Colorado Democrats move to give back to their union paymasters. Boulder's compassion problem.
The more progressive Colorado Democrats move to give back to their union paymasters.
One of the juicier dramas among the progressive political press corps has been a potential fight between Governor Polis and the more progressive wing of the Democrat party: a mid-November press conference called touted a bill that will be coming next legislative session, a bill that will grease the skids for union formation in Colorado.
As things are now, due to a 1946 law, union formation in Colorado requires two votes. The first vote among workers requires a simple majority to form a union. The second vote requires a 75% majority to require everyone (not just those that want to be in the union) to hand over some of their pay to the union for the "representation" they get.
I won't claim to be an expert, but the feeling I get in reading up on this topic is that the earlier bill was a compromise between right to work states (where you don't have to be in a union to work somewhere and aren't required to pay anything to work there) and closed-shop states (where you have to be a union member to have a job).
I'll be honest, I'm much more of a right to work fan than I am of Colorado's system. I object strongly to paying money to a union so they can support a bunch of people at the top and also engage in political advocacy which I don't agree with.
Nonetheless, this is the current law, and it could be worse. That is, in my opinion, what the Democrats are trying to do: they want to get rid of that second union vote so that a simple majority could close a shop and require everyone to contribute to the union.
The fight is that Governor Polis doesn't seem on board with this (probably some of the more conventional Dems too, but they're not mentioned in articles like the one below from the Sun).
Quoting, "Polis 'is leery of the need for a new bill to open the Labor Peace Act that serves the state and workers so well,' said Shelby Wieman, a spokeswoman for the governor. She noted that Colorado’s labor laws 'go further than those of the 26 right-to-work states by not only protecting the right to organize, but also providing an avenue to strengthen unions through union-security agreements.' 'Any changes to the Labor Peace Act would need to find common ground with employers and businesses and labor, and the governor is deeply skeptical of this bill without a heavily negotiated, thoughtful and comprehensive process,' she added."
God almighty, how did Colorado get in such a mess as to need Polis as a savior? What are we going to do when he (the nominal "voice of reason") is gone?
Knowing how these things come out, and it's hinted at in the last bit of Polis' statement, my guess is that some sort of compromise will be worked out. I.e. expect a watered down version of this bill to pass. Dems need to keep their union paymasters and progressives in with them and the more moderate among them will recognize this reality.
Then, with a crack in the structure, future legislatures can work at widening it. I'll update if something worthy comes along.
https://coloradosun.com/2024/11/27/colorado-union-security-jared-polis-bill/
Boulder's compassion problem.
Compassion is a wonderful thing. It's likely an evolutionary adaptation that helped humans as a species, but beyond such things, it is a moral characteristic.
Except, when that compassion becomes pathological, when it is given without thought.
And that's what I see when I read articles like the one below about Boulders big, big (BIG) homeless problem.
Repeated grace, repeated acceptance of poor behavior, free from any sort of contingency or consequence are not moral. They corrode both the receiver and the giver. They negate the humanity and agency of those who get the favors, and obligate those giving the favors to forever be an enabler, crutch, parent.
If the goal is to help other humans to become self-sustaining members of society (to the extent that they can--we must also reckon with the fact that mental health problems interfere with someone's ability to function), we must face up to the fact that thoughtless giving like what you see from Boulder is not working and will not work.
And they are now reaping the fruits of what they've sown.
https://www.coloradopolitics.com/local-government/planet-boulder-brought-down-to-earth-by-worsening-problems-with-homelessness/article_fd6607af-92ad-5029-b815-22d6939b89ae.html
What’s been created in Boulder is a pathocracy.