OPINION: Ritter's brave veto
Congratulations to Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter for taking a bold and courageous stand against unions and legislators in his own party.
Tuesday, Ritter vetoed House Bill 1170, which would have provided unemployment benefits to workers locked out during labor disputes. He vetoed it because union workers for Safeway, King Soopers and Albertsons have been threatening to strike as union leaders are in negotiations with the stores during tenuous economic times. He rightly believed the proposed law would disrupt fair negotiations.
Collective bargaining is a legitimate means for workers to resolve disputes and obtain better compensation and working conditions. Strikes and lockouts can result in fair resolutions, as each side of a dispute is forced to discover its own threshold for pain.
Employers are forced to understand the costs of doing business without seasoned employees, and workers are forced to understand the prospect of life without work and pay.
The pressures that resolve labor disputes become distorted the moment locked out workers collect unemployment benefits from the state. Their resolve, and their ability to stand their ground, becomes artificially enhanced by the subsidization of their unemployment.
Ritter was wise to veto the bill. It was not a decision in favor of big corporations, at the expense of workers and their families. It was a decision to protect the genuine characteristics of labor disputes, which have mostly served commerce and labor well for more than 100 years.
