Strike ban bill advances

DENVER - Republican legislators demeaned a Democratsponsored ban on state employee strikes as a “bait and switch” and “joke” Tuesday — and then helped to pass the measure.

House members approved House Bill 1189 by a significant margin on its second reading, sending it to a third and final vote today and then on to the Senate. Gov. Bill Ritter has said he will sign the proposal if it hits his desk.

The measure by Rep. Jim Riesberg, D-Greeley, bans workers in the state personnel system from striking and can lead to fines and misdemeanor charges against any who violate the law. Riesberg has billed it as a clarification of a Nov. 2 executive order in which Ritter awarded employee unions more bargaining power but banned them from striking — a clause Attorney General John Suthers said would not hold up in court.

Rep. Bob Gardner, R-Colorado Springs, introduced a more stringent strike ban that set up $500 daily penalties against workers, decertified unions involved in strikes, prohibited public employment for strikers for one year and included all public workers, including teachers.

But his bill died along a party-line vote in the same committee that recommended Riesberg’s bill.

So, when HB1189 came to the floor Tuesday, Gardner led an assault on it, trying to add on his more stringent penalties, broader scope and worktermination clauses. Each amendment was shot down along largely party-line votes, as Riesberg argued the fines and jail time in his proposal “are adequate.”

Rep. Victor Mitchell, a Republican who represents Teller County, said the bill that remained “is a joke.” Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, urged Republicans to reject it.

But a majority of Republicans, including Bob Gardner, ended up backing the measure.

Because a handful of strongly pro-labor Democrats voted against it to “protect the state workers' right to strike,” — as House Majority Caucus Chairwoman Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora said — the bill likely would have died without some GOP backing.

“I think the sense in our caucus is that we’re not happy with this, but it’s slightly better than nothing,” Bob Gardner said.

State workers have had the right to strike since Colorado passed its Industrial Relations Act in 1915 but largely have had only loosely organized unions before Ritter, a Democrat, signed his executive order. The order sets up a framework whereby elected union representatives can bargain with department heads over issues such as work safety and pay, but it stops short of allowing traditional collective-bargaining tactics, including binding arbitration.

Teachers unions in various parts of the state have gone on strike 14 or 15 times during the past 40 years and several department heads told Gardner they have no strike contingency plan, fueling his argument that harsh penalties are needed to avert potential work stoppages.

Though the battle has ended in the House, it’s expected to be renewed in the Senate. A GOP senator has introduced a bill to overturn Ritter’s order, and Senate Minority Caucus Chairman Mike Kopp, R-Littleton, said Tuesday that Republicans are likely to propose amendments to HB1189 similar to Bob Gardner’s.

CONTACT THE WRITER: (303) 837-0613 or ed.sealover@gazette.com