Is Colorado a Right to Work State? Union Dues Rules (2026)

What Right to Work Means for Colorado Union Members

Ask ten Colorado workers whether they can be required to pay union dues and you will get ten different answers – and most will be wrong. Colorado sits in a category almost no other state shares.

A right to work law bans agreements that make paying union dues or fees a condition of keeping your job. Federal law leaves that choice to each state. Under 29 U.S.C. § 164(b), federal law does not authorize agreements requiring union membership where state law bans them. Colorado never passed that ban, so union security agreements stay legal here – with strings attached. Workers weighing right to work vs at will rules often assume the two labels travel together, but they answer separate questions.

What Colorado guarantees is choice. C.R.S. § 8-3-106 gives employees the right to organize, join labor organizations and bargain collectively through representatives they choose freely. It also says each employee may refrain from those activities, calling these essential rights.

Where Colorado Stands Under the Labor Peace Act

The Labor Peace Act is the middle path. Under C.R.S. § 8-3-108(1)(c)(I), an employer commits an unfair labor practice by encouraging or discouraging union membership through discrimination in hiring, tenure or other terms of employment. The exception is narrow – an all-union agreement is allowed only if employees approve it by secret ballot in an election supervised by the division director.

C.R.S. § 8-3-104(1.5) defines an all-union agreement broadly as any contract provision creating union security that compels an employee's financial support or allegiance to a labor organization. That covers union shops, agency shops requiring a payment in lieu of dues without membership, prehire agreements, maintenance of dues and maintenance of membership.

No employer is forced into one. C.R.S. § 8-3-109(1) says refusing to grant a closed shop or all-union agreement is not an unfair labor practice.

How the Two Election Union Process Works in Colorado

Certifying a union is only the first step. Collecting mandatory dues or fees takes a second, separate vote, and the threshold is steep. The all-union agreement needs an affirmative vote from at least a majority of all eligible employees, or three-quarters or more of those who actually voted, whichever number is greater.

Where a bargaining unit is already recognized or certified under sections 8 or 9 of the National Labor Relations Act, no fresh certification election is needed first, and only employees in that unit may vote. Workers can also undo the deal. Under C.R.S. § 8-3-108(1)(c)(III)(B), the employer or 20% of covered employees may petition to revoke an all-union agreement, and the director must end it if that same threshold is not met again.

Timing matters. The petition window runs between 120 and 105 days before the contract ends or before a triennial anniversary, and the division must finish the election within 60 days of that date. A unit votes once per contract term at most, or once every three years for longer agreements.

Union Dues Rules for Public and Private Sector Workers

Dues deduction is governed separately. Under C.R.S. § 8-3-108(1)(i), an employer covered by the Labor Peace Act commits an unfair labor practice by deducting union dues or assessments from your earnings unless it holds an individual order you signed personally. That order stays terminable at any time, as long as you give at least 30 days of written notice.

Two other rules round out the picture:

• An employer may not enter an all-union agreement in any manner other than the election process, under C.R.S. § 8-3-108(1)(e).
• Under C.R.S. § 8-2-102, no individual, company or corporation may prevent employees from joining a lawful labor organization or coerce them by discharging or threatening to discharge them over that connection.

That second protection carries teeth. C.R.S. § 8-2-103 makes violating section 8-2-102 a class 2 misdemeanor.

Right to Work Versus At Will Employment in Colorado

These two ideas get mixed up constantly. Right to work asks whether you can be required to pay a union to keep your job. At will employment asks whether an employer needs a reason to end the job.

Colorado's labor statutes answer the first question, while the answer to the second is that Colorado is an at will state with narrow limits – an employer may not fire or threaten to fire you over your connection with a lawful union, society or political party. If that happens, C.R.S. § 8-3-110 lets an unfair labor practice complaint go to the division on a written form, while preserving your right to seek relief in court first. C.R.S. § 8-3-121 also gives anyone injured by an unfair labor practice a right of action against everyone who took part.

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