Colorado labor unions rallied outside the governor’s residence in Denver Tuesday, making one last appeal to Democratic Governor Jared Polis to sign into law a bill passed by the Legislature to repeal a unique obstacle in state law for workers seeking to form a union.

“There is broad support for this from every corner of the state and everywhere in between,” state Senator Jessie Danielson, a Wheat Ridge Democrat and sponsor of Senate Bill 25-5, told a crowd of a few dozen advocates in Governor’s Park. “The public wants it. The workers need it. It’s the right thing to do, and the time is now. Governor Polis, sign the Worker Protection Act into law.”

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But Polis is expected to veto the measure, siding with business groups who want to preserve the state’s 80-year-old Labor Peace Act. Under that law, Colorado workers organizing a union must hold a second election and obtain 75 percent approval to determine if workers who don’t support the union would have to pay representation fees, a modified version of the so-called “right to work” rules enacted by many conservative states.

With a veto expected, supporters of SB-5 are instead turning their attention to the ballot box, where they hope to make gains on a different policy front in 2026. Initiative 43, a proposed ballot measure filed earlier this year, would require “just cause” for employee terminations, a significant change to the state’s at-will employment laws.

The measure would require private-sector employers to provide notice of 1 of 7 causes for termination, including willful misconduct, gross insubordination or “specific economic circumstances that directly and adversely affect the employer.” Fired employees who don’t believe their terminations met the just-cause criteria could file civil actions in state court seeking reinstatement or other relief.

The public wants it. The workers need it. It's the right thing to do, and the time is now. Governor Polis, sign the Worker Protection Act into law.

The initiative was approved for circulation by the state’s Title Board last month, and advocates began gathering petition signatures at Tuesday’s rally. To qualify for the 2026 ballot, the campaign will need to submit at least 124,238 valid signatures from registered Colorado voters before an October 24 deadline. As a statutory measure, it would become law with a simple majority vote.

The Colorado AFL-CIO, Service Employees International Union Local 105 and United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 are among the unions backing Initiative 43.

“At a moment when the nation has recognized that corporate billionaires are rigging the system against us, Coloradans came together to build solidarity, worker power and a fairer vision for our future,” Kim Cordova, president of UFCW Local 7, said in a statement. “This legislative session was the opportunity Colorado’s labor movement needed to build the power needed to pass pro-worker policies, whether through legislation or at the ballot.”