An eleventh-hour agreement between Colorado business organizations and labor unions will keep four controversial employment-related amendments out of the upcoming November election.  On the eve of the October 2, 2008, deadline for withdrawing ballot measures, Colorado businesses agreed to commit $3 million to fight Amendment 47, the Colorado Right to Work Amendment (which, if adopted, would prohibit requiring individuals employed in Colorado to participate in a labor union or pay union dues as a condition of employment), in exchange for the unions’ agreement to pull four other Amendments (53, 55, 56 and 57) from the ballot. While the agreement came too late to ensure that the pulled Amendments would not be printed on the ballot, votes on the Amendments will not be counted.

• Amendment 53 would have extended corporate criminal liability to executives. 

• Amendment 55 threatened to eliminate employment at-will in Colorado by requiring employers to demonstrate “just cause” for terminating employees with at least six months’ service. 

• Amendment 56 would have required businesses with 20 or more employees to offer health care coverage to their employees either directly or by paying into a state fund. 

• Amendment 57 would have expanded damages available to employees injured on the job beyond those available under the current workers’ compensation scheme. 

The passage of any one or a combination of these ballot measures would have significantly impacted the rights of employees and obligations of employers and employees in Colorado.