Ritter rejects GOP call for a union bill review period

DENVER - Gov. Bill Ritter rejected a request by Republican legislative leaders Monday to delay implementation of an executive order that gives unions more access to state employees and government leaders.

The request for a 120-day review period was a precursor to what GOP officials are terming a “major announcement” this morning. Rep. Bob Gardner, R-Colorado Springs, said he will sponsor legislation related to the executive order but declined to detail it Monday.

Ritter’s order allows employee organizations such as unions to establish “partnership agreements” with the state in which group representatives can meet with department heads and discuss concerns on subjects like salaries and workplace conditions. The order fails to grant collective bargaining power, keeps nonunion workers from having union dues deducted from their paychecks and bars unions from striking after signing agreements with the state.

Ritter said the partnerships are meant to engage employees and generate better ideas on how to run government.

But Republicans and business leaders said the order will open the door to budget-breaking collective bargaining. Gardner noted also that the executive order does nothing to preclude strikes before an agreement with a union is in place or after an agreement expires.

Senate Minority Leader Andy McElhany, R-Colorado Springs, and House Minority Leader Mike May, R-Parker, requested that Ritter postpone enactment of his order by four months while he studies its effects further and opens talks on the subject to legislators and community leaders.

Ritter spokesman Evan Dreyer said the Democratic governor dismissed the idea immediately.

“We are moving forward with implementation and looking forward to getting this going,” Dreyer said.

Gardner said Republicans are taking a strong stand on the issue because it invites an outside group into the labormanagement relationship that has always been handled within the state government.

“If you think you have labormanagement issues, you don’t invite the unions in. You meet with your employees on those issues,” said Gardner, an attorney who has worked on labormanagement issues. “The governor’s invited a third party in to do this. That third party has its own interests, and those interests are a collection of union dues and a political agenda.”