AWF Endorses CO Ethical Payroll Amendment 49
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: John Kartch
15 AUGUST 2008
202-785-0266
Free Market Group Endorses Colorado “Ethical Payroll” Amendment
AWF Urges Citizens to Vote “Yes” on Amendment 49
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Alliance for Worker Freedom (AWF), a national organization dedicated to combating anti-worker legislation and the promotion of free and open markets, endorsed Amendment 49 in Colorado, known as the “Ethical Standards for Public Payroll Systems.”
Currently, America’s 10 largest unions used an average of only 30 percent of their dues to represent their members and negotiate with employers. They spent the other 70 percent on activities like lobbying, political activities, gifts, grants, overhead, and compensation for their staff according to James Sherk of the Heritage Foundation.
According to AWF’s Executive Director Brian Johnson, Colorado’s Amendment 49 will remove the automatic payroll deductions thus giving workers greater control of their union dues. “Amendment 49 would protect the hard-earned income of every public employee in Colorado by stopping unions from using workers’ dues to fund political campaigns,” says Johnson.
Amendment 49 will reinstate an Executive Order by former Governor Bill Owens and expands this policy to all other governments. Without this Amendment, thousands more government employees will have their union dues collected, accounted and delivered at taxpayer expense.
Johnson claims that paycheck security is a crucial element in a state having true “worker freedom.” “This [Amendment 49] allows each union member to choose the campaigns and political causes to support, instead of leaving that decision to the union bosses,” adds Johnson. Similar measures, known as ‘paycheck protection’ laws, protect workers in Idaho, Michigan, Ohio, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. "It is time to add Colorado to the list of states that protect their workers’ wages and their workers’ rights.”
The Alliance for Worker Freedom recently announced their official support and endorsement of Amendment 49 and continues to push for similar legislation on the state and federal level.
