January 16, 2025 • 9 mins
NO, COLORADANS DON'T WANT TO CHANGE LABOR LAW In Colorado we've been living under labor laws that were settled decades ago after violent labor strikes. One of those laws requires two votes for unionization. The first requires a simple majority to form a union, but the second requires a supermajority in order for unions to take dues from EVERYONE, even if they don't want to belong to the union. Now the Democrats are trying to do away with that second vote, and they are diametrically opposed to what most Coloradans think. I've got Rachel Beck, Executive Director of the Colorado Competitive Council joining me to talk about the results of their survey, but here are the high points:
70% of voters oppose the removal of the second vote, including 46% who strongly oppose the changes. Only 25% support removing the second vote. 67% of voters oppose mandatory deductions of labor union dues from workers’ paychecks, regardless of their union membership status. Only 27% support mandatory dues deductions. Opposition to SB25-005 transcends political boundaries: 87% of Republicans, 72% of Independents, and 50% of Democrats oppose the removal of the second vote.
So why are Dems doing this? I'll let you guess but it probably starts with the fact that most unions donate exclusively to Democrats.
70% of voters oppose the removal of the second vote, including 46% who strongly oppose the changes. Only 25% support removing the second vote. 67% of voters oppose mandatory deductions of labor union dues from workers’ paychecks, regardless of their union membership status. Only 27% support mandatory dues deductions. Opposition to SB25-005 transcends political boundaries: 87% of Republicans, 72% of Independents, and 50% of Democrats oppose the removal of the second vote.
So why are Dems doing this? I'll let you guess but it probably starts with the fact that most unions donate exclusively to Democrats.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Because why, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Democrats have filed a bill that would upend quite a
long period of settled labor law here in Colorado, and it.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Has to do with unionization.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
And we currently have a system now where if someone
wants to unionize a workplace, two votes have to take place.
The first one is just a simple majority vote to
form a union. The second vote requires a much larger
majority to be able to take union dues out of
the pockets of people who do not want to belong
to the union.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
And for some.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Reason the Democrats, no one's begging for this except the unions.
I have decided to move forward with a bill to
end this practice and go to a single vote. Now
joining me now from the Colorado Competitive is a Colorado
Competitive Institute, a council, that's it. Colorado Competitive Council Executive Director.
Rachel Beck. Hi, Nancy, if you're listening, just wanted to
(00:55):
say hello to Rachel's mom who listens to the show.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Welcome to the show. Rachel.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
First of all, thank you so much for having Mendy.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
So tell me about this survey that you just did
on this very issue.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
This is a big issue in Colorado and the Colorado
Labor Peace Act has been in place for eighty years,
so business is very opposed to changing it for a
lot of reasons. I'm sure we'll talk about. But we
just completed some scientific pulling to understand were we out
of step with voters on this, and it turns out
we're not. Seventy percent of voters said that they are
opposed to removing that second vote that you talked about.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
And not only that, overwhelmingly a majority is opposed to
people being forced to pay union dues that they don't
want to pay. And I think that's the critical part
of this for me. You know that for me is
I don't think you should be able to take money
away from someone who philosophically disagrees with you, and that
that is a tough bridge because traditionally labor boards have
(01:53):
sided with unions on that. So this is a really
really big change we're in in the process or what
do you guys think this is likely to do in
terms of is it going to pass?
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Do we need to worry about this? Will the governor
sign it into law? If it happens.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
Well. The bill will have its first hearing on Tuesday
in committee. It's had quite a number of Democrats sign
on as co sponsors, and at the rally when this
bill was announced before the session started, proponents were really
making this a referendum on were you a proper Democrat?
So they're really placing whether this passes or not on
(02:34):
a test of democratic loyalty. I'm pointing to how Colorado
really performed differently among states in the nation. We're a
lot bluer than a lot.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
Of other states.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
It's interesting, though, because that's not necessarily reflective of Colorado voters.
Forty seven percent of us are unaffiliated, and certainly our
polling results, which this was a scientific poll, not some
internet poll where you can go run up the score
reflects Coloradden's from all across the state, every political party,
(03:05):
every age demographic also believe in this unique system that
Colorado has. And I think that's because, as you were
pointing out, it's about employee choice yep.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
And I think that even people who are pro union,
who think unions are a great idea, can understand the
fundamental unfairness of asking someone who doesn't share the belief
system or anything else with the union to be forced
to give their money over I've never ever understood that
to me, that is the most un American thing in
the entire world. It violates my right to free associate
(03:37):
in a big way. But this is part of a
larger pattern that we've seen over the last few years
that have really bitten our business competitiveness nationwide.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Talk about some of that stuff for me.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
There are a number of data sources that really are
pointing to Colorado's competitiveness dropping and pretty rapidly. We have
performed in a number of metrics as one of the
top ten states in the country for business friendliness for
decades and now all of those are starting to trend down.
So CNBC's business friendliness ranking one of the most rigorous assessments.
(04:16):
They used ten different factors and they point to a
lot of different data points like the Small Business Administration,
the Pere Research Center, other really respected sources of data.
We dropped from third to sixteenth.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
The Denver Metro EDCs towards a more competitive Colorado report,
which is twenty years they've been doing this report, so
we have a lot of year over year data. They
showed some declines as well, and no surprise, we're getting
killed primarily on the cost of living and the cost
of doing business.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
And that's unfortunate because the cost of doing business is
the part that is directly Government is directly responsible for
a huge chunk of that, whether it's taxi, whether it's permitting,
whether it's licensing, any of those things.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
Now, if this passes.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
I feel like this is going to be a way
bigger problem than some of those other things.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Is that what you're hearing from.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Business absolutely the hallmarks of Colorado's unique system, and nobody
else in the country does it like we do with
those two votes. Really is about balancing the interests of
employees who want to organize and employees who maybe don't
want to participate in a labor union, and it has
served our state well for eighty years. The Denver Metro
(05:35):
EDC did a steady a number of years ago that
looked at a variety of factors related to organizing right
to work states versus closed union states, and what they
found was our system has really kind of smoothed out
the bumps in the economy. So write to work states,
for example, go into recession faster than closed union shop
(05:56):
states do, but they also come out of them faster.
And so by having that hybrid that we've created here
it's meant that we have a strong economy that benefits
all Colorado's You.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Know this is going to end up if they do
pass this or even really aggressively go after it. John
Caldera from the Independence Institute has already said we're going
to put a right to work amendment on the ballot.
It'll be very interesting to see what happens first in
the legislature, which I honestly believe and I'm not going
to ask you to comment on this, Rachel. The reason
(06:30):
the Democrats are doing this is because of the flirtations
with the Trump campaign in this last election cycle.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
We saw a union.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Boss speak at the RNC and the Democrats all of
a sudden went, oh my god, we've been ignoring the
unions who constantly fill our coffers. So I just think
this is one of those hey we're here for you,
remember us, We're looking out for you moves nakedly political.
And I don't even think they think it's going to pass.
To tell you the truth, I think this is just posture.
(07:00):
I would hope that the governor would veto it, our
new freedom loving governor who talks about.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
The freestate of Colorado.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
But we'll have to see I'm guessing so again, I
won't ask you to comment on the political nature of that,
but it certainly seems like this is just a reminder
that the Democrats are gonna get some are going to
line the pockets of the people who line there.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
That's just my opinion, Rachel.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
What do we need to see to get our competitiveness
back in Colorado? How do we get back to number three?
Speaker 3 (07:32):
The main priority, we believe is we need to go
after those cost drivers that we can control that are
driving the cost of living and the cost of business
in Colorado. So things like we have very high property
and casualty insurance rates in the state, we have very
high auto insurance rates. Some of those things are due
to things like hail and wildfire, but some of those
(07:55):
are due to policy choices that we are making at
the capitol. So those are curves that we can cost
of housing in Colorado is way out of line with
what people can afford. The average cost of a home
in Colorado has doubled in I think a decade, and
one of the reasons for that is again something that
we can control at the state capitol. We have unique
(08:17):
laws on the books in Colorado that make it really
easy to sue the developers of condos, and so we
have virtually no condo construction happening in Colorado. Now, all
those multi family developments that you see going up our
apartments for rent, and that certainly helps when it comes
to supply, but it doesn't help first time home buyers,
low income home buyers, seniors who wish to downsize to
(08:40):
get into a product that's more affordable. We also have
a very litigious environment in Colorado, so a lot of risk,
a lot of ways that you can get sued in Colorado.
And if that sounds esoteric and like something that has
nothing to do with you, the US Chamber has put
the price tag of that at four thousand and eleven
dollars every single year for the average Colorado household because
(09:04):
those costs are ultimately passed along. So all things that
we can and should do something about in Colorado.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Rachel back with the Colorado Competitive Council. I appreciate your time,
and I appreciate I put the numbers that we just
talked about on the blog today so people can check
them out themselves.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
We'll be following along with this.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Maybe we can touch base during the legislative session and
get an update where this disastrous bill is at that moment.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
Happy to come back. Thanks Mandy, all
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Right, thank you Rachel
Because why, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Democrats have filed a bill that would upend quite a
long period of settled labor law here in Colorado, and it.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Has to do with unionization.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
And we currently have a system now where if someone
wants to unionize a workplace, two votes have to take place.
The first one is just a simple majority vote to
form a union. The second vote requires a much larger
majority to be able to take union dues out of
the pockets of people who do not want to belong
to the union.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
And for some.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Reason the Democrats, no one's begging for this except the unions.
I have decided to move forward with a bill to
end this practice and go to a single vote. Now
joining me now from the Colorado Competitive is a Colorado
Competitive Institute, a council, that's it. Colorado Competitive Council Executive Director.
Rachel Beck. Hi, Nancy, if you're listening, just wanted to
(00:55):
say hello to Rachel's mom who listens to the show.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Welcome to the show. Rachel.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
First of all, thank you so much for having Mendy.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
So tell me about this survey that you just did
on this very issue.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
This is a big issue in Colorado and the Colorado
Labor Peace Act has been in place for eighty years,
so business is very opposed to changing it for a
lot of reasons. I'm sure we'll talk about. But we
just completed some scientific pulling to understand were we out
of step with voters on this, and it turns out
we're not. Seventy percent of voters said that they are
opposed to removing that second vote that you talked about.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
And not only that, overwhelmingly a majority is opposed to
people being forced to pay union dues that they don't
want to pay. And I think that's the critical part
of this for me. You know that for me is
I don't think you should be able to take money
away from someone who philosophically disagrees with you, and that
that is a tough bridge because traditionally labor boards have
(01:53):
sided with unions on that. So this is a really
really big change we're in in the process or what
do you guys think this is likely to do in
terms of is it going to pass?
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Do we need to worry about this? Will the governor
sign it into law? If it happens.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
Well. The bill will have its first hearing on Tuesday
in committee. It's had quite a number of Democrats sign
on as co sponsors, and at the rally when this
bill was announced before the session started, proponents were really
making this a referendum on were you a proper Democrat?
So they're really placing whether this passes or not on
(02:34):
a test of democratic loyalty. I'm pointing to how Colorado
really performed differently among states in the nation. We're a
lot bluer than a lot.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
Of other states.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
It's interesting, though, because that's not necessarily reflective of Colorado voters.
Forty seven percent of us are unaffiliated, and certainly our
polling results, which this was a scientific poll, not some
internet poll where you can go run up the score
reflects Coloradden's from all across the state, every political party,
(03:05):
every age demographic also believe in this unique system that
Colorado has. And I think that's because, as you were
pointing out, it's about employee choice yep.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
And I think that even people who are pro union,
who think unions are a great idea, can understand the
fundamental unfairness of asking someone who doesn't share the belief
system or anything else with the union to be forced
to give their money over I've never ever understood that
to me, that is the most un American thing in
the entire world. It violates my right to free associate
(03:37):
in a big way. But this is part of a
larger pattern that we've seen over the last few years
that have really bitten our business competitiveness nationwide.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Talk about some of that stuff for me.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
There are a number of data sources that really are
pointing to Colorado's competitiveness dropping and pretty rapidly. We have
performed in a number of metrics as one of the
top ten states in the country for business friendliness for
decades and now all of those are starting to trend down.
So CNBC's business friendliness ranking one of the most rigorous assessments.
(04:16):
They used ten different factors and they point to a
lot of different data points like the Small Business Administration,
the Pere Research Center, other really respected sources of data.
We dropped from third to sixteenth.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
The Denver Metro EDCs towards a more competitive Colorado report,
which is twenty years they've been doing this report, so
we have a lot of year over year data. They
showed some declines as well, and no surprise, we're getting
killed primarily on the cost of living and the cost
of doing business.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
And that's unfortunate because the cost of doing business is
the part that is directly Government is directly responsible for
a huge chunk of that, whether it's taxi, whether it's permitting,
whether it's licensing, any of those things.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
Now, if this passes.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
I feel like this is going to be a way
bigger problem than some of those other things.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Is that what you're hearing from.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Business absolutely the hallmarks of Colorado's unique system, and nobody
else in the country does it like we do with
those two votes. Really is about balancing the interests of
employees who want to organize and employees who maybe don't
want to participate in a labor union, and it has
served our state well for eighty years. The Denver Metro
(05:35):
EDC did a steady a number of years ago that
looked at a variety of factors related to organizing right
to work states versus closed union states, and what they
found was our system has really kind of smoothed out
the bumps in the economy. So write to work states,
for example, go into recession faster than closed union shop
(05:56):
states do, but they also come out of them faster.
And so by having that hybrid that we've created here
it's meant that we have a strong economy that benefits
all Colorado's You.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Know this is going to end up if they do
pass this or even really aggressively go after it. John
Caldera from the Independence Institute has already said we're going
to put a right to work amendment on the ballot.
It'll be very interesting to see what happens first in
the legislature, which I honestly believe and I'm not going
to ask you to comment on this, Rachel. The reason
(06:30):
the Democrats are doing this is because of the flirtations
with the Trump campaign in this last election cycle.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
We saw a union.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Boss speak at the RNC and the Democrats all of
a sudden went, oh my god, we've been ignoring the
unions who constantly fill our coffers. So I just think
this is one of those hey we're here for you,
remember us, We're looking out for you moves nakedly political.
And I don't even think they think it's going to pass.
To tell you the truth, I think this is just posture.
(07:00):
I would hope that the governor would veto it, our
new freedom loving governor who talks about.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
The freestate of Colorado.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
But we'll have to see I'm guessing so again, I
won't ask you to comment on the political nature of that,
but it certainly seems like this is just a reminder
that the Democrats are gonna get some are going to
line the pockets of the people who line there.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
That's just my opinion, Rachel.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
What do we need to see to get our competitiveness
back in Colorado? How do we get back to number three?
Speaker 3 (07:32):
The main priority, we believe is we need to go
after those cost drivers that we can control that are
driving the cost of living and the cost of business
in Colorado. So things like we have very high property
and casualty insurance rates in the state, we have very
high auto insurance rates. Some of those things are due
to things like hail and wildfire, but some of those
(07:55):
are due to policy choices that we are making at
the capitol. So those are curves that we can cost
of housing in Colorado is way out of line with
what people can afford. The average cost of a home
in Colorado has doubled in I think a decade, and
one of the reasons for that is again something that
we can control at the state capitol. We have unique
(08:17):
laws on the books in Colorado that make it really
easy to sue the developers of condos, and so we
have virtually no condo construction happening in Colorado. Now, all
those multi family developments that you see going up our
apartments for rent, and that certainly helps when it comes
to supply, but it doesn't help first time home buyers,
low income home buyers, seniors who wish to downsize to
(08:40):
get into a product that's more affordable. We also have
a very litigious environment in Colorado, so a lot of risk,
a lot of ways that you can get sued in Colorado.
And if that sounds esoteric and like something that has
nothing to do with you, the US Chamber has put
the price tag of that at four thousand and eleven
dollars every single year for the average Colorado household because
(09:04):
those costs are ultimately passed along. So all things that
we can and should do something about in Colorado.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Rachel back with the Colorado Competitive Council. I appreciate your time,
and I appreciate I put the numbers that we just
talked about on the blog today so people can check
them out themselves.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
We'll be following along with this.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Maybe we can touch base during the legislative session and
get an update where this disastrous bill is at that moment.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
Happy to come back. Thanks Mandy, all
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Right, thank you Rachel
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