Ritter throws unions a bone.

• Author: Cote, Mike
• Position: COTE'S COLORADO - Ritter, Bill (American governor

So it seems managers and supervisors in state agencies don't listen closely enough to ideas coming from the rank and file, Gov. Bill Ritter says.

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The solution?

Give unions a greater say in Colorado government and create more bureaucracy.

To suggest that's the best way to improve efficiency and save taxpayer dollars is disingenuous. Did anybody consider maybe just hiring a management guru to come by for a few afternoon retreats? ("You see, when workers have ideas, some of them might be worth considering. Check, please.")

By signing an executive order that creates a "bargaining partnership" with state workers and formally recognizes unions for the first time, Ritter has damaged his chances to build a strong relationship with Colorado's business community.

Call it a tradeoff for throwing organized labor a bone in time for the Democratic National Convention's arrival in Denver this August. It's also an attempt to patch things up with unions after the last legislative session when Ritter vetoed House Bill 1072, which would have made it easier to establish unions in Colorado.

Ritter's order allows the state's 49,000 employees to choose a union to represent them to negotiate with state managers over safety, government efficiency, training, employee recruitment and other workplace issues.

"In today's twenty-first century marketplace, chief executive officers must constantly seek out new and better ways of leading their organizations," Ritter writes in the order. "The same is true with state government. Examples in both the private and public sectors demonstrate that employee-management cooperation that engages and empowers employees in decision-making around service planning and implementation is likely to produce better services, more cost-effective provision of services, and a healthier work environment."

Workers will not be able to strike nor can they enter into binding arbitration, Ritter argues. And though unions will be able to collect dues from members through payroll deductions, workers are not required to join a union or pay dues if they don't join.

If Ritter was hoping he could give a half a loaf to labor without alienating business leaders, the manner in which he delivered the news last month doesn't suggest it. He issued the eight-page document at 3 p.m. on a Friday afternoon. If the order was 10 months in the making, why slip it under the door at the end of the week?

Joe Blake, president and CEO of the...