Colorado WINS endorses John Hickenlooper for Governor 

At our last meeting, we, the Colorado WINS Executive Board, voted unanimously to endorse Mayor John Hickenlooper for Governor of Colorado. He is the gubernatorial candidate most aligned with our mission of ensuring that state employees have a strong voice on the job and the delivery of quality public services to taxpayers.

We’re at a crossroads, the economy continues to struggle, support for essential public services continue to be cut and we need to reform the State’s pay system – yet we face another year of big budget cuts.  So it’s critical that we support and help elect pro-state employee and public services candidates to the state assembly and governor’s office.

Last month, we met with John Hickenlooper to discuss our vision for Colorado and his plans and ideas. It was an exciting opportunity to hear from someone running to be our next chief executive officer about critical issues, including the delivery of quality public services, compensation, building a competitive state workforce and innovation on the frontlines.

We asked him a series of questions on issues ranging from his support for partnerships to his take on how most Coloradans view government. Mayor Hickenlooper expressed his commitment to the partnership process and made it clear that he would expect his department heads to share that commitment. Hickenlooper also made it clear that one of his roles as a Governor would be to an advocate for public employees and to counter various myths about the state workforce.

Since the interview, Mayor Hickenlooper has met with Colorado WINS members at a Department of Motor Vehicles office in Colorado Springs and Correctional Officers in Pueblo. It is clear that he is committed to listening to us and working to make Colorado a competitive employer.

We extended interview invitations to Republican candidates Scott McInnis and Dan Maes, yet neither campaign responded. The fact that Republican nominee Dan Maes has repeatedly stated that if elected Governor he would immediately revoke the executive order authorizing partnerships and cut 2,000 to 4,000 state employee jobs crystallizes our choice. Tom Tancredo, who entered the race for governor late, is also running on a platform of repealing the executive order authorizing partnerships.

John Hickenlooper is our choice for Governor and it’s critical that we do everything possible over the next three months to make sure that he wins this election. Learn more about candidate Hickenlooper at: www.hickenlooperforcolorado.com.

Action: Next Tuesday, August 17^th and Thursday, August 19^th from 5:00 – 8:00 pm at Colorado WINS offices across the state, we will call members to engage them about upcoming electoral opportunities. Now is the time to get involved and make a difference this election. To sign up, contact Brian Tanner at brian.tanner@cowins.org.

In unity,

Colorado WINS Executive Board

Pattie Johnston, Department of Human Services

Greg Goldman, Department of Transportation

David Pertz, Department of Corrections

Robert Gibson, Executive Director

Kevin Gabel, Department of Transportation

Rita Uhler, Department of Corrections

Paul Boni, Higher Education

Dennis Berry, Department of Revenue

Bailey Phelps, Department of Corrections

Gabe Hernandez, Department of Corrections

Steve Wolff, Department of Natural Resources 

Russ Meyer, Retiree Chair

It was reported to me Friday an employee found out that WINS has been taking dues from him without his approval.  He has not looked at his pay check for the past few months.  Friday he did!  WINS has been STEALING money from him! 

LOSES = Lousy Options STEAL Employee Salaries.  Amazing, isn’t it!

Make sure you check your pay slip…let me know  if you have been subject to this atrocity, as well.

Dave

ColoradoWINS, the “partnership” of three unions (SEIU, AFT, & AFSCME) now representing nearly 30,000 state employees (established in an executive order by Governor Bill Ritter) has raised its ugly head in an expression of extreme prejudice, discrimination, and intimidation. WINS claims to represent ALL state employees. However, they, truly, only represent a couple of thousand, dues-paying members.

 In a recent incident in Pueblo, Colorado WINS prevented Sgt. Jeff Hotchkiss, of the Department of Corrections, from participating in a vote that would have affected his work schedule. A few union members, very few, voted to make the correction officers’ work schedule 12 hours per day. The sergeant, and pretty much all other officers, were not allowed to participate in the vote. WINS told Jeff that if he wanted to vote, he had to join their organization and pay (now) 1.25% of his gross salary in dues.

 Sgt. Hotchkiss filed a discrimination suit against the department. Tossed around by the bureaucracy, department heads were unsure how to proceed. They eventually held a tier II grievance, but the Sergeant never filed a grievance. He filed charges on discrimination, stating that he was a state employee discriminated against by the “partnership” in the vote.

 ColoradoWINS refuses to answer questions about the event. They will not provide the names of WINS members or the number of members who participated in the vote. Even the Department of Corrections is restrictive when it comes to providing this information. Sgt. Hotchkiss is still waiting for a response…

 WINS blocked efforts of Colorado LOSES, a one-man effort, by state employee- David Ohmart, to end the “partnership,” from finding out information related to WINS. LOSES has made several requests of WINS to find out more about their organization, but to no avail. Somehow they are a protected group and not responsible to state employees, the very people they represent, when it comes to their activities.

 Ohmart believes that the tripartite, union “partnership” muscled their way in, convinced a few naive state employees (or purposely misinformed them)  that their voice would now be heard, but only draw money from those employees to promote their political agenda. Many employees have expressed to LOSES that WINS has thrown them under the bus and done nothing to protect them, regardless of the rhetoric.

 Mark Schwane, General Counsel for WINS, brushed aside several attempts by supporters of Ohmart’s efforts to expose WINS activities with, “We will reconsider your request and if there’s a change in the policy, will let you know.”

 WINS wormed their way into representing ALL state employees, yet have fewer than 3,000 members (less than 10% of the state employee population), and now believe they are above scrutiny. They have been given power that even Governor Ritter won’t challenge.

 Several reports to Martin Flahive, the Governor’s legal representative on union affairs, relate instances where old-style, Chicago-union, thug-type activities have been used to drum up membership. Its only success has been to alienate WINS from state employees. Reports are that union members show up at state employees’ homes and try to intimate them into joining. They won’t leave when asked and are persistent to the point of extreme annoyance and rudeness when told, “NO.”

 The two republican candidates in the gubernatorial race (McInnis and Maes) have both stated they will eliminate the executive order that allowed WINS in the first place. Mayor John Hickenlooper has made no commitment, either way, as to his actions if he wins the governorship. WINS lost a last-minute effort to formalize their existence when democrat legislators failed to move their effort to law at the end of the most recent General Assembly session.

 Ohmart is now making strides to decertify WINS. He has begun an effort to petition for a new vote on whether state employees really wish to keep WINS as their certified “partner.” He will need nearly 2,000 state employee signatures to force the vote for the Professional and Financial groups, of which he is a part. He is confident the efforts will pay off and send a strong signal that state employees are not happy with three very large unions and their thuggish activities.

Author : Lou

Wins reps have come to my house uninvited….and now the reason for this post….I just recieved an automated phone call from colorado wins at 9:30pm!!!!!! I get up at 4 you twits!!!…ENOUGH…. i dont want memebership and I dont believe in your ideals. Go away you are not welcomed by the majority. Noone goes to your “townhall meetings”, me included so you resort to this??? For everytime you try to conatact me in this manner I will pass Colorado loses website 10 fold. Try me!!!

Colorado Loses asked some basic questions:

1. How many state employees are now members of WINS?  Please break this down by department: L&E, State patrol, DOC, DOT, etc.
2. How many members have requested that their names be withdrawn from your membership list in the past year?  How have you treated those requests?
3. How many non-state employees are working for WINS; and what are their names and associations?
4. How much money have you received in the way of dues since you started; and how much is paid to WINS monthly?
5. How much money has been spent in Colorado by SEIU, AFSCME, and AFT to organize and support WINS since its inception.

 This is the answer from WINS lawyer:

 Mr. Ohmart,

 … it’s our policy not to provide the information below.  [emphasis mine]

 Mark

 Mark Schwane

General Counsel

Colorado WINS

2525 W  Alameda Ave

Denver, CO 80219

mark.schwane@cowins.org

(w) & (f) 303-937-6454

(c) 720-201-8720

I will let you make your own opinion of the organization that represents YOU and ME as our authorized “partner” with the state.

 Here is my response…maybe you should email him as well… 

Sir, I’m surprised!  You represent me!  Yes you do!  I have been told that WINS represents ALL state employees.  I am a state employee.  Now, yes, I may not be a dues-paying member, but YOU, according to your literature and, represent me.  I am offended that you refuse to answer some basic questions.  Please reconsider.

 Sincerely,

David Ohmart

The Biggest Loser

www.coloradoloses.org

If you want out of the union (I’m sorry…partnership), let me know and I’ll be glad to send you the necessary forms.

Dave Ohmart coloradoloses@comcast.net

It seems like every couple of weeks we hear of all the wonderful things WINS is doing for us in conjunction with DPA or other state departments.  You need to know what is really going on.

 Membership comprises about ten percent of the total state employee population (just over 3,000), but they are now controlling your future.  A small group of WINS members in Pueblo have now voted on a 12-hour workday for all correction officers.  They told those who opposed this action, “If you want to have any voice about your job, you must become a member of WINS.”

 WINS has now taken your voice from you…not enhanced it!  A group of disgruntled employees now control you.  You have no say, anymore, in what happens to your life as a state employee.  It has been taken from you because 25% of your fellows voted WINS as our “partnership” 18 months ago, yet less than half of that number now run your work life.

 Colorado Loses took a recent poll.  Of the 504 who answered the question about membership, 9.9% stated they were members.  However, 18.5% stated they were favorable of WINS and 31.2% said they favor having a union.  When asked if they would vote for WINS in the future, 65.1% said NO!

 ColoradoWINS is nothing more than an arm of SEIU (Service Employees International Union) the single, largest union in the country.  SEIU has convinced a few naive coworkers that if they provide one percent (1%) of their gross wages, SEIU, under the guise of WINS, will get them better healthcare, higher wages, and, somehow, make their lives better.

 As part of the WINS’s charter, they will push beyond the governor’s executive order and ask the General Assembly to make their existence law.  There is a very good chance this will happen before May 2010.  It will require ALL state employees, who are not members, to pay a maintenance fee.  That fee could be from ¼% to ½% of your gross pay.  This could bring between $7,000,000 and $13,000,000 to their coffers.  Why does WINS need that much money?  Where will it go?  Take a wild guess.

 How do I know this?  It happened in Maine.  The state employee union forced all non-members to pay a maintenance fee.  It is a payment to the union for services provided to non-members by their actions.  You do the math…take .5% of your gross pay and give it to someone to make your decisions for you.  If you think they can’t do that – the US Supreme court said they could.

BREAKING NEWS…Pueblo, CO: ColoradoWINS forced themselves upon state correction officers December 17, 2009 when “WINS members only” voted to force Department of Corrections (DOC) employees to work 12-hour shifts.  Jeff Hotchkiss, a sergeant at the Pueblo correction facility, filed a formal complaint of discrimination against the DOC and the State of Colorado that WINS is “forcing” non-members to join if they want a voice in decisions about their work environment.

Here is the formal complaint by Sgt. Jeff Hotchkiss:

“On December 15, 2009 at about 0550 a.m. in the San Carlos roll call room I (Jeff Hotchkiss) along with all day shift staff were addressed by Bob Cantwell, Director of Prisons and Lou Archuleta, Deputy Director of Prisons. The meeting was concerning the upcoming vote by staff to obtain their opinion of going to twelve hour shifts. Also present were Gabe Hernandez and a Mr. Parker representing the Employee’s Organization (WINS). All staff were notified at that time that there would be a vote concerning the (MSP) Multi-Shift pilot program. We were also told that only WINS member’s would be allowed to vote. We were told that if you want to have a say, join WINS. Several people voiced their anger about the vote. I also spoke up and stated that what they were purposing was wrong.

“It was clearly a decided issue and our protests were in vein. Having top D.O.C. officials present added an intimidating factor to the meeting. The action taken was discriminatory in nature and created a hostile work environment. On December 17, 2009 the WINS vote was conducted, discriminating against employees and myself for not being members of their organization. Direct violation of Administrative Regulation 1450-05, Dept. Vision and Values statements, State Personnel Rules and Governor Executive Order D 028 07. I felt like I was being forced to join the Employee’s Organization and being intimidated by top D.O.C. officials. I personally, was emotionally shocked by the presentation. I cannot believe the gall and arrogance of the D.O.C. and WINS to stand up and blatantly discriminate against me and fellow staff. I found the presentation and the vote to be offensive and against, what any reasonable person would consider fair and or just.” [I edited this to protect other state employees by removing their names.]

I will provide more information as it comes in.

Is this how you want WINS to represent YOU???  This is what’s coming!  A small handful of disgruntled employees will do what they want unless you join with them and pay dues of 1% of your gross salary.

What can we do about it?  We can vote them out!  I hope to present an opportunity soon that will allow us to vote WINS out.  Watch for updates on the website.  Tell your friends to get on my email list or to watch the website, too.

Dave Ohmart

The Biggest Loser

coloradoloses@comcast.net