When the governor of Colorado is publicly confronted by a Teamster boss, we’ve got ourselves a worthwhile story.
My only regret is that it’s not 1964, when a stern warning from a guy named Jim Hoffa carried some serious weight.
Too bad Anthony “Tony Pro” Provenzano isn’t around to pay Bill Ritter a visit and “explain” the situation – if you know what I mean.
What can I say? I’m a romantic.
Instead, it seems that the only thing International Brotherhood of Teamsters boss Jim Hoffa’s confrontation with Gov. Bill Ritter – in front of notables and members of the press at the Gridiron Club Dinner in Washington – accomplished was offer us a glimpse of the outdated tactics of a bully.
Hoffa scolded Ritter and warned him that the situation surrounding the 2008 Democratic National Convention could “blow up” if Colorado didn’t start coming around to his labor-friendly positions.
Blow up?
Hoffa, who is peeved at Ritter for vetoing a pro-union bill and at Denver for hosting the DNC in a nonunionized building, says he agrees with AFL-CIO president John Sweeney, who’d like to see the Democrats move the convention out of town.
Good luck with that.
The governor handled the harassment with class – laughing off the union boss.
Ritter might also have laughed off the phrase “labor friendly.”
When Hoffa and other union bosses use the term, it means increasing their membership and influence.
If we take the term “labor friendly” to include factors that are meaningful to the average working citizen, Colorado is already one of the most labor-friendly spots in the country.
Colorado, for instance, ended last year with the lowest monthly unemployment rate in nearly five and a half years.
The jobless rate fell to 3.8 percent in February, its lowest level in nearly six years.
Colorado’s low rate of unemployment can be attributed to construction, education and health care jobs. Actually, there was growth in all but three of the 11 industry sectors.
Jobs, yes. But wages have gone up as well.
Despite a slowing national economy and suspect housing market – and constant grumbling about illegal immigrants depressing wages – per capita personal income in the state last year rose by 4.5 percent, making the state No. 8 (a slip from No. 7) in the nation.
As reported in The Post this week, compensation in Colorado is up 21.8 percent the past five years, according to income statistics released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
And according to the Business Leaders Confidence Index, a group that forecasts economic conditions, for the seventh consecutive quarter, business leaders indicated that they have more confidence in the performance of the Colorado economy than the national one.
In Colorado, the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights keeps government spending accountable, and our relatively low taxes make this state an attractive place to do business.
Do I need to mention the weather around here?
So perhaps Hoffa should shift his concern away from Ritter and focus on his home state of Michigan, where union inflexibility has been one of contributing factors to the major troubles of the American auto industry.
In fact, Michigan experienced the slowest growth of any state in the country and was one of only 11 with declining personal income growth in 2006.
And it’s freezing in the winter.
Is that what Hoffa means by labor-friendly?
No, Colorado’s economy won’t always be humming. And not everyone has benefitted – yet. We have plenty of problems still to deal with around here.
But as of right now, Colorado is as labor-friendly as it gets.
So why on Earth would Ritter heed the ridiculous threats of Jim Hoffa?
David Harsanyi’s column appears Monday and Thursday. He can be reached at 303-954-1255 or dharsanyi@denverpost.com.
