Word Salad From Jared Polis

Progressive? Not so much.

Last week Colorado Governor Jared Polis vetoed SB25-005, a so-called “union bill” that sought to eliminate a provision of an 82 year-old law dealing with collective bargaining.

Polis offered up a word salad to defend his veto, but it was mighty hard to swallow. Like other dishes on his faux-progressive menu, this was an example of progressive-lite, which to my tastes is rather like lite beer. Why bother?

His rationale, in a dry distillation, was that he wanted both parties to play nice and come to a bland compromise that he could sign without pleasing or infuriating anyone. In a drawn out era wherein labor strength has shriveled and corporate power is unfettered, a half-assed compromise is not what Colorado or the nation needs.

In the likely event that this issue is unfamiliar, here is the essence:

Forming a union is generally a two-step process. 30% of employees sign a supportive card, leading to a general election wherein 50% plus 1 – simple majority – vote “aye.”

The archaic Colorado law then requires a second election with a higher threshold – 75% –  in order to enable collection of union dues from all employees, whether they are pro-union or not.

This is not a new issue. For decades, pro-business forces have encouraged employees to opt out of paying union dues. “Not fair!” they complain. “I don’t like the union. Why should I have to pay dues?”

It matters not to the pro-business forces or the anti-union employees that all employees benefit from a union’s negotiating prowess. Higher wages, job security, worker safety, overtime protections . . . are afforded all employees. The union asserts that therefore all employees should contribute.

The “I didn’t vote for it so I don’t want to pay” position is emotionally appealing, I suppose. But this issue can only be viewed through the frame of a centuries-old tension between labor and wealth. The first union was formed in 1794, and without this movement small children would still be working 80-hour weeks in coal mines to power the locomotives of oligarchs.

Well, I embellish, but the labor movement has been an essential element in lifting workers out of poverty and danger. This libertarian-ish “I don’t wanna pay” rhetoric is just another card in the deck increasingly rigged in favor of corporate power.

To elucidate the principle at play here, here’s an imperfect but apt parallel.

Think of the United States as a large corporation (too true these days, I know). Our elections, at the national, state and local level, often present comparable tension. For the most part, whether referenda or candidate elections, a simple majority is required. Because of our representative democracy, these issues are often mediated through our elected leaders, who ostensibly express their voters’ will on matters where a simple majority also prevails.

It is thereafter not optional that we all pay our dues. When taxes are levied, one does not have the option to refuse on the basis that “I didn’t vote for this!” When a bond issues passes to improve schools, your childless neighbor antes up whether she likes it or not. There are no “second elections” called with a 75% requirement in order to enforce the majority mandate expressed in the first election.

You might imagine the utter chaos that would ensue. Congress enacts Social Security, every eligible American receives benefits, but a second vote requiring 75% fails, so y’all don’t have to pay into the system if you don’t like it. But go right ahead and cash that check.

Union membership and influence have steadily declined for decades. Much of this is due to conservative propaganda, temporary and contract work, and the greed which prompted corporations to exploit workers in other places – longer hours, lower pay, higher death rates. Those pesky unions just forced them to find places where those gilded age practices of the 19th century are still possible.

Damn it, when your head is being held under six feet of water, you don’t compromise by settling on three feet under. That’s what Polis and so many other so-called progressives are doing.

When you’re six feet under, you fight like mad and, if necessary, kick your oppressor in the nuts.

That’s where we are as a country. Drowning. It’s not time for mealy-mouthed compromise.