A bill that would ease the path for unions to organize in Colorado cleared its first committee hearing at the Capitol on Monday. 

Members of the Democratic-controlled Senate Business, Labor and Technology Committee, following a 4.5-hour hearing in a packed chamber, voted 4-3 along party lines to advance Senate Bill 5, marking an early test for what could be one of the more bitter legislative fights this session. 

Dubbed the Worker Protection Act, the bill would remove the need for workplaces to hold a second election before unions can negotiate certain fees from all employees — even if they don’t belong to the union. 

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The move is known as union security and allows organized labor groups to fund workplace advocacy efforts, like wage negotiations and legal filings for unfair labor practices. Non-union members pay for these types of practices but aren’t compelled to pay full union dues. 

While workers only need to secure a simple majority vote to unionize, Colorado law requires a second election with 75% approval before union security talks can happen. Colorado is the only state in the country with such a law. 

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Senate Majority Leader Robert Rodriguez, D-Denver, a prime sponsor of the bill, said removing the need for a second election “is the most effective way to support Colorado’s working class.”

An analysis by the left-of-center Colorado Fiscal Institute of 553 unions that formed in Colorado between 1977 and 2024 shows that 68% won their second election. Colorado lags behind the country when it comes to the number of unions, with less than 7% of the state’s workforce belonging to a union as of 2023 compared to 10% of workers nationally. 

Union leaders argue the additional vote presents a barrier to union security, which they say benefits all members of the workplace whether they are in a union or not. Under federal law, a union must represent all workers regardless of their union status.

“The laws in this state are actively hostile to Coloradans rights to a union,” said Fred Redmond, a leader for the country’s largest union federation, during Monday’s hearing.

“Colorado’s current labor laws impose burdensome red tape and administrative obstacles that were intentionally designed to make it more difficult for workers to form strong unions,” Redmond continued. 

Colorado workers who testified during Monday’s hearing said their employers deployed intimidation tactics and threats to dissuade unionization. Workers, under state law, must endure these pressure campaigns twice — once for an initial unionization vote and again when seeking union security, they said. 

“Our state is the only one in the country that demands we jump through this second hoop — it’s undemocratic,” said Liza Nielsen, a former shift supervisor who led the first unionization of a Starbucks in Colorado. 

The business community remains fiercely opposed to the effort. 

Industry leaders who testified on the bill said current state law gives their employees multiple opportunities to weigh in on unionization before they have to pay into a union. 

“Workers deserve a second vote before their wages are garnished, and they deserve a say in where and how they spend their wages,” Colorado Restaurant Association President and CEO Sonia Riggs said. 

Business owners said changes to Colorado’s longstanding labor laws create too much uncertainty at a time when many are challenged to meet costs and retain workers. Some added that union security reduces their employees’ take-home pay, though organized labor advocates argue unions increase wages overall. 

Business leaders signaled that should the measure ultimately pass, it would trigger a greater fight over organized labor that they said has been kept at bay by current laws. 

Despite its initial approval, the bill’s ultimate fate is still uncertain. 

While it has seen strong support from high-ranking Democrats both in and outside of the legislature, Gov. Jared Polis has expressed skepticism over the measure. 

“My ask is that if there are any efforts to reform (state law) they include support of both workers and businesses to avoid the rancorous fights of the past,” Polis told lawmakers during his 2025 State of the State address. “If there is a possible agreement to change the status quo that has served to avoid significant disputes for more than 80 years, let’s work together to find it.”
Last session, Polis vetoed multiple labor-related bills passed by Democrats.