Posts tagged Colorado
NEW AFFT REPORT: Teachers Pour Millions Into Colorado’s Largest Union. CEA’s Spending Still Outruns Its Revenue
September 29, 2026 // CEA spent $17 million in fiscal year 2025, including $10.5 million — 61.4% of all spending — on salaries, benefits, pensions and payroll taxes for its own staff. For every dollar the union distributed in grants, it spent about $5.88 on its own workforce. And despite collecting roughly $13 million in membership dues, CEA’s expenses again exceeded its revenue when a one-time asset sale is excluded. CEA reported a $2.6 million surplus, but that included a $3.1 million gain from selling assets. Without that gain, CEA finished $535,034 in the red — the fourth consecutive year its expenses exceeded revenue on that basis. At the same time, accounts payable and accrued expenses nearly doubled in one year, from approximately $4.4 million to $8.8 million. CEA’s public filing does not specify what drove the increase.
Commentary: Are Unions Rising from the Political Grave?
September 21, 2026 // Here again, however, there may be less than meets the eye. Despite its surprising bipartisan support, the FLCA would raise significant constitutional questions if enacted. By relying on a government-mandated arbitration panel to resolve labor disputes, the law effectively empowers the state to impose contractual terms on private parties—a form of what constitutional lawyers call “state action.” As attorneys Alex MacDonald and Vinnie Vernuccio observe: “[S]tate action opens the door to a slew of constitutional requirements and restrictions, notably to protect rights of free speech and association.”
Third time’s the charm? Colorado Democrats will once again fight to change how workers unionize next session
September 11, 2026 // Democratic Colorado lawmakers are confident that their plan to change the way workers unionize in the state will be successful next year, hoping that a new governor leads to a different outcome for the legislation. Dubbed the Worker Protection Act by advocates, two iterations of the concept to eliminate the second vote needed to form a union in Colorado have passed out of the state Legislature and were then vetoed by Gov. Jared Polis in 2025 and 2026
Report: The Battle for Worker Freedom: Grading State Public Sector Labor Laws
September 10, 2026 // Union executives are prioritizing recruitment. The fastest-growing category of public sector labor legislation expands collective bargaining into new workplaces. On the strength of these new laws, union executives are slowly replacing their membership losses since 2018. From 2018 to 2025, the country’s four largest government unions report a net decline in membership of 87,919, or 1.3 percent. However, they also report a collective gain of 232,502 members, or 3.5 percent since 2024. This report awards full letter-grade increases to Idaho (now A) and Louisiana (now B) due to their adoption of pro-worker labor reforms this past legislative session. However, the drops in grades—Nebraska (D), Nevada (D), and Rhode Island (F)—are the result of these states prioritizing union executives over workers and enacting laws helping unions recruit, politick, organize, and strike. Thirteen states now have an “A” or “A+” grade—up from twelve in the previous edition of this report—while six states earned an “F”—up from five over the same time period. Overall, the research finds 25 states fall below a “C.”
Teacher who battled union fears she’s being targeted after shirt complaint: ‘I’m afraid’
August 24, 2026 // Stacy Adair says she was given a questionnaire and told not to wear clothing with controversial messaging
Bally’s Colorado Casino Workers Become State’s First to Unionize
August 14, 2026 // With more than 1.3 million members, the Teamsters are one of the oldest and largest organized labor groups in the U.S. Its gaming footprint is small relative to other industries, but it is growing as it now represents “nearly 6,000 members at casinos and casino hotels” across the country. Other gaming venues where staff are Teamsters include Wynn Resorts’ Encore Boston Harbor and the Hard Rock Casino Rockford in Illinois. Bally’s and the Teamster have established ties as well. In February, 66 bankers, front desk workers, and cashiers at Bally’s Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Biloxi, Miss. voted to join the Teamsters.
Denver Fire Fighters Local 858 Sues State Union to Affirm Disaffiliation, Stop $400K Dues Demand
August 11, 2026 // Denver Fire Fighters Local 858, the union representing more than 1,000 Denver firefighters and EMS personnel, has filed a lawsuit alleging the statewide firefighters’ union refuses to recognize its disaffiliation from the state union and is demanding roughly $400,000 for dues the local union says it doesn’t owe. Local 858 had been affiliated with the state union, Colorado Professional Fire Fighters (CPFF), since the local’s founding in 1946. But in recent years, some Denver firefighters began questioning whether the state union was providing enough value to justify sending it almost $250,000 a year in dues.
Cargill Lockout Continues: Teamsters Reject Settlement in Fort Morgan
August 4, 2026 // Union members voted Monday to reject the latest contract offer. Cargill’s Fort Morgan facility has not processed beef since April 23.
Three Denver music venues are unionizing
July 21, 2026 // Scott Happel, co-owner and partner of the Federal (3830 Federal Blvd.), the Oriental (4335 W. 44th Ave.) and HQ Denver (60 S. Broadway), along with Carnivale De Sensuale and Berkeley Bodega, is considerably less confident. A statement provided to Westword notes in part that “the vote did pass at all three venues. Beyond that, I don’t really know anything, as the union has yet to reach out to start collective bargaining.” However, he adds that “overall, the venues cannot agree to anything that would be financially harmful.”
While NAEP scores hit 20-year lows, teachers’ unions were debating ethical veganism
July 16, 2026 // Recognizing ethical veganism as a protected philosophical belief; glyphosate has no place on student food and beverages; opposing merging US military operations, intelligence, and/or defense technology with those of any foreign military; comprehensive immigration reform; banning the use of AI in the decision-making process for the use of nuclear weapons; investigating fires for evidence of microwave energy attacks through the use of “direct energy weapons”; prohibiting weather modification to be injected into the stratosphere; calling for the impeachment of Trump before the November election, at a campaign cost of $5.2 million; and ending the war in Iran. For an entity that cloaks itself in sanctimony for defending the rights of teachers, it seems very much that the welfare of average union members might not be the C-suite’s top priority.