was expected to lose her job as the union’s associate counsel in January, stepped down Tuesday to run for election in Colorado House District 5. She received the union’s endorsement. Another Democrat in the race, Dr. Mark Thrun, said he did not have a chance to ask for the union’s support.

By Peter Marcus, DENVER DAILY NEWS
Grocery chains presented workers with their “last, best and final offers” regarding contract negotiations that could lead to a strike.
Safeway and King Soopers presented the workers’ union, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7, with the final offers very late Monday night. A union spokeswoman said workers are in the process of going through the offers to see what their next move is.
A vote had not been scheduled as of last night.
Contract extensions for about 15,000 Safeway and King Soopers employees expired in September — the workers are working without a contract. Laura Chapin, spokeswoman for Local 7, said the fact that the workers are operating without a contract does not make the negotiations more urgent because they still have certain protections.
Safeway workers have already voted to authorize a strike if the company does not offer a contract proposal that includes “livable wages and a secure retirement.” In response, the two chains have agreed to lock out employees if workers from one store go on strike. In other words, if Safeway workers decide to put up the picket lines, King Soopers would lock out its employees that are part of the union.
If the union votes down the final offers, a strike is imminent, said sources close to the negotiations.
The two chains have said that they have an entire fleet of temporary replacement workers ready to fill in if a strike becomes reality.
Negotiations have been ongoing since April, with little progress made in the last two months. Several offers have been rejected in that time.
Grocery workers are seeking preventative health care coverage to be added to their policies, and for their pension plan to be fully funded. The grocery corporations have proposed cutting pension funding, but have reached a tentative agreement to include preventative health care coverage.
Workers are also looking for a “modest” wage increase that equals about 75 cents per hour.
The King Soopers offer includes a wage increase of 30 cents per hour for top employees, with subsequent 25-cent per hour per year increases for the remainder of the 52-month contract. That includes about 65 percent of workers. The offer also increases health care benefits to include coverage for part-time workers’ families after one year of employment.
“We encourage our associates to let their voices be heard and vote to ratify this contract by returning their ballots,” Russ Dispense, president of King Soopers, said in a statement. “King Soopers has offered bonuses, raises, increased health care benefits and nearly $40 million to help stabilize the pension fund in an economy where other companies are withholding raises, slashing health care benefits and freezing pensions.”
The Safeway offer includes a “very attractive” bonus for all employees who ratify the contract. Safeway contract negotiations have mirrored those with King Soopers. The offer also includes a 52-month contract term, wage increases, shortened wait time for health benefits for family members and pension improvements, according to the chain.
“This LBFO is Safeway’s best effort to reach new contracts with Local 7 and we haven’t held anything back,” said Kris Staaf, Safeway spokeswoman.
Chapin said the union must first examine the offers before commenting on them.
“We’ve been working on this for a long time and want to thoroughly understand these proposals,” she said.

Distributed by Colorado Capitol Reporters

By Gene Davis, DENVER DAILY NEWS
The daughter of a union boss is refuting claims that her dad is trying to hijack the election of Colorado’s biggest union.
The newly elected Local 7 president and secretary-treasurer Wednesday accused current union president Ernest Duran of “trying to steal the election from the workers.” Chrisanta Duran, Ernest’s daughter and the union secretary-treasurer, called the accusations unfounded.
“We obviously don’t have the power to do that,” she said.
Last week, Duran fired Cindy Lucero, the woman who recently defeated Chrisanta in the union secretary-treasurer race. And before the union president election began, Duran fired Kim Cordova, the woman who ended up beating him for the position. Regardless of being fired, the two women are set to take over their new leadership roles on Jan. 1.
Chrisanta said she isn’t able to discuss why Lucero and Cordova were fired unless they sign a release. But she denied that they were fired for a sinister reason, and pointed out that Cordova changed her own story for why she was fired three times.
“We just have a huge amount of liability if we release any information at all in regards to personnel decisions,” she said.
During the election campaign, Chrisanta and Lucero accused Duran of nepotism. Duran hired Chrisanta and her brother, Ernest III, to union positions that paid more than $100,000.
Chrisanta said that she and her brother’s past qualifications speak for themselves and should clear her father from the nepotism charge. Chrisanta is a licensed attorney who has won several arbitrations, and her brother helped a run successful campaign against an anti-union initiative.

Seeking a second election
The Durans are calling for a second election so the union members can vote again. Chrisanta believes that because almost 2,000 members self-reported that they did not receive ballots, union documents were stolen, and people lied to members in the media about how and why funds were spent, the election was not fair. Only 13 percent of the union members turned in ballots.
“It is in the best interest of the union membership to make sure there was a fair election,” said Chrisanta.
Meanwhile, Lucero disagrees on the need for another vote.
“Members are telling me they elected us fair and square, and want Duran to honor the workers’ vote,” she said in a statement Wednesday.
It is up to the U.S. Department of Labor to decide whether there should be another vote.
The controversy over Local 7 leadership started after KMGH-Channel 7 ran an investigative piece revealing that Duran spent union dues on international trips, lavish dinners and Broncos tickets, to name a few.
Chrisanta in September defended the spending to Denver Daily News reporter Peter Marcus. She said that an executive board and an audit committee within the union itself approved every penny.
The controversy over Local 7 leadership came as 17,000 unionized grocery workers were working to reach a contract agreement with King Soopers, City Market and Albertsons.
Since KMGH ran the investigative piece, the grocery chains have not come back with another offer, according to Chrisanta. She partly contributed the lack of progress to Cordova, Lucero and others creating controversy.
“To air internal union issues out to the public…doesn’t hurt us, it really does hurt the membership’s ability to be able to get a fair contract,” she said. “We have tried since the election to focus completely on negotiations.”
Cordova agreed that contract negotiations are what matters right now. However, she placed the blame over the lack of progress on Duran.
“Duran needs to remember he works for the workers…and what the workers want is a contract, not back-room union politics,” he said.

Distributed by Colorado Capitol Reporters

From Politico: Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter is facing the prospect of a difficult reelection bid without the backing of a key Democratic Party constituency: organized labor.

By Peter Marcus, DENVER DAILY NEWS
The daughter of a union boss ousted this week by grocery workers is defending the use of membership dues to challenge the results of the election her father lost.
Crisanta Duran, who serves as both general counsel and secretary-treasurer for the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7, said Ernie Duran Jr., the longtime president of the union, lost his re-election bid because of defamation spread by his opponent, Kim Cordova.
Cordova targeted Ernie Duran as a corrupt union boss using union dues for personal gain and of nepotism for hiring several family members to high-paying positions paying more than $100,000 per year. The story was picked up by KMGH-Channel 7 in an investigative piece that revealed the union boss spending dues on expensive international trips, lavish dinners and Broncos tickets, to name a few.
But Crisanta Duran Wednesday defended the spending, arguing that every penny was approved by an executive board and an audit committee within the union itself. She said all the expenses were for official business, such as the Broncos tickets that were used as a winning prize in a raffle played by union membership.
“All union expenses have been legitimate and they have been approved by our executive board, our audit committee and also voted on at all of our membership meetings throughout the state,” Duran told reporters during a media briefing at the UFCW Local 7 building in Wheat Ridge. “We have a very transparent process, and just once again, they were all legitimate and approved.”
Cordova, however, used the expense reports and the fact that Ernie Duran has hired his daughter and son to high-paying union positions as fodder to advance her campaign.
From the Web site, VoteErnieOut.com, Cordova and her supporters have posted receipts from expensive dinners at Gaetano’s, Cuba Cuba Cafe and Bar, and Red Lobster — all paid with union dues. The union boss is portrayed as Ernie from “Sesame Street,” and membership is asked to vote out the “Duran Clan.”

Outrage
Cordova’s supporters are outraged that the Duran family is challenging the recent election, describing the union family as “sore losers.” Of most concern to Cordova’s supporters is that the Durans are using union dues to challenge the election in which membership decided to vote them out.
A robocall and text messages went out this week asking membership to report if they hadn’t received a ballot, indicating to membership that its current leadership plans on challenging the election to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Critics say union dues should not be spent on fighting an election that union bosses lost at the hands of their membership.
But Crisanta Duran said the election was held under false pretexts, which has done membership a disservice, especially given ongoing contract negotiations between the union and Colorado’s three major grocery chains. King Soopers workers in the Denver metro area have voted to reject the company’s latest offer, though voting is expected to last through next week. Safeway workers have voted to re-authorize a strike, though it is more likely that the two bargaining teams will head back to the table before going on strike. Negotiations with Albertson’s is ongoing.
Duran said it is acceptable to use union dues to fight for her and her family’s positions because the overall challenge serves the needs of its membership.
“Members deserve to be part of a fair election, and when you have people going out and lying to them, using documents and saying that they were used for different reasons than what they actually were, and lying to members about how and why union funds were spent — the members deserve to be able to have a fair election,” she said.
The challenge also points out that only 13 percent of members voted and that the election was very tight. Before taking the challenge to the Labor Department, it can be brought within 15 days to the international UFCW organization for a decision on whether another election is warranted. If the union as a whole chooses not to authorize another election, then the challenge can still be brought to the Labor Department.

Cordova set to take over Jan. 1
Cordova, a former union representative before she was fired by the union, is set to take over as president on Jan. 1. She would become the first woman president of the Colorado union. Cordova alleges that she was wrongfully terminated, but union officials will not comment on why she was fired from her position, stating that Cordova would need to sign a release to allow them to release records.
Crisanta Duran says the union has asked Cordova to sign the release, but that she refuses to do so.
Also decided in the election, Cindy Lucero, who ran on Cordova’s slate, is set to replace Crisanta Duran. Nineteen of 25 board members who ran as part of Cordova’s team were also backed by membership.
In addition to 17,000 grocery workers, Local 7 represents approximately 6,000 meatpacking and private-health-care workers.

Investigation
Meanwhile, the Labor Department is investigating whether Local 7 illegally spent union dues. While the Labor Department is not commenting on the investigation, Crisanta Duran said an audit cleared them of all wrongdoing. She said an exit interview back in June indicated that the feds found no money was missing and that all expenditures were properly accounted for.
Adding fuel to this controversial fire, Crisanta Duran has accused Cordova of attempting to extort $350,000 from the Durans in exchange for her not running for president. The money would have come as part of a wrongful termination suit, but no action was taken.
Duran cites a letter written by Chris Osborne, a union member, who says that before a recent monthly make-up membership meeting began, he overheard Cordova confronting Ernie Duran about the extortion. But when asked to provide minutes from the meeting, Crisanta Duran said no minutes were taken.
Often accusing Colorado’s three major grocery chains of paying its executives high salaries while refusing to offer its workers even a living wage, Crisanta Duran defended her $133,410 salary, arguing that this year she gave up almost a third of her salary to “dedicate to the workers’ struggle in negotiations.” Duran added that her salary last year was actually $71,511 — but that is because she took six months off from work to campaign for Mark Udall, who ran a successful campaign for U.S. Senate.
Duran added that it is not uncommon for union leaders to hire family members to rank and file positions, pointing to Lucero who has her son working as a union representative and Cordova who added three pairs of family members to her slate.
“We’re not using union dues to fight the election results,” concluded Duran. “What we are doing is we are collecting statements with regard to the defamatory allegations against the organization as a whole.”

Distributed by Colorado Capitol Reporters

Wheat Ridge lawyer Ernie Duran Jr., the longest-standing president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 union, lost his re-election bid this week as union members approved sweeping leadership changes amid allegations of nepotism and misspent funds, The Denver Post reported. FaceTheState.com covered the issue last fall.