Colorado Union Bill Goes to Polis as Ballot Proposals Rev Up (1)

Colorado is flirting with an overhaul of its unique labor union policy via legislation headed to an unsupportive Gov. Jared Polis (D), and opposing sides are trying to use a pair of competing ballot measure proposals as leverage.

The Democratic-backed legislation, SB 5, would erase the state’s one-of-a-kind requirement for a second-step election before collective bargaining agreements can include mandatory union membership for all employees.

Polis has described the existing Labor Peace Act as a compromise policy that has worked for decades and expressed reluctance to change it without buy-in from both business and labor groups.

“The Governor is disappointed in this outcome but appreciates the robust conversation between sponsors, business, and labor on this bill, and he hopes both sides find a way forward in the future that reflects our shared goals of prosperity, fairness, and opportunities for workers,” spokesperson Eric Maruyama said via email Tuesday. “The Governor’s Office tried to help bridge the gap on this issue, but unfortunately, an agreement was not reached.”

The legislators and union advocates arguing for enacting SB 5 say the existing policy is a union-busting law that gives businesses an unfair advantage over labor. The bill won final passage in the legislature Tuesday with a House vote of 43-22 and is heading for the governor’s desk.

States’ limited authority over private-sector union relations takes on heightened importance as the Trump administration seeks to reverse many of the pro-union policies advanced under President Joe Biden. Lawmakers in several Democratic-majority legislatures passed bans on captive audience meetings over the past three years, while a handful of GOP-led statehouses passed bills to require secret-ballot union elections rather than voluntary recognition.

Colorado isn’t one of the 26 “right to work” states that ban mandatory union membership or all-employee agreements, but its union density rate is closer to those states than to the other 23 states that allow all-employee pacts. Unions represented 8% of Colorado’s workforce in 2024.

“Whether we’re called a right to work state or a modified right to work state, it’s semantics. Look at the data,” said Dennis Dougherty, executive director of the Colorado AFL-CIO.

The uncertainty about whether Polis will sign, veto, or let SB 5 become law without his signature spurred opposing sides of the debate to put additional proposals on the table. One would create “just cause” termination protections for private-sector employees statewide, and the other would make Colorado a “right to work” state. Both are prospective ballot measures that would go to voters in November 2026 if their backers collect enough petition signatures and clear other procedural hurdles.

Bargaining Chips

Prior to SB 5’s passage, each group had indicated the ballot proposals could serve as bargaining chips, as they might be willing to withdraw those proposals if they get their way on SB 5 and the other side drops its ballot measure.

“Right now, a lot of things are up in the air,” said Jon Caldara, president of the Independence Institute, a libertarian think tank backing the “right to work” ballot proposal. It’s possible the group could withdraw its ballot measure, but it also could move forward as a defense against a future governor undoing the Labor Peace Act, he added.

Despite Colorado being a blue state, Caldara said he’s optimistic voters would approve a “right to work” measure if the business community put adequate support behind it—unlike a previous ballot measure attempt that failed in 2008.

“It’s a blue state, but it’s not a blue-collar state,” he said. “The idea of forcing people to pay private organizations for politics they don’t support, that’s an idea that’s not at all popular here.”

State Sen. Jessie Danielson (D), a lead sponsor of SB 5, said the upheaval caused by the Trump administration’s mass layoffs of federal workers and efforts to end their union protections is raising public awareness and support for worker protections.

“The momentum is solidly with the workers in this time. I am confident the voters will again reject that anti-worker proposal,” she said.

Enacting just-cause protections would make Colorado one of only two US states, joining Montana, without at-will employment laws that permit employers to terminate employees for any reason or no reason, except for specific protections such as anti-discrimination and anti-retaliation laws.

Just cause is a common protection in union contracts, requiring that employers have a legitimate reason for terminating employees and often mandating a progressive discipline process to give employees a chance to correct job performance problems.

New York City became one of few US jurisdictions to enact just-cause protections in 2021, when it passed a law specifically covering fast-food workers.