8-3-102. Legislative declaration.
Statute text
(1) The public policy of the state as to employment relations and collective bargaining, in the furtherance of which this article 3 is enacted, is declared to be as follows:
(a) It recognizes that there are three major interests involved, namely: That of the public, the employee, and the employer. These three interests are to a considerable extent interrelated. It is the policy of the state to protect and promote each of these interests with due regard to the situation and to the rights of the others.
(b) Industrial peace, regular and adequate income for the employee, and uninterrupted production of goods and services are promotive of all of these interests. They are largely dependent upon the maintenance of fair, friendly, and mutually satisfactory employment relations and the availability of suitable machinery for the peaceful adjustment of whatever legitimate controversies may arise. It is recognized that certain employers, including farmers and farmer cooperatives, in addition to their general employer problems, face special problems arising from perishable commodities and seasonal production which require adequate consideration. It is also recognized that whatever may be the rights of disputants with respect to each other in any controversy regarding employment relations, they should not be permitted in the conduct of their controversy to intrude directly or indirectly into the primary rights of third parties to earn a livelihood, transact business, and engage in the ordinary affairs of life by any lawful means and free from molestation, interference, intimidation, restraint, or coercion.
(c) Negotiations of terms and conditions of work should result from voluntary agreement between employer and employee. For the purpose of such negotiation, an employee has the right, if he desires, to associate with others in organizing and bargaining collectively through representatives of his own free choosing without intimidation or coercion from any source.
(d) All rights of persons to join labor organizations or unions and their rights and privileges as members of labor organizations or unions should be recognized, safeguarded, and protected. A person shall not be denied membership in a labor organization or union on account of race, creed, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, disability, national origin, or ancestry or by any unfair or unjust discrimination. A labor organization or union shall neither require arbitrary or excessive initiation fees and dues nor impose excessive, unwarranted, arbitrary, or oppressive fines, penalties, or forfeitures. The members are entitled to full and detailed reports from their officers, agents, or representatives of all financial transactions and have the right to elect officers by secret ballot and to determine and vote upon the question of striking, not striking, and other questions of policy affecting the entire membership.
(e) In order to preserve and promote the interests of the public, the employee, and the employer alike, the state shall establish standards of fair conduct in employment relations and provide a convenient, expeditious, and impartial tribunal by which these interests may have their respective rights and obligations adjudicated, without limiting the jurisdiction of the courts to protect property, and to prevent and punish the commission of unlawful acts. While limiting individual and group rights of aggression and defense, the state substitutes processes of justice for the more primitive methods of trial by combat.
(f) It is declared to be the common law of the state that no act which if done by one person would constitute a crime under the common law or statutes of this state is any less a crime if committed by two or more persons or corporations acting in concert, and no act which under the common law or statutes of this state is a wrongful act for which any person has a remedy against the wrongdoer if done by one person is any less a remedial wrong if done by two or more persons or corporations in concert, nor shall the injured person be denied relief in the courts of this state in law or equity except as such relief may be expressly limited by statute.
(g) (I) The general assembly hereby finds and determines that the matters contained in this article have important statewide ramifications for the labor force in this state. The general assembly, therefore, declares that the matters contained in this article are of statewide concern.
(II) to (III) Repealed.
History
Source: L. 43: p. 392, 1. CSA: C. 97, 94(1). CRS 53: 80-5-1. C.R.S. 1963: 80-4-1. L. 99: (1)(g) added, p. 288, 1, effective April 14. L. 2008: (1)(d) amended, p. 1598, 11, effective May 29. L. 2019: IP(1) amended and (1)(g)(II), (I)(g)(II.5), and (1)(g)(III) repealed, (HB 19-1210), ch. 320, p. 2971, 3, effective January 1, 2020. L. 2021: (1)(d) amended, (HB 21-1108), ch. 156, p. 890, 13, effective September 7.
Annotations
Cross references: For the legislative declaration contained in the 2008 act amending subsection (1)(d), see section 1 of chapter 341, Session Laws of Colorado 2008. For the legislative declaration in HB 19-1210, see section 1 of chapter 320, Session Laws of Colorado 2019. For the legislative declaration in HB 21-1108, see section 1 of chapter 156, Session Laws of Colorado 2021.
Annotations
ANNOTATION
Annotations
Declarations of policy stated in labor legislation such as the labor peace act are persuasive in regard to the intended coverage of the act. St. Luke's Hosp. v. Indus. Comm'n, 142 Colo. 28, 349 P.2d 995 (1960).
The public policy established by the general assembly precludes courts from imposing a heightened standard of proof on persons seeking remedies against a labor union for allegedly tortious conduct. Vikman v. Int'l Broth. of Elec. Workers, 889 P.2d 646 (Colo. 1995).
And the purpose of the labor peace act is to restrict the business judgment of both operators and employees in the promotion of the welfare of the industry and of the public. UMW v. Sunlight Coal Co., 129 Colo. 374, 270 P.2d 776 (1954).
Employer not required to conform to union rule opposed to policy of this section. A union does not have the right, based on an employer's contract to conform to any and all rules adopted by the union, to withdraw a shop card upon the employer's refusal to agree to a rule which is opposed to the public policy of the state of Colorado as declared by the general assembly in this section. Journeymen Barbers Local 205 v. Indus. Comm'n, 128 Colo. 121, 260 P.2d 941 (1953).
Such as violation of the principle of collective bargaining. To require the owner and operator of a business to become a limited or nonactive member of his employees' union is discriminatory and in violation of the cardinal principle of collective bargaining. Journeymen Barbers Local 205 v. Indus. Comm'n, 128 Colo. 121, 260 P.2d 941 (1953).
The isolated use of the term "industrial peace" in the declaration of public policy is not meant to limit the application of the labor peace act only to industry and trade, because the sentence involved goes on to itemize other conditions which the act is designed to promote, including the "uninterrupted production of goods and services". To ascertain the clear meaning of this phrase, it must be viewed in the disjunctive thereby indicating two separate conditions, to wit: uninterrupted production of goods and uninterrupted services. Indus. Comm'n v. Wallace Vill. for Children, 165 Colo. 10, 437 P.2d 62 (1968).
However, a charitable private hospital is not amenable to the collective bargaining provisions of the labor peace act. Indus. Comm'n v. Wallace Vill. for Children, 165 Colo. 10, 437 P.2d 62 (1968).
But a nonprofit school which works with handicapped children and hires teacher-therapists and counselors for this purpose, but does not provide surgical or medical services and does not employ or have in attendance doctors or nurses, is subject to the provisions of the labor peace act. Indus. Comm'n v. Wallace Vill. for Children, 165 Colo. 10, 437 P.2d 62 (1968).