The newly formed Boulder County Employees Union is accusing the county of failing to negotiate in good faith and delaying unnecessarily while staffing cuts are being made. County officials dispute the claims, saying delays are typical for a first contract and are compounded by a major budget deficit.
The union represents more than 1,400 employees, in what appears to be the largest union of county workers to form in Colorado since the passage of a new state law. It formed in January 2025 with a 442-221 vote. But the county’s legal challenge over whether Boulder County Housing Authority and Boulder County Public Health employees could be included stalled negotiations for months, even after the state Department of Labor ruled in the union’s favor. The county appealed, but in May, a Denver District Court judge denied BCHA and BCPH’s request to halt bargaining.
Union representatives allege the delay is evidence of bad-faith negotiating, as are what they describe as long gaps between county responses and a lack of counterproposals on key issues…