By Brad Jones, FACE THE STATE

When even The New York Times takes notice of the toll taken by organized labor on the public purse, you know such concerns weren’t just conjured up by a vast, right-wing conspiracy. Nor are they the product of slick PR on behalf of corporate board rooms. No, the fiscal woes of state governments in the wake of a crushing recession are very real, in Colorado as well as in states across the nation. And years-long concessions by those states to unions that have organized public employees have substantially compounded the cost of providing basic government services.

So, it’s only fitting that it should fall to The Times—that old gray lady and protectress of union-friendly liberals everywhere—to report the mad dash by a number of cash-strapped states to get out from under suffocating relationships with unions. As The Times notes:

…In Ohio, the new Republican governor, following the precedent of many other states, wants to ban strikes by public school teachers.

Some new governors, most notably Scott Walker of Wisconsin, are even threatening to take away government workers’ right to form unions and bargain contracts.

“We can no longer live in a society where the public employees are the haves and taxpayers who foot the bills are the have-nots,” Mr. Walker, a Republican, said in a speech. “The bottom line is that we are going to look at every legal means we have to try to put that balance more on the side of taxpayers.”

… But it is not only Republicans who are seeking to rein in unions. … California’s new Democratic governor, Jerry Brown, is promising to review the benefits received by government workers in his state, which faces a more than $20 billion budget shortfall over the next 18 months.

Without a doubt, unionization of state employees can be a budget buster. Look no further than in places where collective bargaining arrived only recently. As noted by the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, for example, payroll costs have surged for Washington’s state government since that state adopted collective bargaining just nine years ago.

One of the legacies of departing Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter is his still-controversial, 2007 executive order effectively opening the door to collective bargaining for more than 30,000 Colorado state government employees. Though the Ritter administration doggedly maintained that the order didn’t allow collective bargaining per se—in which, if labor and management don’t agree on pay and other contract provisions, the dispute goes to binding arbitration—the “partnerships” permitted in Ritter’s order amount to the same thing over the long haul. That’s because unions are granted the power of acting as “exclusive representative” for key state employee groups, which, of course, only creates upward pressure on pay and benefits as time goes by.

If governors and legislatures in even the union strongholds of the old Rust Belt can muster the courage to take on unions—and spare taxpayers—maybe here in Colorado, where union clout is concentrated mostly in the public sector, it shouldn’t be all that difficult to restore more sensible policies. Maybe Gov.-elect John Hickenlooper could save the General Assembly the trouble and rescind Ritter’s folly, also by executive order. What a great way to show that he really does want to give the hard-pressed public a break.

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The largest union representing state employees has launched a campaign urging Gov. Bill Ritter to sign legislation revamping the pay-raise system for state workers, The Denver Post reports.

The effort by Colorado WINS comes amid worry over whether Ritter, who has expressed concerns about House Bill 1409, will veto the bill. Ritter’s office has said only that it is giving the bill careful consideration.

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A proposal to guarantee that unions could continue to collect dues from state workers — no matter who is elected as the next governor — was killed by its Democratic sponsor Tuesday after Republicans threatened a filibuster, The Denver Post reports.

The amendment’s death averted what likely would have been a nasty partisan feud in the waning hours of the session, which ends today. The amendment to House Bill 1181, dealing with the state personnel system, would have codified into a law a 2007 executive order from Gov. Bill Ritter, a Democrat. That order reversed a 2001 executive order from Republican Gov. Bill Owens that prohibited paycheck deductions for union dues.

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By Peter Marcus, DENVER DAILY NEWS
The state’s largest teachers’ union is defending itself against allegations that it is throwing a “tantrum” by not backing the second round competition of Race to the Top federal education grant money in protest of a measure that targets teacher tenure.
The Colorado Education Association says it simply cannot support round two of the competition because Senate Bill 191 has been directly linked to success in the competition. Colorado is competing for $175 million in education grant money.
SB 191, sponsored by Sen. Mike Johnston, D-Denver, aims at improving how teachers are evaluated and granted tenure in Colorado. The measure would put added pressure on teachers to prove their worth in being awarded tenure, and establishes an annual evaluation system to measure a teacher’s effectiveness. The measure would also allow for tenure to be revoked if a teacher is under-performing.
Commissioner of Education Dwight Jones has cited the need for SB 191 as a boost to the state’s efforts in competing for the Race to the Top grant money.
The Colorado Education Association, which adamantly opposes SB 191, believes that the measure and round two of the competition should be considered separate issues. A spokeswoman for the union points out that it backed round one of the competition and had been actively engaged in the process since the beginning.
But when Jones linked SB 191 to the Race to the Top competition, the Colorado Education Association’s membership demanded that it not back round two of the competition, said Deborah Fallin, spokeswoman for the union.
“We are a Democratic organization run by our members and they said, ‘Don’t you dare commit us to round two of Race to the Top if all of the leaders (the commissioner) are going to say it’s dependent upon this very poorly written bill,’” said Fallin.
The union believes SB 191 is premature given the fact that the Council for Educator Effectiveness was only recently created in January and has yet to define “effectiveness.” Concerns are also being raised about costs to individual school districts, due process and local control.
“At this point, that (Race to the Top) application is not going to include a glowing letter of support from the Colorado Education Association,” said Fallin. “We’re not saying never, ever, but we’re saying right now — this dynamic does not allow us in our representation of 40,000 members to sign on.”
Sen. Nancy Spence, R-Centennial, immediately accused the union of throwing a “tantrum” that comes at the disadvantage of schoolchildren in Colorado, who should be considered the greater good to the union.
“The teacher union tantrum over this bill threatens $175 million for Colorado schoolchildren and classrooms,” said Spence in a statement. “That doesn’t seem to matter much to union members …”
At a time when K-12 education in Colorado is slated to be cut anywhere from 6-8 percent in the coming fiscal year’s budget, Spence is wondering why the teachers’ union isn’t thinking more about school funding.
“K-12 must not be as underfunded as the teachers union claims if they are going to this much trouble to block a bill and a grant application that would wholly benefit Colorado schools,” said Spence.
But Fallin says the Race to the Top grant money would not even be applied to basic operating expenses, instead only intended to be used for innovation. She says the boost would only be about $25 per student per year over four years.
“We’re running after the shiny penny,” Fallin said of the state’s motivation to win the competition.
“They’re huge disproportionate pieces,” she continued, speaking about SB 191 and the Race to the Top competition. “They don’t equal each other.”

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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.

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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

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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.

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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

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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.

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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

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