Council Set to Introduce Issue at July 17th Meeting
Face the State Staff Report
GREELEY – Thousands of Greeley residents are calling on city leaders to prohibit private organizations, including labor unions, from being able to automatically deduct funds from the paychecks of city employees.
More than 3,000 residents have signed on in support of a petition asking the Greeley City Council to eliminate an existing municipal provision that allows private organizations, including labor unions, to automatically deduct membership dues from employee checks. A new proposed change would prohibit all paycheck deductions not required by law, with one exception: automatic contributions to private charities, provided the employee annually authorizes the contribution in writing. Mandated deductions, such as wage garnishments, would be unaffected by the change.
The council will introduce the proposed ordinance change on July 17th, where it may approve the change, call for a public hearing on the issue in August, or send the matter before voters this November.
Petition backers, like former postal worker and Greeley resident Abe Villarreal, say the issue comes down to an employee’s ability to decide how best to disperse his or her money. “I am not anti-union, I belonged to a union while working for the U.S. Postal Service. But I like to have a say on how or why money is taken out of my paycheck. I just don’t like anyone getting into anyone else’s pocket.”
Villarreal calls the petition drive a push for good government. He contends city employees can pay union or association dues on their own without city assistance. “I am all for the fact that people might want to make contributions,” he added. “That is fine. Just give me a choice. Not just me, but everyone else, especially a city employee.”
The Greeley ordinance would only affect members of the local police force. Greeley officers are the only city employees who have union dues automatically removed from their paychecks.
Petition backers also argue that taxpayer money shouldn't be used, as it is currently, to fund a deduction process that benefits any private organization, including unions. They contend that union or association members can pay dues through banks or credit unions.
The head of the police association, Steve Perkins, disagrees. He says the current system carries no real burden and is actually the most convenient method to collect association dues.
The Greeley petition drive echoes similar measures in several other Colorado communities. El Paso County Commissioners recently approved a measure that prevents payroll deductions except for those required by federal law or court order.
Kathay Rennels, a Larimer County Commissioner, said public officials rejected an automatic deduction practice years ago after members of the Teamsters Union raised the idea.
“It would be inappropriate to do that here,” Rennels said. “It is not an appropriate use of taxpayer dollars. It would be no different if we took out dues for unions or the Elks Club. We just don’t do that.”
In 2001, then-Gov. Bill Owens, a Republican, signed an executive order restricting the use of the state payroll system for automatic deductions of union dues. Democrat Gov. Bill Ritter, however, reversed the order after being elected last November.
“In the first month after it (Owens’ executive order) went into effect, membership in the state employees association dropped by two-thirds,” said Ben DeGrow, a policy analyst with the Independence Institute, a Colorado-based free market think tank that backs the Greeley petition drive.
DeGrow said limited government involvement and "not union bashing," remains the core point behind the push to end automatic payroll deductions in Greeley.
“It does not matter if the deductions are for a union,” De Grow added. “It could be for the NRA or the ACLU. The question is: Why should the government take out money for a private group when that service is easily duplicated in the private sector?”
According to DeGrow, efforts similar to the one in Greeley are being pursued in other states, including Michigan and Ohio, according to DeGrow.
"The whole purpose of this (ordinance) is to affirm an employee's right to support groups they want to support," said DeGrow. "If anyone wants to set up special arrangements to make payments to a charity, they can set it up very easily."