In today’s News and Commentary, unions in Colorado urge Governor Polis to sign Senate Bill 5, more than 1200 Starbucks workers go on strike, and IATSE calls on President Trump to reinstate Shira Perlmutter.

On Tuesday, labor unions in Colorado rallied to urge Governor Jared Polis to sign Senate Bill 5, which would repeal Colorado’s Labor Peace Act. As Miriam discussed, the Labor Peace Act requires Colorado workers who win an election for recognition to hold a second election with a higher 75% threshold to establish a union security agreement. Colorado is the only state with such requirement. While the bill passed the House and Senate earlier this month, Governor Polis has indicated he is likely to veto the bill because it lacks support from the business community. Only 7.7% of Colorado workers are union members, compared to 9.9% of workers across the country. According to a study from the Colorado Fiscal Institute, 68% of unions that sought the second election required under the Labor Peace Act met the 75% bar to win union security agreements. An additional 23% had majority support but did not meet the higher threshold. Governor Polis has until June 6^th to veto the bill. Sponsors of the bill have indicated that they will reintroduce the legislation each year until it passes, while President of SEIU Local 105, Stephanie Felix-Sowy, reaffirmed that labor will continue pursuing a ballot measure for just cause protection in 2026, as Henry previously reported.

After Starbucks’ new dress code went into effect on May 12^th, more than 1200 Starbucks employees have gone on strike. At the end of April, Starbucks Workers United filed a charge with the NLRB in response to Starbucks’ policy. According to the union, Starbucks unilaterally enacted the change without bargaining. For the workers, the strike is not only about what they wear under their aprons, but also about autonomy and working conditions. Paige Summers, a Starbucks shift supervisor in Maryland, said “Starbucks has lost its way. Instead of listening to baristas who make the Starbucks experience what it is, they are focused on all the wrong things, like implementing a restrictive new dress code.” Starbucks Workers United stated, “we’re not just walking out over a shirt color. Starbucks is a massive company that refuses to focus on what’s important. Customers and baristas alike want fully staffed stores, lower prices and wait times, and workers to be taken care of.” While Starbucks indicated that workers would each receive two shirts to offset the costs of the change, the union claims that not all workers have been able to access the company-provided shirts.

IATSE joined the American Federation of Musicians to call on the Trump Administration to reinstate Shira Perlmutter, the head of the US Copyright Office. President Trump’s firing of Shira Perlmutter came soon after she released a report suggesting that training AI models on copyrighted materials might run afoul of fair use laws. According to IATSE, her firing “does not appear to be lawful or legitimate” because the Copyright Office is not under the executive branch.