Longtime Denver residents may have noticed something different in this year’s municipal elections: the remarkably aggressive participation of unions.
In the run-up to May 3, it sometimes felt as if a representative from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees had taken a personal interest in my mailbox, stuffing it regularly with union-funded literature on behalf of at-large council candidates Debbie Ortega and Rich Gonzales. But of course voters across the city were experiencing a similar stream of mailings.
Ortega won one of two at-large seats, while Gonzales finished third. But the second-place winner, Robin Kneich, is no less cozy with unions. She is program director and staff attorney for FRESC, a group founded by the Denver Area Labor Federation, an outfit that incumbent council member Chris Nevitt, who swept unopposed to a second term, used to direct.
“Unions are aggressively participating in every race that is competitive,” former councilwoman Cathy Donohue told me. “This is a whole new ball game. The unions used to dabble in city politics. Now they have their eye on the prize.”
And what prize might that be? “It is obvious to me . . . that the unions have chosen to make their big move to unionize the city workforce,” Donohue explained.
Donohue is no union-basher, conceding they “are still needed to challenge employers that do not treat their workers with respect or do not pay fair wages.” But she also believes that effective management of the workforce through Denver’s system of strong-mayor governance would be undermined with collective bargaining.
Half of Denver’s employees are in public safety unions. But the possibility of a charter amendment to extend bargaining rights to other workers has surfaced repeatedly in the campaign.
Both mayoral candidates seemingly oppose collective bargaining. A spokesman for Michael Hancock told The Denver Post in March, “Michael does not support the expansion of collective bargaining during our current economic circumstances.” Chris Romer offered a more clearcut “no” with this newspaper’s editorial board, but seems to have softened his stance. “Chris does not believe that now is the time to ask the voters to expand collective bargaining,” a spokeswoman told me last week.
Both answers suggest the only downside to a union is the potential effect on the budget — a rose-colored view at best.
Meanwhile, one of two runoff candidates for council in District 5, Mary Beth Susman, adopts a similar line. “I am not in favor of collective bargaining at the moment,” she told me. Her opponent, Steve Saunders, is less ambiguous: “I am opposed to collective bargaining for city employees. I think Career Service works just fine.”
In District 8, Albus Brooks supports unionizing workers, according to a Denver Post questionnaire; Wil Alston does not.
So far as collective bargaining goes, it doesn’t matter who’s elected from District 1, since both Ken Padilla and Susan Shepherd say they favor it. (An interesting sidenote: Padilla has sued the city 10 times since 1998, with two cases pending. He tells me, however, that if elected, he’d wrap up his legal practice and devote himself “entirely to city work.”)
“Denver is at a crossroads,” Donohue maintains. Depending on who wins next month, the council may have a majority that favors collective bargaining. Fortunately, voters get the final say. We’ve rejected the idea twice before, and we can do it again if we have to.
E-mail Vincent Carroll at vcarroll@denverpost.com. Read his blog at
