Right to Work

Denver Post columnist Al Lewis, looking at a right-to-work initiative on the November ballot in Colorado, asks where the victims are of union abuses. It's an interesting question, given the low rates of unionization in the private sector in his state and nationwide. But let me be the first to predict that Lewis will be deluged from complaints from public sector workers -- particularly teachers -- angry about being forced to give part of their paycheck to powerful organizations who practice politics they don't agree with.

It appears that labor is trying to shorten the playing field in the massive, multi-initiative union vs. business Colorado ballot contest.

The United Food and Commercial Workers -- the union best known for representing grocery store workers -- announced it has pulled two of four ballot initiatives it was circulating for signatures. The UFCW says this is a gesture of "negotiation," a peace offering in hopes that business interests won't back a "right-to-work" initiative sponsored by conservatives. We'll see. Signature gatherers in Colorado tell me that the initiatives being dropped did not appear to have gotten many signatures.

Those two measures would have increased commercial property taxes and required annual cost-of-living increases for workers in firms with 10 or more employees. The union continues to support two health-related measures, including an intiative requiring that firms with 20 or more employees provide health coverage. Similar legislation passed California in 2003 but was narrowly overturned by voter referendum in 2004.

The union opponents of the November ballot initiative to make Colorado a "right to work' state went to court today to try to throw the initiative. The court case alleges "massive" signature fraud, with so many duplicates and false signatures that the measure could not have properly qualified for the ballot. Such suits are common and usually get thrown out. But the political climate in Colorado is so hostile to direct democracy and signature gathering now that if I were a backer of the "right to work" measure, I'd be worried.

National unions have put more than $1 million into Colorado, mostly to fight the right-to-work initiative that recently qualified for the ballot. SEIU, the nation's largest union, has donated more than $600, and things are just getting started. This Denver Post story predicts that the right-to-work initiative will cost more than $25 million, and the ballot will have more than a half-dozen measures. Look for Colorado, not Ohio, to be the biggest swing state this fall, as presidential contenders battle over it, and the forces of business and labor from across the country attempt to bloody each other with initiatives here.

The "right-to-work" ballot initiative in Colorado has qualified for the ballot.

Followers of politics in California and Colorado should take a look at this piece in the Denver Post how Molson Coors, the brewing company, is keeping its distance from the right-to-work ballot initiative being championed by Jonathan Coors, nephew of Pete Coors and known to many California politcos as a well-liked aide and the tallest advance man to Gov. Schwarzenegger. The family dynamics are explored, and there's this money quote from Dan Baum, author of a book on the Coors dynasty, about how a Coors championing right-to-work is bad news for Coors: "I'm surprised they're not locking Jonathan in the trunk of a car and leaving him at long-term parking out at (Denver International Airport)." Isn't that precisely what former Schwarzenegger advisor Fred Beteta, who was Jonathan's boss in advance, used to do to the young man after a poor event?

I missed this last week because of extensive travel, but proponents of a "right to work" initiative in Colorado filed signatures despite Gov. Bill Ritter's pleas to head them off. That will deepen a ballot fight between labor and business in Colorado, and will certainly make that state the center of blockbuster democracy -- and perhaps the country's hottest political battleground --  this fall. Inevitably, McCain and the Democratic presidential are going to be drawn into this fight because they will be campaigning extensively in the state..

I'll be out of pocket the rest of Thursday--in transit...

Ralph Nader's challenge to an Arizona law prohibiting non-residents from collecting signatures on presidential petitions has been scheduled for an April 15 hearing before the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

RENEWABLE INITIATIVES: From a small paper in Missouri, a pretty good overview of renewable energy standards in different states, with some attention to those states that have imposed these by ballot initiative.

STILL NOTHING FROM  COLORADO MEETING: Rocky Mountain News says the governor's attempt to head off labor-business initiative war didn't go well. And here's more evidence that the ill will is building.

SAN DIEGO PORT: Opposition mounts to a San Diego ballot measure that could lead to commercial development inside that city's struggling port.

CONNERLY SURRENDER: Connerly gives up in Oklahoma. It was one of five states where he had sponsored measures opposing affirmative action. They didn't collect enough signatures, they tell the Tulsa World. This is a major logistical screw-up by Connerly and his backers; signatures had been turned in in December. The backers had more time to gather signatures, but appear to have done a poor job in collecting valid signatures and in calculating how many they needed.

WILL THE SUNSHINE IN? Margot Roosevelt of the LA Times takes a thorough look at an alternative energy ballot initiative in California, sponsored by the University of Phoenix founder. The solar energy industry is skeptical.

COORS SIGHTING: The Rocky Mountain News reports on Monday's meeting between backers of a "right-to-work" initiative in California and Gov. Bill Ritter. No news from the meetings--lips were tight afterward, and no agreements have been reached. Ritter clearly would like labor and business groups to slow down their move towards a multi-initiative war. The News piece focuses on former Schwarzenegger aide, Jonathan Coors. And yes, he is one of those Coors.

There are signs that Colorado is headed towards the kind of Labor vs. Business Ballot Initiative Super Bowl that Californians experienced during the special election of 2005. It seems that every few weeks, one side or the other ups the ante by filing new initiatives aimed at the prerogatives of the other. Colorado's governor has called a meeting for Monday in an effort to head off warfare, but don't bet it on him succeeding. Ballot initiatives, once filed, take on lives of their own. A whole industry of people who profit from the measures -- and interest groups who like the measures -- soon seize on viable initiatives. In many cases, the initiative's original sponsors can change their mind and sue for peace -- but it doesn't matter. Here's a round-up of headlines from over the past couple days.

RIGHT TO WORK SUMMIT: The Rocky Mountain News has this report on Monday's scheduled meeting between the governor and advocates for a ballot initiative that would make Colorado a "right-to-work state." California cognoscenti will recognize the name of Jonathan Coors, a former aide to Gov. Schwarzenegger.