Fighting for Collective Bargaining for All Denver Public Workers

CWA municipal workers in Denver, Colo., are fired up and ready to win collective bargaining for nearly 7,000 city and county employees. Currently, 3,000 Denver municipal employees, including teachers and first responders, are allowed to bargain collectively. This right has not yet been extended to other city and county employees, including library workers and parks and recreation staff.

Last week, public employees from CWA Local 7777, Local 7799, and the Denver NewsGuild (TNG-CWA Local 37074) spoke before the Denver City Council, urging them to take up a proposed amendment to the city’s charter that would allow for collective bargaining. The Denver Council can amend the city’s charter, or the amendment can go to the public for a vote in the fall. CWA is pursuing both options.

Should the amendment pass, approximately 700 workers at the Denver Public Library could be on the road to forming their own CWA-represented unit. “We're tremendously excited to see these basic human rights extended potentially, if Denver voters choose to do so and if it gets on the ballot this fall, to thousands of workers here in the city and county of Denver who help our city run and make our city run,” said CWA District 7 Administrative Director of Organizing Katie Romich. “We believe that collective bargaining only makes the workplace better and the city and county of Denver better.”

 
CWA members in Denver, Colo., turned out at a recent Denver Council meeting to push for an amendment that would allow collective bargaining for municipal employees.