House Speaker Andrew Romanoff on Thursday named the members of a new labor-business council he created after a labor-friendly bill ignited a bitter battle between unions and business.
Gov. Bill Ritter vetoed the bill that would have made changes to the Labor Peace Act.
“We need to bring business and labor together in an environment where they can discuss ways to strengthen Colorado’s economy, as well as the relationships between employers and employees,” Romanoff said.
He named the panel the Speakers Council on Renewing Economic Strength, or SCORES.
Joining co-chairmen Mitch Ackerman, president of the Colorado Council of the Service Employees International Union, and Tom Clark, executive vice president of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp., are two state representatives and nine business and labor representatives.
Romanoff wants to create an environment where business and labor can work on important issues before they explode into controversy, said Jim Gleason, executive secretary of the Mountain West Regional Council of Carpenters and a member of the council.
“I’m hopeful that given the urgency of the health-care crises not only for working families but for businesses that are struggling to pay health costs, that that is an issue we can come together on and make some progress,” Ackerman said.
Business and labor have worked closely together on a number of issues in the past, including the successful campaign for Referendum C, said Clark.
“I would expect there will be joint projects that we would work together on coming out of there,” he said.
Other members of the round table are: Kristi Lara, finance director of Northwest Railroad Builders; Donna Lynne, president of Kaiser Permanente in Colorado; Rick Malone, vice president of Lockheed Martin; Jana Carr Smith of the Communication Workers of America; Henry Solano, president of Building Trades of Colorado; Reps. Rosemary Marshall, D-Denver, and Amy Stephens, R-Monument; Ed Bagwell, state coordinator of the labor group Change to Win; Katie Gerken, joint board member of Unite Here, which represents hotel workers; Kent Peppler, a board member of the Farmers Union; and a yet-to-be named representative from Colorado Ski Country USA.
Staff writer Tom McGhee can be reached at 303-954-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com.
Staff writer Jeri Clausing can be reached at 303-954-1555.
