Harlen Ainscough is a Republican and a union member--and a very active one at that. When Colorado AFL-CIO officials approached Ainscough last December about chairing a newly formed Republican Labor Caucus, Ainscough consented.

I was "shocked by the instant interest in the caucus," says Ainscough, noting that the Republican Labor Caucus already has 75 members from 12 unions.

The caucus, he says, is made up of Republican activists who are "looking for balance." Specifically, the caucus is looking for more equity between corporate interests and the interests of working families.

"We need to mobilize our Republican union members so we [labor] are more than just a Democratic voice," says Ainscough, who is also vice president of the AFT Public Employees affiliate, the Colorado Federation of Public Employees (CFPE).

"The fact is, about 22 percent of the Colorado AFL-CIO is comprised of registered Republicans," says Ainscough. We are trying to get the word out that when [Republican lawmakers support] anti-worker, anti-family and anti-community legislation, they are not just affecting Democrats. They are affecting their fellow Republicans."

The top two caucus issues are right-to-work and paycheck deception. "Paycheck deception is the tool of the right-to-work" movement, Ainscough says. "[And] we know that single-issue politics--abortion and gun control--have been used to undermine worker and family issues."

The bottom line, Ainscough says, it that "we cannot support our hot-button issues if we don't have a paycheck, and we can't support [Republican candidates] on the things we have in common when they can't support us on the things that are important to our livelihoods and our communities."

To date, the caucus has sponsored several roundtable discussions with lawmakers, in addition to "Republican Labor Day," a lobbying event at the state capitol in February.

"We've let it be known that, Republican labor, oxymoron that it is, is taking a stand on the issues. We are trying to get with the Republicans in our Legislature and say, 'You have other constituents who are Republicans that you need and are accountable to.'"

Ainscough, who has worked for the state for 12 years, monitors the environmental cleanup at the Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Facility.