Working people across the United States regularly step up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our Service & Solidarity Spotlight series, we’ll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story.
Leaders at the Colorado AFL-CIO and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 105 have proposed a ballot measure that would make Colorado the second state in the country to have just-cause employment.
In 49 U.S. states, employers can fire a worker at any point, for any reason (or no reason at all). Initiative 43 would prohibit companies with more than eight staff from terminating or suspending a worker without performance reason—including things like repeated policy violations and gross insubordination. If the measure makes it on to the 2026 ballot and Colorado voters pass it, workers also would be able to sue for wrongful dismissal and employers could be required to reinstate workers, pay them back pay and cover the fees incurred by workers’ attorneys.
“Colorado workers should expect common-sense workplace protections that prevent them from being unfairly fired,” said Dennis Dougherty, executive director of the Colorado AFL-CIO. “Bad-faith employers arbitrarily fire workers to undermine worker rights, derail union organizing and take in record profits.”