§ 8-3-108 — What are unfair labor practices

Colorado § 8-3-108

• Jurisdiction: Colorado
• Title 08: Labor and
• Art.: Labor Peace Act

Text

(1) It is an unfair labor practice for
an employer, individually or in concert with others, to:

(a) Interfere with, restrain, or coerce his employees in the exercise of the
rights guaranteed in section 8-3-106;

(b) Initiate, create, dominate, or interfere with the formation or
administration of any labor organization or contribute financial support to it; except
that an employer shall not be prohibited from reimbursing employees at their
prevailing wage rate for time spent conferring with him, nor from cooperating with
representatives of at least a majority of his employees in a collective bargaining
unit, at their request, by permitting employee organizational activities on employer
premises or the use of employer facilities where such activities or use create no
additional expense to the employer;

(c) (I) Encourage or discourage membership in any labor organization,
employee agency, committee, association, or representation plan by discrimination
in regard to hiring, tenure, or other terms or conditions of employment; except that
an employer shall not be prohibited from entering into an all-union agreement with
the representatives of his employees in a collective bargaining unit if such all-union
agreement is approved by the affirmative vote of at least a majority of all the
employees eligible to vote or three-quarters or more of the employees who actually
voted, whichever is greater, by secret ballot in favor of such all-union agreement in
an election provided for in this paragraph (c) conducted under the supervision of the
director. Where the collective bargaining unit involved is currently recognized
under sections 8 or 9 of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, (49 Stat.
449; 61 Stat. 136), or where the collective bargaining unit involved is currently
recognized by reason of certification by the director or the national labor relations
board, or where such units were so recognized at the time of an election provided
for in this paragraph (c), there is and shall be deemed to have been no need for a
certification election as a precedent to an election provided for in this paragraph (c)
in such collective bargaining unit on the issue of an all-union agreement. The
employees in such a recognized or certified unit within this state shall be the only
employees eligible to vote in an election provided for in this paragraph (c) held in
such unit.

(II) (A) Any agreement as defined in section 8-3-104 (1.5) between an
employer and a labor organization in existence on June 29, 1977, which has not been
voted upon by the employees covered by it may, by written mutual agreement of
such employer and labor organization, be ratified and upon such ratification shall be
filed with the director. Any agreement as defined in section 8-3-104 (1.5) between
an employer and a labor organization in existence on June 29, 1977, which has not
been ratified and filed, as provided in this subsection (1)(c)(II), shall not be legal,
valid, or enforceable during the remaining term of that labor contract unless and
until either the employer, the labor organization, or at least twenty percent of the
employees covered by such agreement file a petition upon forms provided by the
division, demanding an election submitting the question of the all-union agreement
to the employees covered by such agreement and said agreement is approved by
the affirmative vote of at least a majority of all the employees eligible to vote or
three-quarters or more of the employees who actually voted, whichever is greater,
by secret ballot in favor of such all-union agreement in an election provided for in
this subsection (1)(c) conducted under the supervision of the director.

(B) Upon filing of such instrument of ratification with the director, the
director shall certify that such agreement complies with the provisions of section 8-3-104 (1.5) notwithstanding the absence of any other election requirements of this
article 3, and by virtue of such ratification and certification, such agreement shall
be deemed legal, valid, and enforceable to the extent permitted under the
provisions of this article 3, subject to the provisions of subsection (1)(c)(II)(D) of this
section.

(C) Within two weeks after the certification by the director provided for in
sub-subparagraph (B) of this subparagraph (II), the employer which is a party to
such agreement shall post or give written notice to all employees covered by such
agreement on the date of ratification of the fact that the agreement has been
ratified and certified pursuant to the provisions of this subparagraph (II) and of the
right of such employees to file a petition demanding an election as provided in sub-subparagraph (D) of this subparagraph (II). Proof of giving of notice shall be filed
with the director within twenty days after the certification by the director provided
for in sub-subparagraph (B) of this subparagraph (II).

(D) Within forty-five days after the certification by the director provided for
in sub-subparagraph (B) of this subparagraph (II) twenty percent of the employees
covered by such agreement may file a petition, upon forms provided by the division,
demanding an election submitting the question of ratification of such agreement to
the employees covered by such agreement. If ratification of the agreement is
approved by the affirmative vote of at least a majority of all the employees eligible
to vote or three-quarters or more of the employees who actually voted, whichever is
greater, in said election, the agreement shall be conclusively deemed ratified. Such
election shall be held as promptly as possible following the filing of the petition. In
the event that a certified contract expires or is terminated prior to the conducting
of such an election, such certification shall be applicable to any subsequent
agreement between the same parties until such election may be held.

(III) The director shall declare any such all-union agreement terminated
whenever:

(A) He finds that the labor organization involved unreasonably has refused to
receive as a member any employee of such employer, and any person interested
may come before the director, as provided in section 8-3-110, and ask the
performance of this duty; or

(B) The employer or twenty percent of the employees covered by such
agreement file a petition with the director on forms provided by the division seeking
to revoke such all-union agreement and, in an election conducted under the
supervision of the director, there is not an affirmative vote of at least a majority of
all the employees eligible to vote or three-quarters or more of the employees who
actually voted, whichever is greater, in such election by secret ballot in favor of
such all-union agreement. Such petition may only be filed within a time period
between one hundred twenty and one hundred five days prior to the end of the
collective bargaining agreement or prior to a triennial anniversary of the date of
such agreement, and the division must complete said election within sixty days
prior to the termination or triennial anniversary of said collective bargaining
agreement. The director may conduct an election within a collective bargaining unit
no more often than once during the term of any collective bargaining agreement or
once every three years in the case of agreements for a period longer than three
years.

(IV) The director shall provide a means by which employees may submit
confidential petitions for an election under this paragraph (c), a means for verifying
the employment, status, and eligibility of petitioners, and a means for determining
the sufficiency of such petitions with respect to the twenty percent signature
requirement, all of which shall be accomplished without disclosing the
identification of such petitioners, except as allowed under subparagraph (V) of this
paragraph (c). This duty shall apply to petitions filed pursuant to subparagraph
(II)(A), (II)(D), or (III)(B) of this paragraph (c).

(V) No officer or employee of the division shall disclose the names of any
signers to a petition or disclose how any person voted in an election to any person
outside the division except pursuant to a court order or subpoena issued by a
governmental authority or a court, and any such officer or employee who violates
such nondisclosure provisions or who refuses to call an election pursuant to this
paragraph (c) or prevents or conspires to prevent such call of an election commits a
class 2 misdemeanor and shall be punished as provided in section 18-1.3-501, C.R.S.

(d) Refuse to bargain collectively with the representatives of his employees
in any collective bargaining unit; except that where an employer with reasonable
cause files with the division a petition requesting a determination as to bargaining
unit representation, he shall not be deemed to have refused to bargain until an
election has been held and the result thereof has been certified to him by the
director;

(e) Enter into an all-union agreement except in the manner provided in
paragraph (c) of this subsection (1);

(f) Violate the terms of a collective bargaining agreement, including an
agreement to accept an arbitration award;

(g) Refuse or fail to recognize or accept as conclusive of any issue in any
controversy as to employment relations the final determination, after appeal, if any,
of any tribunal having competent jurisdiction of the same or whose jurisdiction the
employer has accepted;

(h) Discharge or otherwise discriminate against an employee because he has
filed charges or given information or testimony in good faith under the provisions of
this article;

(i) Deduct labor organization dues or assessments from an employee's
earnings, unless the employer has been presented with an individual order therefor,
signed by the employee personally and terminable at any time by the employee's
giving at least thirty days' written notice of such termination;

(j) Employ any person to spy upon employees or their representatives
respecting their exercise of any right created or approved by this article;

(k) Make, circulate, or cause to be circulated a blacklist as described in
section 8-2-110;

(l) Commit any crime or misdemeanor in connection with any controversy as
to employment relations;

(m) Require a potential employee to furnish preemployment application
information regarding said applicant's record of civil or military disobedience,
unless any such matters resulted in a plea of guilty or a conviction by a court of
competent jurisdiction.

(2) It is an unfair labor practice for an employee, individually or in concert
with others, to:

(a) Coerce or intimidate an employee in the enjoyment of his legal rights,
including those guaranteed in section 8-3-106, or to intimidate his family or any
member thereof, picket his domicile, or injure the person or property of such
employee or his family or of any member thereof;

(b) Coerce, intimidate, or induce any employer to interfere with any of his
employees in the enjoyment of their legal rights, including those guaranteed in
section 8-3-106, or to engage in any practice with regard to his employees which
would constitute an unfair labor practice if undertaken by him on his own initiative;

(c) Violate the terms of a collective bargaining agreement, including an
agreement to accept an arbitration award;

(d) Refuse or fail to recognize or accept as conclusive of any issue in any
controversy as to employment relations the final determination, after appeal, if any,
of any tribunal having competent jurisdiction of the same or whose jurisdiction the
employees or their representatives accepted;

(e) Cooperate in engaging in, promoting, or inducing picketing, boycotting, or
any other overt concomitant of a strike unless a majority in a collective bargaining
unit of the employees of an employer against whom such acts are primarily directed
have voted by secret ballot to call a strike;

(f) Hinder or prevent, by mass picketing, threats, intimidation, force, or
coercion of any kind, the pursuit of any lawful work or employment; or to obstruct
or interfere with entrance to or egress from any place of employment; or to
obstruct or interfere with free and uninterrupted use of public roads, streets,
highways, railways, airports, or other ways of travel or conveyance;

(g) Engage in a secondary boycott, or to hinder or prevent, by threats,
intimidation, force, coercion, or sabotage, the obtaining, use, or disposition of
materials, equipment, or services, or to combine or conspire to hinder or prevent, by
any means whatsoever, the obtaining, use, or disposition of materials, equipment, or
services;

(h) Take, retain, or remain in unauthorized possession of property or any part
thereof of the employer, or to engage in any concerted effort to interfere with
production, except by leaving the premises in an orderly manner for the purpose of
going on strike;

(i) Engage in a sit-down strike on the premises or property of the employer;

(j) Fail to give the notice of intention to strike provided in section 8-3-113;

(k) Commit any crime or misdemeanor in connection with any controversy as
to employment relations;

(l) Demand or require any stand-in employee to be hired or employed by an
employer, or to demand or require that the employer employ or pay for an employee
to stand by or stand in for work being done by other employees, or to require the
employer to employ or pay for any employee not required by the employer or
necessary for the work of the employer;

(m) Do or cause to be done, on behalf of or in the interest of employers or
employees, or in connection with or to influence the outcome of any controversy as
to employment relations, any act prohibited by subsections (1) and (2) of this
section.

(3) It is an unfair labor practice for an employee, individually or in concert
with others, or for a labor organization or any of its agents to:

(a) Induce or encourage the employees of an employer to engage in a strike
or concerted refusal in the course of their employment, or by any means to force or
require an employer or any one or more employees to refrain from or prevent the
use of any material, device, tool, or equipment intended or calculated to reduce the
cost of the work;

(b) Require or force an employer to use any materials or do any work or
render any service in connection with any task, job, work, or service as a condition of
using any labor-saving device, equipment, tool, or instrument in the performance of
such task, job, work, or service;

(c) Impose on any employee any fine, penalty, or forfeiture because such
employee has used, is using, or has attempted to use a labor-saving device;

(d) (I) Engage in or induce or encourage employees of any employer to
engage in a strike or concerted refusal in the course of their employment to use,
manufacture, process, transport, or otherwise handle or work on any goods,
articles, materials, or commodities or to perform any service where an object
thereof is forcing or requiring any employer to assign particular work to employees
in a particular trade, craft, or class rather than to employees in another labor
organization or in another trade, craft, or class unless such employer is failing to
conform to an order of the director or certification determining the bargaining
representative for employees performing such work; but nothing contained in this
subsection (3) shall be construed to make unlawful a refusal by any person to enter
upon the premises of any employer (other than his own employer). Whenever a
complaint is filed charging that any person or labor organization is engaged in the
unfair labor practice defined in this paragraph (d), the director shall hear and
determine the dispute concerning the assignment of work out of which such
complaint arises, unless within ten days the parties to the dispute provide evidence
to the director that the dispute is properly adjusted, in which case the complaint
shall be dismissed by the director.

(II) Upon the filing of a complaint under this paragraph (d), the director shall
make a preliminary investigation, and, if he finds that there is reasonable cause that
the complaint is true, he may issue an order directing that the employees or labor
organization cease and desist from striking, picketing, or refusing to handle or work
on goods pending a resolution by the director of the dispute out of which the
complaint arises.

(III) Upon the failure or refusal of any person or labor organization against
whom such order is issued to comply with this order or direction, the district court
of the district wherein the strike, picketing, or refusal to handle or work on goods
takes place may, upon application of the director, issue injunctive relief in the
manner provided in the Colorado rules of civil procedure for courts of record in
Colorado.

(e) With regard to the entirety of this subsection (3), the following shall
apply: Such material, device, tool, or equipment is germane to the employees' craft
and not injurious to the employees' health and safety or the public generally, and
nothing in this subsection (3) shall negate the rights of an employer and a labor
organization to bargain collectively pursuant to subsection (1)(d) of this section.

(4) It is an unfair labor practice to do or cause to be done, on behalf of or in
the interest of employers or employees, or in connection with or to influence the
outcome of any controversy as to employment relations, any act prohibited by
subsections (1), (2), and (3) of this section.

Legislative History

Source: L. 43: p. 400, � 6. CSA: C. 97, � 94(6). CRS 53: � 80-5-6. L. 63: p. 619, � 1. C.R.S. 1963: � 80-4-6. L. 69: p. 596, � 75. L. 71: p. 887, � 1. L. 77: (1)(c) amended, p. 419, � 2, effective June 29. L. 2002: (1)(c)(V) amended, p. 1466, � 18, effective October 1. L. 2021: (1)(c)(II)(A) and (1)(c)(II)(B) amended, (SB 21-087), ch. 337, p. 2185, � 9, effective June 25.