Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Legislative Workers Win Voluntary Union Recognition from Denver

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.

Legislative Workers of Denver, represented by The NewsGuild-CWA, received voluntary recognition from the Denver City Council and Denver Mayor Mike Johnston. The union is a collective group of part-time and full-time staff who provide specialized, professional-level work to support Denver’s 13 elected City Council members.

“We are seeking this bargaining unit as an extension of that commitment to Denverites and the elected officials we support,” workers wrote in a letter. “We believe that a workforce imbued with bargaining rights and negotiated outcomes is a more resilient and effective workforce. We believe this unit and the outcomes of a formal negotiation will raise the retention rates among staffers, improve living conditions for our members, protect institutional knowledge of the legislative branch, and enhance the impacts we can make together for Denverites.”

The Denver City Council unanimously referred Ballot Measure 2U, establishing collective bargaining rights for city employees, to Denver voters in November 2024. Voters overwhelmingly approved it, supporting public workplace democracy.