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Amendment 47 was a proposed initiative on the
Colorado ballot for 2008.
It was defeated.
The initiative was proposed jointly by Ryan Frazier of Aurora and
Julian Jay Cole of Golden.[1]
According to the Blue Book, the state-provided ballot guide,
Amendment 47 "proposes amending the Colorado Constitution to: prohibit
requiring an employee to join and pay any dues or fees to a labor
union as a condition of employment; and create a misdemeanor
penalty for violation of this law."
If ratified, Amendment 47 would have added a new section to the
Colorado Constitution, which would state, in part:
- (1) This Amendment shall be known and may be cited as the
"Colorado Right to Work Amendment".
- (2) (a) No person shall, as a condition of employment, be
required to:
-
- (I) be a member of a labor union; and
- (II) pay any dues, fees, assessments, or other charges of any
kind to a labor union or to any charity or other third party, in
lieu of such payments.
- (b) Nothing in this section shall prevent any person from
voluntarily belonging or voluntarily providing financial support to
a labor union.
- (3) Any person who directly or indirectly violated any
provision of this section commits a misdemeanor and upon conviction
thereof shall be punished by a fine in an amount equivalent to the
most stringent misdemeanor classification provided by law.[2]
Fact-checking
Pro-Amendment 47 political
ads
KUSA,
the NBC affiliate in Denver, Colorado, analyzed one of the
political ads supporting Amendment 47. Among their conclusions were
that the particular ad was misleading when it stated, "All it does,
it gives workers the right to choose for themselves whether or not
they want to join a union." KUSA's analysis states:
- As it stands now, [...] federal law prohibits anyone from being
forced to join a union. What Amendment 47 would really do is give
workers the right to decide if they want to pay any dues to the
union for the purposes of negotiating for wages and benefits.[3]
They also noted that agencies promoting passage of the amendment
have received contributions from two organizations in Virginia, the
Free Enterprise Alliance in Arlington the
National
Right to Work Committee in Springfield.[3]
Anti-Amendment 47 political
ads
Channel Nine News also fact-checked a political ad from the
opposition. Their conclusions (excerpted):
- TRUTH TEST: Will Amendment 47 hurt Colorado's
economy?
- QUOTE: The few rich owners who are pushing Constitutional
Amendment 47 say they want to give people a choice.
- TRUTH: It is true that some wealthy businessmen and women have
backed Amendment 47 and groups supporting this amendment do discuss
freedom of choice and the rights of workers. [...]
- QUOTE: You do have a choice. Would you choose to pass an
amendment that could strip away all progress that Colorado workers
have made with wages and health care and retirement?
- TRUTH: This is opinion, but regards the concerns opponents have
about the impact of this measure on union organization in the
state. [...]
- QUOTE: In times like these, who would choose to destabilize
Colorado's economy and put jobs at risk?
- TRUTH: This is opinion, but regards opponents' concerns related
to employment and working conditions. [...]
- QUOTE: If it's not broke, why fix it? No on 47. It's risky,
it's reckless, it's wrong.
- TRUTH: This is opinion.[4]
Controversy
The backers of Amendment 47 have been found to have violated
campaign finance laws:
Amendment 47 backers run
afoul of campaign finance law
Support
and opposition
One organization which supports Amendment 47 is called For A Better Colorado. An organization in
opposition is called Protect Colorado.
Results
| Amendment 47[5] |
| Yes or no |
Votes |
Percentage |
 No |
1,282,447 |
56.11% |
| Yes |
1,003,022 |
43.89% |
References
- ^
Rocky Mountain News
- ^
2008 State Ballot Information Booklet, "Blue Book", State of
Colorado
- ^ a
b
O'Malley, Mary Jean, and Adam Schrager, October 17, 2008. "TRUTH TEST: Is Amendment 47
about employee freedom?", Channel Nine News.
- ^
By: Mary Jean O'Malley and Adam Schrager, October 18, 2008. "TRUTH TEST: Will Amendment 47
hurt Colorado's economy?", Channel Nine News.
- ^
"Canvass Results - General
Election 2008". Secretary of State of
Colorado. http://coreports.ezvotetally.com/CanvassReportCumulative/tabid/59/Default.aspx. Retrieved
2009-06-24.
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