The House Business Affairs & Labor Committee advanced HB 26-1005, the Worker Protection Collective Bargaining bill, to the Finance Committee on an 8-5 vote after hours of contested testimony. The bill eliminates Colorado's unique second election requirement under the Labor Peace Act before workers can enter collective bargaining negotiations, a provision opponents called a critical worker protection and proponents called a rigged barrier found in no other state.
Patrick Scully, testifying for the Colorado Contractors Association, argued that provisions in the bill referring to the duty to bargain constitute a state attempting to regulate private labor law, which is unconstitutional under the Supremacy Clause, citing the Eastern District of New York enjoining New York State from enforcing a similar law in November of the past year. Matt Schechter of UFCW Local 7 countered that business interests are 'talking out of both sides of its mouth' by arguing preemption in state courts while simultaneously arguing the NLRB is unconstitutional in federal courts, and stated 'this law already is mostly preempted. Most of the Labor Peace act that exists today is preempted by federal law.'
“I want to start with how extreme the law's second election requirement is. If each one of you was put to the exact same standard that unions have to meet in the law, there would be a very empty dais. Only Representative Camacho and Representative Richardson would be up there.”
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Sign in to subscribeIt. Hello, everyone. Full house. Today we're going to begin business and labor, business affairs and labor. And today we're going to be hearing HB 26105, worker protection, collective bargaining. Ms. Jarora, please call the roll. Representatives Brooks. Present. Clifford. Excused. English. Here. Gonzalez. Here. Delti. Here. Mabry. Here. Marshall. Here. Maro. Here. Richardson. Here. Ryden. Here. Sukla. Excused. Camacho. Here. Madam Chair? Present. Okay, I do want to acknowledge that Rep. Clifford is here with us. He just joined us. Okay, who wants to go begin? First I see both bill sponsors. Representative Bacon, AML Bacon. Thank you all so much. Thank you to the committee and thank everyone here to hear this very important bill. I also want to thank my co prime for your steadfast commitment and always fighting for justice for our communities. I did ask to go first so I can run back downstairs to education and come back up members. If I have not had the chance to share with you my background in history, I wanted to open this bill by doing so. My first job out of college was to be a fifth grade teacher in New Orleans. And I really was…
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