October 23, 2009 09:17 AM UTC

Colorado Democratic Party Labor Initiative

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• by: Ray Springfield

I’ve recently joined the Colorado Democratic Party Labor Initiative. It’s the place where the action is when it comes to Colorado Labor. Mike Cerbo  (executive director of Colorado AFL-CIO) frequents the meetings.  It meets on the third Wednesday of every month at 6pm. I get off work at 6pm on Wednesdays so I arrive late. Tonight’s meeting was well attended as noted by the presence of State Representative Sara Gagliardi and State Senator Morgan Carroll. I took a seat between Tim Allport, the Chair of the Initiative, and an executive of the Denver Area Labor Federation.

I sat down to find State Senator Morgan Carroll describing her recent hearings involving Pinnacol: a hybrid semi-private company that overseas this state’s workmen’s compensation claims and insurance. It was clear in her eloquent discourse that getting people to testify about practices at Pinnacol met resistance. As is so true in labor organizing, the fear of retaliation kept Doctors from going on the record about questionable practices. I assume that the Doctors fear  being cutoff from being able to do business with Pinnacol. Injured workers were also reluctant to testify for fear of reprisal from their employers. While whistle blowing protections may exist in the law, in practice management has ways of making people fear for their jobs, or of riding people to the point where many choose to quit. Nevertheless, recordings of numerous testimonies exist which involve truly tragic situations. One member suggested that these recording be publicized through You Tube. It’s a good suggestion. Publicizing human suffering to the public about our nation’s current health care system demands attention. It reinforces my belief that we need health care reform now.

After Sen. Carroll spoke, University of Colorado at Denver Professor Jim Walsh spoke about Labor history and the Romero Troupe’s “Which Side Are You On?” Prof. Walsh teaches with drama. His students create art, and in this case a play that I had the pleasure of seeing at the Oriental Theatre about 2 years ago. It tells the story of the Labor Movement in America. It’s very difficult to find curricula on labor from Labor’s perspective in the schools. Prof. Walsh also informed the audience that the Colorado National Guard has been called out 12 times in the history of Colorado to quell labor members from striking. There has been more than just the Ludlow Massacre. His play discusses the  National Labor Relations Act of 1935, or the Wagner Act,  which created the National Labor Relations Board and provided for collective bargaining, and the Taft-Hartley bill of 1947, which stripped Labor of many of the tools which would help its cause. Examples of this include restrictions on boycotts and restrictions on general strikes. It forbade closed shops. It stopped unions from donating to election campaigns.  Although many  tried to repeal the act, it stayed in effect until 1959 when the Landrum-Griffin Act amended some of its  worst aspects. A large portion of it’s statutes still stand.

The most damaging legacy of this legislation for Labor has been the establishment of Right to Work Laws, which basically disallows non unionized labor any defense against firing without merit. Prof. Walsh’s production educates. Mother Jones, and Martin Luther King Jr. come up in the play. Many people don’t realize that Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated while in Memphis supporting the garbage collectors union.

Tim Allport then opened the floor for questions. I asked Sen. Carroll what she thought of the prospects of new legislation backed by labor being brought forth in the new state legislative session.  I believe that if  bills such as the Labor Peace ACT were introduced in the middle of the session, that the prospect for the Governor to sign it were good. This resulted in some surprise, but I insisted that the Governor needs labor to win re election. The vast majority in the room concluded that they would back the Governor’s bid for another term. A few individuals honestly stated that many in the ranks of labor will not support the Governor. Nevertheless, Sen. Carroll recommended that Ed Knox (President of the Electrical Workers’ Union local 68) and other notable institutions such as the Denver Area Labor Federation, should work on bills to present that they felt were most important.

I personally believe that Labor cannot risk the election of a Republican Governor.  Rep. Sara Gagliardi agreed.  She added that the she will host a fundraiser next month with Governor Ritter in attendance. Nor can we sit idly by and hope that Gov. Ritter signs bills in a 2nd term that may or may not come to pass. Hopefully I lit a fire that will grow into the Democratic Party base consolidating and reaching accords which heal any rifts. We must unite and find a way to win this election next year without sacrificing our desire for equitable labor law.

We all stand together with our brothers and sisters of local 7 UFCW.

The Colorado Democratic Party Labor Initiative meets on the third Wednesday of every month at 6pm at the following location.

Sheet Metal Workers Local 9

7510 Lakewood, CO W Mississippi, 1st Floor

Lakewood, Colorado