Posts tagged Jared Polis
Labor Unions Won Big on Election Day, With Ballot Initiatives and Friendly Politicians
November 9, 2026 // Perhaps most ominous are the developments at the federal level. Prior to the election, a bill called the Faster Labor Contracts Act (FLCA) started to pick up steam in Congress. The legislation is sponsored by pro-union Sen. Josh Hawley (R–Mo.) and has a handful of Republican supporters on Capitol Hill. The FLCA cleared the House of Representatives but so far has stalled out in the Senate due to lack of votes. But now, depending on how the remaining uncalled Senate races shake out, the FLCA may be within a stone's throw of President Donald Trump's desk. If Democrats secure 56 seats in the Senate, that puts theoretical support for the FLCA at 58 votes once Republican support is factored in (in addition to Hawley, Sen. Bernie Moreno (R–Ohio) is also a co-sponsor of the FLCA).
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
Don’t Panic: A Skeptic’s Guide to the AI Jobs Doomsday
July 16, 2026 // Overall, US unemployment was 5.9 percent in mid-1979 and 5.3 percent by mid-1989.[25] During this same period the working-age population swelled by 21.5 million, or about 13 percent.[26] So, while some manufacturing jobs were lost, overall unemployment actually declined slightly over that period despite an increase in job seekers. New jobs in new fields were created by automation. Somebody had to operate the machines, build and maintain them, and transport them to foreign countries. This is the nature of automation: It focuses on eliminating the more tedious tasks, freeing up time, labor, and resources for other pursuits.
Op-ed: Why teachers unions fear, and fib about, new federal program
July 7, 2026 // Perhaps the unions are right to be scared. Anything that introduces competition into the educational landscape threatens their monopoly. When you read between the lines of Weingartner and Pringle’s letter, you can almost hear the death rattle. But in the end, this isn’t about the unions. This is about kids who deserve a high-quality education regardless of their household income or zip code. And anybody who gets between them and their parents would be wise to choose their words more carefully.
Colorado governor vetoes union dues bill — again
May 31, 2026 // Gov. Jared Polis on May 29 again vetoed legislation that would have made it easier for labor organizations to impose dues on non-union members, a decision long expected after the legislature approved the measure without securing the buy-in of businesses. Polis rejected a similar proposal last year, and cited the same reason: that, if enacted, the bill would allow a simple majority of employees who choose to unionize to “also determine that dues could be mandatorily taken from all workers.”
Colorado Senate passes Labor Peace Act overhaul, sends bill to governor
May 7, 2026 // The Democratic governor has said since before this year’s introduction of House Bill 1005 that he’s very likely to veto the bill, as he did in 2025 over concerns that it doesn’t represent consensus between business and labor and could hurt Colorado’s economy. The fact that union and employer representatives haven’t sat down with him to negotiate a potential compromise — something they did last year — reinforces the notion that Polis has no inclination to take a different tact to what would be a major shift in state labor policy.
Key labor bill clears Colorado legislature, faces governor’s veto for second year in a row
May 6, 2026 // The bill would repeal an 80-year-old unionization rule unique to Colorado that mandates workers hold a second election before their union can operate, following a simple majority vote to unionize in the first place. In the second election, a three-quarters majority of a company’s workers must sign off in order to negotiate labor matters as a union. Under a union security agreement, every employee must contribute union fees regardless if they are a union member.
‘This is us continuing that work’: Colorado lawmakers reintroduce bill to make forming unions easier
March 26, 2026 // Legislation to consolidate unionizing in Colorado from a two-election process to a one-election process is back, but will Governor Polis approve this year’s version? Last year, lawmakers passed SB25-005, which sponsors said would make it easier for workers to unionize and thus would raise wages. The new version of this bill, HB26-1005, largely does the same thing.
What’s Working: Colorado union membership fell 22% last year. Labor unions say they didn’t see a decline.
February 24, 2026 // Still, 2025 was rough for local labor organizers. It began with President Donald Trump ending collective bargaining rights for workers at many federal agencies over security concerns. In May, Gov. Jared Polis vetoed a union-supported bill to end a state policy requiring workers to vote a second time to start a union. And by the year’s end, petitions to unionize in Colorado fell to 34, down 40% from the prior year when the post-pandemic peak averaged more than one new filing a week.