Colorado Senate Continues Restrictions on Teachers Seeking to Leave Unions

On Tuesday, the Colorado Senate voted against a bill that would've made it easier for teachers to leave unions.

The vote came down completely on party lines, both in the House, where it passed, and in the Senate where it failed. Republicans were completely for giving teachers the ability to choose. Whereas Democrats voted for union control.

House Bill 1333 would have required school districts to stop deducting union or teacher association dues for from a teacher's paycheck, within 30 days of receiving a written request to do so, as well as gotten rid of the requirement that teachers resubmit the request every year.

It would also have granted all professional teaching associations, not just unions, the ability to have dues deducted from member paychecks and required labor organizations to make annual disclosures to members about how their dues are spent.

Currently in Colorado, teachers have an unannounced two week period within which to send their request. They also must do so every year, or they are automatically enrolled back into the unions. Union dues can come near $1000 a year. Teachers do have the right to have their dues refunded, but heavy fees have been place, leaving a net result of a max of only $63 being given back.


Tim Farmer, membership director for the Professional Association of Colorado Educators, says that, "Teachers are paying union dues against their will". PACE, a nonunion teachers association which heavily supported the bill, provides teachers liability insurance and legal representation in employment disputes, but does not collectively bargain or engage in political activism. Dues at PACE come to $180 a year.