The latest reckless attempt in the legislature to gut Colorado’s long-standing and carefully balanced Labor Peace Act is roundly unpopular. The pending legislation has been drawing flak from Democratic Gov. Jared Polis as well as from the state’s business community. 

That’s the good news.

The bad news is it might pass anyway. That’s because, unlike Polis, too many ruling Democrats at the Capitol are beholden to organized labor rather than to the rank-and-file workers the lawmakers claim to represent.

If it was in fact the workers themselves the legislature cared about, House Bill 26-1005 — approved last week by the House Business Affairs and Labor Committee on an 8-5 party-line vote — never even would have been introduced. The same goes for similar versions introduced in previous years, including one last year that Polis vetoed, to his considerable credit.

This year’s version, like its predecessors, essentially would scrap a basic safeguard that long has protected Colorado workers’ wallets. 

The current law ensures employees of a unionized workplace have a say over whether unions can deduct often-hefty dues from paychecks. The law requires only a simple majority of a firm’s workers to vote to join a union so it can represent them in bargaining for pay and benefits. But if the union seeks to force all employees in a workplace to pay dues — whether they’re union members or not — the Labor Peace Act requires a second vote, and 75% have to vote in favor of forced deductions. It’s a balance: You can form a union with a simple majority, but you can’t force others to join or pay dues without meeting the higher threshold.

The law still falls short of paycheck protections enacted in 26 other states, where employees cannot be forced to pay dues under any circumstances. But Colorado’s Labor Peace Act at least has provided workers an important buffer against an unwanted deduction, and it’s a practical compromise that, befitting its name, has kept the peace for over 80 years.

Now, legislative Democrats want to kill it. HB 26-1005 would force employees to pay union dues against their will by eliminating the second vote that gives them a say. That would benefit the unions — a major contributor to Democrats’ political campaigns — and no one else. 

Of course, the unions have clout and are using it. 

As reported last week by our news affiliate Colorado Politics, employers and employees in some of the state’s industries are wary of voicing opposition. Sonia Riggs, president and CEO of the Colorado Restaurant Association, said she had to tell her members not to testify on this year’s bill due to the “significant backlash” they received last year for opposing it. 

“Workers and owners in our industry are now afraid to speak out,” she said.

When HB26-1005 was introduced last month, a spokesperson for Polis said the governor was “frustrated and surprised” that sponsors were bringing the bill back despite “last year’s outcome and that nothing has changed.”

Workers as well as employers are no doubt hoping the governor stands his ground. If the bill makes it to his desk, let’s hope he vetoes it as he did last year.

If the bill became law, it not only would be bad for workers and employers but also would undermine Colorado’s economy in general — by warding off new business investment, including in job creation. A study by Colorado’s Common Sense Institute last year found that half of major employers’ CEOs consider a state’s union-organizing laws when deciding on expanding or investing in that state. 

This is one boat no one can afford to rock — lest everyone go overboard. Let’s leave the Labor Peace Act intact.