The Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce board of directors voted today to oppose the right-to-work ballot initiative, which would ask voters to amend the state constitution to say that union membership and the payment of dues could not be mandated.
“Our research indicates that, over the long run, states with ‘right to work’ statutes do not perform significantly better in wages, economic development or business growth than Colorado,” chamber president Joe Blake wrote in a message to members today.
Blake noted that the Colorado Labor Peace Act — which requires two separate votes by employees to create all-union workplaces — has allowed labor and management to co-exist.
The Denver chamber’s position goes against the stance of the state chamber, known as the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry, which has voted to support the right-to-work measure, or Amendment 47.
Kelley Harp, a spokesman for the Amendment 47 campaign, blasted the Denver chamber’s position, noting that Blake states in his message that the chamber supports right to work in principle.
“It’s unfortunate that the Denver chamber bought into the unions’ threats and dissuasion campaigns and decided to put political expedience in front of principle,” Harp said. “That’s not leadership, it’s capitulation.”
Specifically, Blake wrote in his message: “Certainly, support of ‘right to work’ is a basic business principle. Allowing unions the ability to organize, but not requiring workers to participate or pay dues, makes sense in our world.”
The Denver chamber’s vote was not unanimous, according to spokeswoman Tamra Ward. The chamber decided previously to oppose all union-backed initiatives, which include proposals that would hold executives criminal liable for corporate wrongdoings and require businesses to give reasons for firing workers.
The labor proposals were spurred by the right-to-work measure, which has been certified for the November ballot. Union interests have until Aug. 4 to submit the required 76,000 signatures for each of their proposals.
Andy Vuong: 303-954-1209 or avuong@denverpost.com
