Colorado measure mandates open contract talks with public employee unions

From the Washington Examiner.  To read the full story go here.
By Sarah Westwood | November 8, 2014 | 5:00 am


Colorado voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure Tuesday requiring new compensation contracts with public school employee unions to be negotiated in public.

Proposition 104 received 70 percent of the vote for what may be the first such law in the nation. The Colorado measure requires public negotiations, whereas the handful of states with similar laws only allow open bargaining.

Unions representing Colorado public school administrators and teachers must now forge agreements in public on issues such as salaries, benefits and working conditions — a move the measure’s supporters believe will allow taxpayers to better understand how their money is being spent.

And:

“I think part of the story is how big it won,” [Independence Institute Jon] Caldara said of the initiative. “It really shows that people value transparency in government, particularly when it comes to the biggest budget item that a school district deals with.”
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