In less than a year, Colorado’s 32,000 state employees have been unionized in what was considered to be the largest labor organizing campaign in the nation.
Labor union Colorado WINS added 22,500 state workers to its ranks in June, after five state employee groups participated in a mail-in election and voted for union representation.
The remaining workers voted to unionize by mail-in ballot in August during the media frenzy building up to the Democratic National Convention, choosing again to be represented by Colorado WINS.
In November, Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter issued an executive order recognizing state workers’ efforts to form employee organizations that negotiate workplace issues and collectively bargain, although partnerships don’t have the right to strike or participate in binding arbitration.
Although Colorado WINS conducted a massive effort to organize the state workers shortly after the executive order was announced, state employees were also organizers in the union campaign.
Colorado WINS is composed of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME); the Colorado Association of Public Employees/Service Employees International Union (CAPE/SEIU), and the American Federation of Teachers.
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