Union rights bill for county workers is coming; El Paso County commissioners strongly oppose it
DENVER, Colo. (KRDO) -- A draft of a proposed bill in the Colorado House of Representatives, obtained by KRDO, would grant collective bargaining rights to county employees. According to the draft of the bill, which has not been introduced yet, it would allow the public employees of a county the right to form unions, engage in collective bargaining and participate in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection.
According to Democrat Rep. Daneya Esgar, who is listed as a sponsor of the bill, it is still being discussed when the bill will debut. The legislative session ends on May 11.
Many workers in Colorado’s public sector do not have the right to formally unionize, or negotiate contracts. Right now, the only non-city-county government workers that are unionized are in Adams and Pueblo County.
Despite the bill not even reaching the House floor yet, the El Paso County Board of Commissioners is announcing they are firmly against workers in the county unionizing. County Commissioner Stan VanderWerf says if the bill passed, it would force the county to create new administrative positions, that he believes would be too costly.
"Keep your hands off of our local dollars. We need that money to provide services here in El Paso County," he said.
Rep. Esgar says the bill does not infringe on the county's duties, or on how to direct its budgets.
VanderWerf's issue with the bill is mandating that county employees are able to bargain. He doesn't believe it's necessary in El Paso County. The bill however does not force counties to have unions, that is still up to the workers in each county.
"I've been a county commissioner for five years. I've never had a single employee come to me and express concern about their overall total package of reimbursement and benefits from El Paso County. We do a lot for our employees. We take care of them, they love working here."
VanderWerf notes all five commissioners are on the same page about this bill. He adds that he believes it's extreme, and the county can't afford what it estimates would be $25 million in additional costs.
"If you look at any scientific study about collective bargaining across the country, you will see that on average that costs at least an extra 12% or more in your labor costs."
Rep. Esgar points out that the $25 million figure suggested, is not necessarily verified, and would assume workers in El Paso County even wanted to form a union. The bill though does not provide any funding to county governments.
Josette Jaramillo, the president of The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations in Colorado, is also a Pueblo County Human Services worker. She thinks this bill creates a great opportunity for people like her to have a voice.
"I'm not a lawyer, I'm not a policy expert, I'm just a worker who wants better for other county workers. I think it's really cool," Jaramillo told KRDO.
"People can voluntarily go do collective bargaining in counties in Colorado. So it's not like it's not possible today, but when you mandate it, when you make it a mandate for everybody, you're really causing all kinds of problems, because there's communities that can't afford that," VanderWerf added.
VanderWerf isn't sure where the county would make cuts if needed. But he's confident there would be money taken from some programs and services. He estimates that if El Paso County eliminated its entire parks budget, it still wouldn't be enough.
"It just simply is a bill to pursue a requirement that doesn't exist, that will cost an enormous amount of money and take services away from local residents. And that's just the wrong thing to do," VanderWerf said.
