Challenged to come up with an alternative to Colorado WINS…
I offer this:
The Losers’ Plan
Create a Board of Employees
· This Board is not appointed by the governor nor confirmed by the general assembly. The Board is elected by coworkers to serve a one-year term (limited to 2 terms). Each department has a member who represents that group: Labor & Employment, DPA, DOT, Revenue, Education…etc
· That Board elects a Chairperson who presents our needs to a lobbyist. Yes…a lobbyist who takes our concerns to the General Assembly and the Governor.
· The Board is funded by a $1 Monthly fee paid by ALL employees below appointed positions. (Senior staff is now exempt from WINS representation.) That comes to $384,000 to pay for the Lobbyist and operating cost of the Board: travel, office expenses, and a small staff. A lobbyist can cost from $100k-$150k annually. A savings of many millions of dollars compared to the dues of WINS members which is currently 1% of employee salaries.
· The Chairperson has privileges from his/her job to travel the state to interact with state employees and their Board members to learn their issues and take them to the lobbyist.
Join with me as I prepare to push for this new idea!
A fresh, bold approach
to true representation of state employees.
David Ohmart
The Biggest Loser