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Business Groups Say No Deal To Pull Union Measures

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Oct 1, 2008 5:03 am US/Mountain

Business Groups Say No Deal To Pull Union Measures

DENVER (AP) ―

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Colorado business groups said Tuesday they failed to reach an agreement with unions to cancel a vote on competing ballot proposals, but a labor group said talks were continuing.

It's too late to remove the proposals from the ballot, but sponsors have until Thursday at 5 p.m. to request that votes on their ballot proposals not be counted.

At issue are seven labor-related measures on the November ballot.

One, championed by brewery heir Jonathan Coors, would prohibit mandatory union membership.

Labor groups have raised millions to fight it. They also countered by getting four worker-friendly measures on the ballot that worry business groups. They include a requirement that businesses with at least 20 employees provide health insurance and a ban on firing employees without a specific reason.

Union groups have signaled they're willing to withdraw their proposals if business groups will help them defeat the right-to-work ballot measure.

Sen. Ken Salazar, Rep. Ed Perlmutter, Gov. Bill Ritter and Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, all Democrats, issued a joint statement Tuesday urging both sides to "do the right thing and withdraw their initiatives."

They said they'll fight to defeat all the measures if the two sides can't reach an agreement.