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Stories Posted on October 3, 2008
Labor, business reach pact
Category: Civil Rights · State: Colorado · Source: Rockey Mountain News
Colorado labor and business leaders announced a joint effort aimed at defeating three contentious anti-union measures on November's ballot, an unprecedented agreement that marked the culmination of weeks of intense negotiations among unlikely allies. In return for the business community's pledge to campaign against a "right-to-work" measure and two other amendments targeting unions, the organized labor community agreed to withdraw four ballot initiatives that businesses had feared would harm the state's economy. "We're here today as citizens of Colorado to do the right thing for our state," Walter Isenberg, a Denver business executive closely involved in the talks, said at a news conference Thursday. Business leaders such as Isenberg, who heads a group of prominent local executives called Colorado Concern, promised to raise $3 million for the fight against the three amendments, including the so-called "right-to-work" amendment that would ban mandatory union fees for workers.