Public sector union referendum clears thresholds for ballot access

SALT LAKE CITY — Election officials have verified more than 146,000 signatures for the referendum to overturn a Utah bill restricting bargaining rights for public unions.

Unions have also cleared the thresholds of 8% of registered voters in 15 of the state’s 29 Senate districts, according to unofficial tracking from Morgan and May, a political consulting firm, likely putting the effort over the threshold for ballot access.

Organizers opposed to the referendum still have time to convince signees of the petition to remove their names and the results won’t be final until June, but the early results mean voters will likely have the chance to weigh in on keeping or repealing the law during the general election next November.

Utah lawmakers passed HB267 earlier this year after a back-and-forth with the major teachers’ union that offered the prospect of a compromise version of the bill. That compromise was never adopted, however, and lawmakers moved forward with the version that strips public unions of their ability to collectively bargain with employers to negotiate wages, benefits and other worker protections.

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Bill sponsor Rep. Jordan Teuscher, R-South Jordan, has said the bill is meant to save taxpayer money and protect public employees who are not part of a union.

“In most of those collective bargaining agreements, it spells out specifically that the union representation is the sole collective bargaining agent, meaning that the public employer is not able to negotiate with anyone else, other than union representatives,” he said in January.

Supporters also point to provisions in the law that prohibit employees from taking paid leave for union activities and require unions to pay to use spaces in public buildings that other groups must pay to access.

Teachers, police officers, firefighters and other public employees showed up regularly at the Capitol to oppose the bill, which they said took away their ability to advocate for better working conditions.

“(HB267) has stripped the voice of our heroes to advocate for their needs,” Utah Fraternal Order of Police President Kevin Murray told reporters at a press conference last month.

The Protect Utah Workers Coalition, a group of labor unions, filed for a referendum at the end of the recent legislative session and recently announced the collection of more than 320,000 signatures. If it qualifies, the referendum would be the first in Utah since the successful 2007 referendum to undo a private school voucher program.

Among those who signed the referendum are several Democratic state lawmakers and Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall. More than 60% of city employees belong to unions, and Mendenhall said in January HB267 would not stop her from her “commitment to treating our workers fairly.”