Colorado would become the second “just-cause employment” state in the U.S. should a measure proposed by state union leaders make the 2026 ballot and pass.
Initiative 43 would prohibit companies with more than eight employees from firing or suspending a worker without just cause, which is defined in the measure as substandard performance, material neglect, repeated policy violation and gross insubordination. Conviction of a crime of “moral turpitude” — like murder, kidnapping and sexual assault — and an employer’s financial instability would also constitute just cause under the initiative.
The proposal was filed by Dennis Dougherty, who leads the AFL-CIO in Colorado, and True Apodaca, political director at SEIU Local 105.
“Colorado workers should expect common-sense workplace protections that prevent them from being unfairly fired,” Dougherty said. “Bad-faith employers arbitrarily fire workers to undermine worker rights, derail union organizing and take in record profits.”
A spokesperson for the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce declined to comment on the proposal, saying, “There are a lot of moving pieces that we’re currently working with for this measure.”
The proposed ballot measure comes as the Colorado labor movement is pushing the legislature to pass Senate Bill 5, which would abolish a requirement in the Colorado Labor Peace Act that 75% of workers at a company sign off before a union can negotiate with an employer on union security. Union security is the term to...
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