Post again repeated misinformation pertaining to "right-to-work" measure

Summary: A Denver Post article misrepresented Colorado's "right-to-work" ballot measure Amendment 47 and current labor law to suggest that "union membership or the payment of dues" can be "mandated as a condition of employment." The article failed to point out that the National Labor Relations Act states that a collective bargaining agreement cannot compel all workers covered under the agreement to maintain full membership in the union.

In a September 1 article, The Denver Post again distorted the state's so-called "right-to-work" ballot measure, Amendment 47, by stating that "the union-backed Protect Colorado's Future" is fighting "to keep Colorado from becoming the nation's 23rd right-to-work state, where union membership or the payment of dues cannot be mandated as a condition of employment." However, as Colorado Media Matters has noted repeatedly, the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) already prohibits compulsory full union membership. The law permits union security clauses requiring membership dues or "agency" fees, but bans "closed shop" contract provisions under which an employer would compel full union membership as a condition of continued employment.

The Post article by Andy Vuong reported, "As the country kicks back on this three-day Labor Day weekend, organized labor is fully engaged in its most pivotal election in years, both nationally and in Colorado." The article continued:

Unions are focused on reversing a decades-long trend of membership decline, and they've pinned their hopes on the Democratic Party and presidential nominee Barack Obama.

Labor's abundant manpower and hefty war chest are also squarely aimed at Colorado, where a contentious, union-restricting measure will be on the November ballot. Members of the powerful United Food and Commercial Workers union canvassed the Taste of Colorado festival in Denver over the weekend as part of its fight against the right-to-work measure.

[...]

Jess Knox, head of the union-backed Protect Colorado's Future, said his group will spend at least $20 million and as much as $35 million in Colorado on the November election.

The group's priority will be to keep Colorado from becoming the nation's 23rd right-to-work state, where union membership or the payment of dues cannot be mandated as a condition of employment. Business interests, led by brewery heir Jonathan Coors, are behind the right-to-work measure, which will appear on the ballot as Amendment 47.

Money poured in at a fundraiser last week held by Protect Colorado's Future, which is not only fighting Amendment 47 but also pushing a pair of pro-labor ballot initiatives.

Contrary to the Post's repeated suggestion that union membership can be "mandated as a condition of employment," the NLRA states that a collective bargaining agreement cannot compel all workers covered under the agreement to maintain full membership in the union. At most, an agreement can compel workers to maintain "financial core" status, which requires payment of certain dues and fees.

As Colorado Media Matters has documented, in reporting on Amendment 47, Post articles by Vuong published May 8, May 23, and May 29 misrepresented current law to suggest that union membership in Colorado can be "compulsory." Following Colorado Media Matters items noting that the NLRA already bans "closed shop" contract provisions, the Post, in a May 30 article also by Vuong, accurately reported that the ballot measure "would ask voters to amend the state constitution to say that union membership and the payment of dues or fees are not mandatory."

Currently under the Colorado Labor Peace Act, workers preparing to negotiate a contract must hold a separate election of all potentially affected workers to authorize a "union shop" provision.

—C.H.