IB-01-24-2007 (January 2007)
Author: Benjamin DeGrow

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Executive Summary

House Bill 07-1072 threatens to unsettle the balance of power between employers and unions established by the 1943 Colorado Labor Peace Act. The Act requires a majority vote of secret ballots cast to approve union representation. But the bill would eliminate a second election in which employees decide whether to force dissenting co-workers to pay union dues or agency fees. Under HB 1072, workers could only reject a coercive all-union agreement by also rejecting the entire negotiated union contract. Because it limits choices both for union members and for non-union member workers, the bill is at odds with basic fairness.