Economic evidence tells us that unions improve workers’ lives by ensuring they have the ability to negotiate better wages, benefits, and safer working conditions. However, Colorado is among states that historically adopted policies intended to limit private sector workers’ freedoms to form unions. Today, this suppression of workers’ rights is weakening Colorado’s economy.
Across the country, it has become challenging for workers to freely exercise their legal right to form unions due to weak federal labor laws. Additionally, some states – including Colorado – have laws in place that make it even more difficult for workers to unionize and limit their rights to collectively bargain with employers.
In this report, we review available research on the economic benefits of unions, the impact of state laws like Colorado’s that limit workers’ freedom to bargain, and the potential economic benefits of modernizing Colorado’s labor laws to remove unnecessary obstacles to unionization and restore workers’ freedom to bargain.
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