In several articles published during August, the Rocky Mountain News repeated the apparent Republican talking point that organized labor-related proposals reportedly being considered by Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter would make Colorado a “union paradise.” The newspaper also shared with GOP lawmakers pre-publication information it obtained through its reporting -- later publishing an article on the resulting Republican criticisms -- and published a news article featuring a headline and content similar to a GOP-generated online article from the previous day.

The articles generally covered what the News called in an August 28 piece by reporter Chris Barge "[r]evelations this month of new, pro-union policies and partnerships in state government [that] have drawn Republican complaints." The News published several articles by Barge over a two-week period that covered the “complaints” of numerous state GOP lawmakers, along with responses from Ritter's office or other Democrats.

The issues included what Senate Minority Leader Andy McElhany (R-Colorado Springs) described in the August 28 article as “recurring rumors that there is a major collective bargaining bill to organize employees at every level of state government.” Another issue was a proposed set of guidelines from Colorado Department of Personnel and Administration's director Bill Gonzales, that, as the News reported, “would require the state to provide employee organizations with space to hold meetings, e-mail addresses of all employees and use of state mailrooms.”

In Barge's articles published on August 11, August 15, August 18, and August 24, the News repeated a form of the phrase “union paradise” used to criticize the real and rumored proposals, but attributed it only to unnamed “Republicans” and did not place the phrase in quotation marks. (A photo caption accompanying the August 15 article did state that Republican Sen. “Josh Penry [R-Fruita] says policy would make state a union paradise.” An August 19 News editorial on the subject did put the phrase in quotation marks.) At no point did the articles elaborate on what would constitute a “union paradise” or how the proposals being discussed would turn Colorado into one. The News also reported in its August 11 piece criticism of the labor access guidelines proposed by Gonzales, which GOP lawmakers expressed after the newspaper showed them a copy of the rules it had “obtained.”

From the August 11 article “GOP irate at union access”:

Colorado will be turned into a union paradise under a proposed policy formalizing union access to state employees, angry Republicans say.

The new guidelines, put forth by Colorado Department of Personnel and Administration Director Bill Gonzales, would require the state to provide employee organizations with space to hold meetings, e-mail addresses of all employees and use of state mailrooms.

Gonzales, an appointee of Gov. Bill Ritter, says he wrote the policy in response to confusion expressed by several state department directors over how to deal with requests by union organizations to communicate with state employees.

“It's not political, for sure,” he said. “It really is in response to an issue.”

Republicans, who read the rules obtained by the Rocky Mountain News, said Friday that they amounted to a back-room administrative fiat by a Democratic administration trying to pay back the public employee unions that helped elect Ritter.

From the August 15 article “Public meetings urged on union plan”:

Republicans urged Gov. Bill Ritter on Tuesday to hold public meetings across Colorado to scrutinize a proposed policy that would formalize union access to state employees.

The new guidelines, by Colorado Department of Personnel and Administration Director Rich Gonzales, would require the state to provide employee organizations with space to hold meetings, e-mail addresses of all employees and use of state mailrooms.

Republicans charge the policy will turn Colorado into a union paradise. Democrats, meanwhile, defend the new rules as a sensible interpretation of state law.

In an e-mail to Ritter's legislative liaison, state Sen. Josh Penry, R-Fruita, asked the governor to put the policy on hold and open it up to a 120-day, statewide public comment period.

From the August 18 article “Scope of union plan narrowed”:

A proposed policy that Republicans said would turn Colorado into a union paradise will now apply only to employees of one state department, its author said Friday.

The guidelines, put forth by Colorado Department of Personnel and Administration Director Rich Gonzales, would have required the state to provide employee organizations with e-mail addresses of all employees, use of state mailrooms and space to hold meetings.

But after receiving legal counsel this week, Gonzales said he learned that he did not have the authority to institute the policy statewide. It will therefore apply only to his department, he said. Republicans praised Gonzales.

From the August 24 article “Ritter gives it right back to GOP critics of union stance”:

Gov. Bill Ritter's office put Republican critics on notice Thursday that a new, more labor-friendly day has dawned in Colorado state government.

The message of no apologies came in response to two weeks of complaints by Republican state legislators that Ritter's administration was turning the state into a paradise of unprecedented access for unions.

“Gov. Ritter is the new chief administrative officer of state government and he believes that moving in this new direction will be good for the public and will be good for state government employees,” said his spokesman, Evan Dreyer.

State Sen. Shawn Mitchell, R-Broomfield, called the justification for the administration's recent pro-union concessions “ridiculous.”

In the August 19 editorial, headlined “State opens door too wide for unions,” the News again used the “union paradise” phrase, and again attributed it only to unnamed Republicans:

Will the proposed policy that would expand the access unions have to state employees truly make Colorado a “union paradise,” as Republicans claim? Is it Gov. Bill Ritter's “thank you” to organized labor for its help in his winning election?

Or is it merely the much-needed clarification of existing rules that Democrats and labor leaders contend?

Here's one clue: The new policy grants public employee unions far more operating latitude than unions in private settings usually enjoy. Indeed, union organizers would have such pervasive access that they could become an intrusive, even intimidating presence for some workers.

The News article of August 28 echoed an online article appearing August 27 on Colorado Senate News, a website run by the state Senate Minority Office. The Colorado Senate News piece was headlined “Senate GOP calls on guv to 'come clean' on his promises to big labor” and quoted McElhany extensively:

Following yet another disclosure that the Ritter administration is doing the bidding of labor unions that are trying to organize state employees, Senate Republicans are demanding a public disclosure of all the promises the governor has made to his union backers.

“Every time you turn around, this administration is playing footsie with the unions,” Senate GOP leader Andy McElhany, of Colorado Springs, said today. “How many other deals have they made with big labor? It is time for the governor to come clean.”

[...]

The developments come in the wake of an executive order by Ritter last March that allowed union dues to be automatically withdrawn from paychecks. Meanwhile, the administration's union-friendly policies come amid recurring reports that Ritter and fellow ruling Democrats in the legislature will for the first time ever allow unions to collectively bargain pay and benefits on behalf of public employees at every level of government.

“The consequences would be disastrous for Colorado taxpayers, from every city hall to the statehouse and back again,” McElhany said. “Payroll is the biggest operating cost of any organization, and with unions holding out for ever more pay hikes to government employees, you can be sure the cost of government would skyrocket.”

Similarly, the News article published one day later was headlined “GOP leader urges Ritter to 'come clean' on labor stance” and also quoted McElhany:

Colorado's highest-ranking Republican senator demanded Monday that Gov. Bill Ritter “come clean on his promises to big labor.”

Senate Minority Leader Andy McElhany, R-Colorado Springs, said he and other Republican lawmakers are fearful that revelations over the past two weeks about Ritter's concessions to unions are but a prelude to a bigger payoff to come.

“The most disturbing thing is, we keep hearing recurring rumors that there is a major collective bargaining bill to organize employees at every level of state government,” McElhany said, calling it a “budget-buster.”