The Strange Case of the Colorado Labor-Business Coalition

by: Dana Goldstein, The American Prospect After a news conference Thursday, hotelier Walter Isenberg (right) congratulates Hogan & Hartson attorney Ted Trimpa for his successful negotiations with organized labor over contentious ballot initiatives. (Photo: Brian Brainerd / The Denver Post) In the Rocky Mountain swing state, business leaders are working alongside unions to defeat a right-to-work ballot initiative. But that doesn't mean Colorado is friendly to organized labor. Inside one of the wackiest political compromises in history. With markets plummeting, financial firms failing, and both presidential campaigns running television ads vilifying corporate executives, it seemed like a natural time to pass the nation's strictest ever corporate malfeasance laws. That's what pro-labor groups committed over $3 million to do this... [read full story]