Newsletter | May 2026

This week, the Governor’s Office of Information Technology informed eight classified and 165 non-classified workers that they’re being laid off as part of a “strategic realignment.”

The execution of the decision was rushed at best, and sloppy at worst, with many employees left wondering what comes next. Some were told they were welcome to apply for 98 new non-classified positions being created–many have the exact same job titles.

The eight classified workers covered by our Partnership Agreement were at least given 45 days notice, and have a process to support finding them other positions with the state. Their declassified and unclassified co-workers, on the other hand, were given just two weeks notice and a small severance package.

That demonstrates the union difference and the strength of the classified system, something we are more determined than ever to expand now.

But the bottom line is that this is not how public sector restructuring should work. Yes, the CIO is also leaving, but what of all of the other senior decision-makers? It’s not the workers on help desks, or the workers who for years have been forced to fix parts of a broken system over and over again because senior management did not take action to actually fix the system sooner, who are to blame.

The state’s “strategic reset” identifies a number of senior management failures, such as operating in a “permanent state of incident response because the automation, testing, and monitoring that are baseline in the industry” aren’t in place; “years of not performing basic ongoing maintenance;” and “skilled agency teams” being treated “as a problem, not an asset.” “These are not personal failings,” the plan says. “They are the predictable output of a system that was designed for a different era and has not been redesigned for this one.”

The Governor’s statement emphasizes that the layoffs aren’t a reflection of the “talent or commitment of those affected.” If this is true, why are we punishing the workers for senior management’s shortsighted direction and poor prioritization? Why not layoff failed senior management first, and then train those skilled, talented, and committed workers to support the transition?

If the Governor is truly committed to being what he calls an employer of choice, he should be prioritizing rewarding the workers who’ve stuck it out as long as they have despite senior leadership failures. These workers are the most critical resource in executing our public mission, and whether classified, declassified, or non-classified, should never be treated as disposable.

Colorado cannot hold itself up as a model employer while simultaneously expanding a two-tiered system where workers can be restructured out of their rights overnight.

Our priority now will be to fight hard to stop the creation of non-classified positions that exist outside the reach of collective bargaining, and to compel the state to treat its workers like the investment they are, not a line item to be cut when leadership decides the org chart needs a refresh.