Labor unions have begun beefing up their presence at the Capitol this session to push an agenda that was largely ignored last year and to remind lawmakers that they will be a force in November’s elections.
In other words, they’ve come to collect.
“When working families put as much time and energy into getting their friends elected, they want to see there’s a payoff,” said Steve Adams, president of the Colorado AFL-CIO.
After playing defense for four decades, labor was able to push issues for the first time last year when Democrats retook control of the legislature. But that did not mean passing legislation was a “slam dunk,” Adams said.
In fact, several key labor bills were killed last session with the help of Democrats, who publicly fretted over being labeled “anti-business.”
For example, legislation to prohibit the state from hiring companies based in other countries and a bill to let injured workers choose their own doctors were supported by labor but were killed.
Last session, labor was “probably naive and surprised because we had worked so hard to get these people elected,” Adams said. “What we found was the more successful we were, the more work it was to get them educated and pointed in my direction.”
To that end, Adams said he expects that at least 10 regular union lobbyists will be prowling the halls pushing their cases with lawmakers.
And of course, there’s the possibility that, come November, Democrats could keep control of the state House and Senate and retake the governor’s mansion.
“There’s a chance of hitting the trifecta next year, so labor’s getting excited,” Adams said.
Union leaders said they haven’t seen their lobbying ranks swell, but they hope to be more visible and better organized.
Randy Atkinson, president of the Colorado Professional Fire Fighters union, said that with the Democrats in charge, there have been more pro-worker bills, which means there have been more appearances by union lobbyists. But, he said, that rule applies to everyone. More banking bills mean more banking lobbyists, for example.
“I don’t think that anybody thinks you’re going to have a big, pro-labor agenda that the governor’s not going to veto,” Atkinson said.
It also takes time to adjust to labor bills not being dead on arrival and from playing defense to offense, said officials with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 76.
“If there was a surprise, it would be that we got fairly good at really killing the onerous pieces of legislation, and what surprised us was how much harder it is to get a piece of legislation passed,” said Mark Schwane, the union’s executive director.
This session, labor wants best-value contracting to replace lowest-bid contracting and to prevent companies from holding mandatory meetings on politics, religion or union organizing, Adams said.
Legislation being dubbed by opponents as “anti-Wal-Mart” has both sides girding for a fight. Labor is behind the bill, which would require companies with 3,500 employees or more to put 11 percent of total wages toward health care.
That prospect has raised the hackles of Republican Rep. David Balmer of Centennial.
“If the labor unions feel like they can beat up Wal-Mart, who’s next?” he said.
The unions, House Republican Leader Joe Stengel said, are “sending a message to the Democrats that we got you here, you better vote our way or we’ll make you pay.”
Democratic Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald said labor leaders get the same courtesy and time that other constituent groups get.
“Frankly, I didn’t see anything that labor wanted that was so extraordinary or so demanding. They want protections for workers’ rights, health care,” she said, “and that’s part of our overall agenda as Democrats.”
Staff writer Chris Frates can be reached at 303-820-1633 or cfrates@denverpost.com.
