Mediation. — Colorado Code § 8-3-113

§ 8-3-113. Mediation.

(1) The director has power to appoint any competent, impartial, disinterested person to act as mediator in any labor dispute either upon his own initiative or upon the request of one of the parties to the dispute. It is the function of such mediator to bring the parties together voluntarily under such favorable auspices as will tend to effectuate settlement of the dispute, but neither the mediator nor the director has any power of compulsion in mediation proceedings. The director shall provide necessary expenses and order reasonable compensation for such mediators as he may appoint.

(2) Where, as provided by this article, the exercise of the right to strike by the employees of any employer engaged in the state of Colorado in the production, harvesting, or initial processing, the latter after leaving the farm, of any farm or dairy product produced in this state would tend to cause the destruction or serious deterioration of such product, the employees shall give to the division at least thirty days' notice of their intention to strike, and, in the case of employees in all other industries or occupations, at least twenty days' notice of their intention to strike. The division shall immediately notify the employer of the receipt of such notice. Upon receipt of such notice, the director shall take immediate steps to effect mediation, if possible. In the event of the failure of the efforts to mediate, the director shall endeavor to induce the parties to arbitrate the controversy. Any strike called or made effective before the expiration of twenty days from the date of such notice shall constitute an unfair labor practice.

(3) Where the exercise of the right to strike is desired by the employees of any authority, the employees or their representatives shall file with the division written notice of intent to strike not less than forty calendar days prior to the date contemplated for such strike. Within twenty days of the filing of the notice, the director shall enter an order allowing or denying the strike based on the grounds of whether or not such strike would interfere with the preservation of the public peace, health, and safety in accordance with rules and regulations of the division. Any order denying a strike under this section shall include an order to arbitrate in accordance with section 8-3-112. Such arbitration shall be entered into not later than one hundred days from the filing of the notice of intent to strike. Immediately upon receipt of a notice of intent to strike, the director shall take steps to effect mediation, if possible. In the event of failure to mediate, the director shall endeavor to induce the parties to arbitrate the controversy. Any strike before the expiration of forty days from the giving of notice of intent to strike or in violation of an order of the director, unless such order is changed on appeal or otherwise, shall constitute an unfair labor practice.

(4) The division shall prescribe reasonable rules of procedure for mediation under this section.

Source: L. 43: p. 410, § 11. CSA: C. 97, § 94(11). CRS 53: § 80-5-11. C.R.S. 1963: § 80-4-11. L. 65: p. 813, § 5. L. 69: p. 601, § 79. L. 86: (3) and (4) amended, p. 471, § 27, effective July 1.

ANNOTATION

This section is constitutional. Reg'l Transp. Dist. v. Dept. of Labor, 830 P.2d 942 (Colo. 1992).

The Labor Peace Act provides that the director may deny the right to strike under circumstances that would interfere with the public peace, health, and safety, but balances the denial with the provision for mandatory arbitration. Reg'l Transp. v. Dept. of Labor, 830 P.2d 942 (Colo. 1992).

The reference to "employees in all other industries or occupations" in this section is so clear and so unambiguous as to the intention of the general assembly not to restrict the labor peace act to only industry and trade that it is unnecessary to even consider the usual rules of construction where ambiguities and uncertainties are found in statutory provisions. Indus. Comm'n v. Wallace Vill. for Children, 165 Colo. 10, 437 P.2d 62 (1968).

Declaratory judgment as to validity of subsection (2) refused in absence of concrete situation. Am. Fed'n of Labor v. Reilly, 113 Colo. 90, 155 P.2d 145 (1944).