Government employees in more than half of Colorado counties on Friday won the right unionize and to collectively bargain over pay, benefits and working conditions.
Gov. Jared Polis signed SB22-230 into law in Pueblo. It’s set to go into effect on July 1, 2023.
The lead sponsor of the bill, Pueblo Democrat Daneya Esgar, has called the policy “monumental.”
Said Esgar Friday, “These workers staff our public health departments, maintain our roads, and keep our communities safe, and they deserve the right to join together to improve their workplaces and negotiate for better pay and benefits. This new law allows county workers to unionize if they choose to so that they can have a seat at the table to discuss decisions that not only impact their livelihood but the safety of the communities they serve.”
Esgar, the House majority leader, opened this year’s legislative session with sights on a much broader bill than the one signed Friday. Working with a coalition of labor organizations, Esgar sought to empower public workers across the state — not just at the county level, but in cities, in school districts and special districts, and at public colleges and universities — with new union rights.
The plan was to allow hundreds of thousands of these workers to form unions without needing permission from elected government leaders or from voters. They don’t have that right at present. The plan also involved conferring upon these workers the power to negotiate union contracts.
Though he...
Photo | ANI Delhi Police on Monday warned of strict legal action against a social media handle for allegedly spreading false claims that police had opened fire at a rally led by Congress leader Ra...