DENVER—Gov. Bill Ritter’s office has released more than 1,200 pages of documents about conversations between labor leaders and administration officials, prompting GOP leaders to claim a move is afoot to unionize more state workers.
Documents released Tuesday include e-mails, letters, academic studies, union recommendations for board appointments and a draft bill to create partnerships that “promote quality state services, increase accountability and attract and retain (a) skilled, motivated work force.”
“If this is their plan to unionize the state government, they should let us all in on it and not conduct secret meetings to plot against the taxpayers of Colorado,” said House Minority Leader Mike May, R-Parker.
Ritter spokesman Evan Dreyer called May’s characterization “just plain wrong.”
“There is nothing secretive or sinister about the governor’s very open and very public pronouncements to strengthen partnerships with snowplow drivers, prison guards and the other men and women who make up the state work force,” he said
Included in the documents is an e-mail from union lobbyist Scott Wasserman asking Christine Murphy, a policy analyst for Ritter, to not distribute an e-mail beyond a certain circle because of its political nature.
“… We believe that the state employee agenda for next session will be a heavy lift, and therefore has the potential to be extremely polarizing if not messaged correctly,” Wasserman wrote on June 26.
Brad Jones, managing editor of Facethestate.com, a Republican-leaning online news site, requested the documents and said the e-mail is proof of a secret effort to force state workers into unions for collective bargaining.
“If this is such a great idea and collective bargaining is going to be so good for the state,” Jones said, “I’m very curious why this has been a very secretive effort so far.”
