Worker Protection Act Passes Colorado Senate

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MEDIA RELEASE

May 1, 2026

Contact: Jenny Davies, 720-296-9545, [email protected]

Photo Courtesy of Centro de los Trabajadores – Colorado

Worker Protection Act Passes Colorado Senate

Will protect and expand worker rights, make it easier to organize

DENVER – Today – on International Workers’ Day – the Senate passed the Worker Protection Act, the priority bill for Colorado Worker Rights United and their worker, union activist, business owner, and grassroots organization members. Sponsored by Sens. Jessie Danielson and Iman Jodeh, it will protect and expand worker rights and make it easier to organize. Given national and state attention on workers squeezed by both low wages and the soaring cost of living, advocates have hope that Gov. Polis will side with everyday Coloradans rather than billionaires.

“The affordability crisis is real. Working families across the state are struggling to keep up with the rising costs of gas, rent, and groceries,” said sponsor Sen. Iman Jodeh. “Colorado’s outdated law makes it hard to form a strong union by requiring a second, supermajority election. We should get out of the way of workers like nurses and service workers trying to unionize so they can negotiate better pay and have a shot at the American dream.”

Powerful multinational corporate leaders use their money and influence to protect the status quo, keeping the rigged system delivering profits to themselves and shareholders instead of the people who do most of the work. These limits on workers’ rights to unionize mean that working families are struggling to pay for housing, healthcare, and other basic expenses.

“We want a chance to form the kind of union that can stand up to our billion-dollar corporate employer to negotiate wages that will let us pay our rent and put food on the table,” said Naomi Wilson, a Denver Starbucks barista. “A second, supermajority election benefits corporate profits but leaves us and our families scrambling to survive. We need our elected officials to stand up for workers, not billionaires.”

Last year, the Colorado Fiscal Institute published a report citing Economic Policy Institute data showing union workers earn 10% more than non-union ones with similar jobs and qualifications. Projections updated in 2026 show that if the bill passes, Colorado workers will earn $2,350 more per year, putting more than $6 billion annually in the pockets of CO working families. As compared with non-unionized peers, unionized workers are significantly more likely to receive employer-provided health insurance and retirement benefits, have a 13% better shot of their family owning a home, and have four times the household wealth ($201,250 vs $52,221).

“My union job meant my family stopped receiving eviction threats because I was finally able to pay all my bills at the end of each month,” said Justice Wilson, a Kaiser Permanente medical assistant. “Thanks to our strong union, I earn fair pay and health insurance that allows me and my three kids to thrive.”

Colorado Worker Rights United is a coalition of labor unions and community groups building worker power through organizing and solidarity in Colorado. CWRU is dedicated to modernizing Colorado’s labor laws to make it easier to organize and empower Colorado workers, 70,000 of whom are currently organizing to form a union.

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