Rocky quoted Independence Institute analyst touting "right-to-work," but omitted his, think tank's anti-labor efforts

Summary: The Rocky Mountain News reported on "Colorado's battle over a 'right-to-work' initiative" and quoted Independence Institute "analyst" Benjamin DeGrow, whom it included among
" 'right-to-work' supporters." But the article failed to mention that DeGrow and the "free-market" think tank have spread misinformation in opposing a variety of Colorado organized labor issues.

In an April 17 article about "Colorado's battle over a 'right-to-work' initiative," the Rocky Mountain News identified Benjamin DeGrow as "an analyst at the Independence Institute," but did not disclose that he and the "free-market" think tank have been outspoken activists against organized labor and often have used misinformation to advance their agenda.

DeGrow, whom the News included among " 'right-to-work' supporters," stated that the Colorado Labor Peace Act "doesn't offer complete protection" to workers who would prefer not to pay fees to a union that would represent them under a collective bargaining agreement.

From the April 17 Rocky Mountain News article " 'Right-to-work' impact in question":

As Colorado's battle over a "right-to-work" initiative escalates, state labor data analyzed by the Rocky Mountain News suggest that the number of people directly affected by the controversy has dwindled in recent years.

The frequency of elections to form all-union workplaces -- a practice that would be outlawed under a November ballot initiative -- has decreased sharply from labor's heyday to just a handful in each of the past five years, according to three decades' worth of statistics obtained from the state's labor division.

[...]

"Our hybrid system has worked for a long time," said John Brackney, president of the South Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce.

The two-step process was imposed by Colorado's 1943 Labor Peace Act. After workers vote to form a union, another election requires that at least 75 percent of the votes cast be in favor of an all-union workplace.

In five of the six winning elections last year, 100 percent of the workers who voted cast their ballots in favor of requiring all eligible workers to pay dues or fees for union representation.

In one instance last year, an 88.9 percent vote carried the day at the Colorado Ballet Co. In that case, employees represented by the American Guild of Musical Artists cast votes 24-3 in favor of an all-union workplace.

That troubles "right-to-work" supporters who maintain that each worker should have a choice of whether to financially support a union.

"The Labor Peace Act is unique and offers some protection, but it doesn't offer complete protection," said Benjamin DeGrow, an analyst at the Independence Institute. "Anything that best protects the individual worker's right to decide what they want is the right sort of policy."

As Colorado Media Matters noted, during an April 14 interview on the 1310 KFKA show of his Independence Institute colleague Amy Oliver to promote his report criticizing Gov. Bill Ritter's (D) executive order authorizing state employee partnerships, DeGrow misrepresented issues connected with the order. Colorado Media Matters also has pointed out numerous other instances in which Independence Institute President Jon Caldara and his staffers have used their public platforms in the Colorado media to spread misinformation in opposing a variety of organized labor issues -- for example, by distorting facts related to Ritter's executive order and by attacking the purported negative ramifications of House Bill 1072, a measure Ritter vetoed on February 9, 2007, that would have amended the Colorado Labor Peace Act.

Further, while appearing as a guest on the February 20 Internet broadcast of RIGHTALK.com's Leave Us Alone, DeGrow mischaracterized Ritter's arguments and actions related to the employee partnership order and stated that because of the order, a variety of unions had "been attracted to the state like opening up a can of dog food and getting your dog to come in."

The Independence Institute also created and sponsored the "Ask First" campaign. Caldara has stated publicly that the effort, which seeks to limit the ability of government entities to make payroll deductions for public employees' contributions to private organizations, specifically targets collection of union dues. Moreover, Caldara and state Sen. Nancy Spence (R-Centennial) have filed a statewide ballot initiative to block the state government from making such payroll deductions.

—E.B.