At a Glance

• Colorado governor vetoed a bill that would have allowed unions to include union-security clauses without a separate election.
• In response to this veto, labor unions in Colorado are vowing to push a ballot initiative that, if enacted, would fundamentally reshape employer/employee relations in the state.

Colorado Union Dues System Remains Unchanged – For Now

On May 16, 2025, Colorado Governor Jared Polis vetoed a bill that would have upended the state’s unique structure around mandatory payment of union dues as a requirement for continued employment. Senate Bill 5 (SB 25-005), called the “Worker Protection Act,” would have dramatically changed the financial incentives for unions to organize Colorado workplaces by eliminating an 82-year-old requirement set forth in the Labor Peace Act to hold a separate election before a collective-bargaining agreement could include a union-security clause.

So-called union security clauses are contract terms that allow unions to mandate the payment of dues or other representation fees as a condition of on-going employment. Federal law leaves it up to each state to decide whether collective bargaining agreements may contain union-security clauses. “Right-to-work” states prohibit union security clauses while non-right-to-work states allow such clauses. Because a union can require all employees to pay dues in non-right-to-work states, workplaces in these states may be more likely targets for organizing.

Colorado does not fall...

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