Labor unions filing referendum against public sector collective bargaining law

SALT LAKE CITY — The fight against Utah’s public sector labor union bill isn’t over.

HB267, which bans public sector collective bargaining, was signed into law by Utah Gov. Spencer Cox last month. Collective bargaining occurs when an employer and a union come together to negotiate a contract for employees, but HB267 applies only to public sector labor unions.

On Wednesday, a coalition of labor union partners announced it would file a referendum to get the issue on the ballot and then later issued a statement saying the Utah Lieutenant Governor’s Office had “wrongfully rejected” its application.

The statement from Protect Utah Workers claims the office is “misinterpreting Utah law to require that we wait to file the application until after the legislative session ends.”

“The Legislature has already made it exceedingly difficult to qualify a referendum for the ballot, and this decision magnifies that challenge. Every day we have to gather signatures counts, but this will not stop us. We believe Utahns deserve the opportunity to decide on laws that directly impact them. Our focus remains on ensuring public employees and voters have a voice in decisions that affect our jobs and our communities,” the statement reads.

Lieutenant governor’s office responds to labor union concerns

For its part, the lieutenant governor’s office told KSL.com that state law requires an application to be filed “within five calendar days after the day on which the legislative session at which the law passed ends.”

“We have always interpreted and applied this to mean that a referendum may only be filed during the five-day window immediately following the end of the legislative session. We are sympathetic to the applicants’ sense of urgency and are committed to facilitating the process in a fair and expedient manner in accordance with the law,” a statement from Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson said.

The plan to file a referendum was announced earlier in the day by the coalition, which represents a diverse alliance of police, nurses, teachers and public sector employees. The group is “committed to restoring fairness and giving workers a stronger voice in Utah,” according to a release.

“Public employees serve our communities every day, but Utah lawmakers have silenced their voices by taking away their right to negotiate for fair wages, safe workplaces and better working conditions,” Renée Pinkney, president of the Utah Education Association, said in a statement. “This referendum allows Utah voters to right that wrong and ensure workers have a seat at the table.”

Multiple labor union representatives make up Protect Utah Workers

The labor unions behind Protect Utah Workers include the American Federation of Teachers Utah, Teamsters Local 222, AFSCME Local 1004, the Utah Education Association, CWA Local 7765, the Utah School Employees Association, the Utah Public Employees Association and the Salt Lake Valley Law Enforcement Association.

If their application is eventually approved, the group will launch a statewide effort to gather 141,000 signatures opposing the bill in 30 days.

“We have a plan, and we will execute that plan. We will be looking at data continuously as we move forward, and we are confident that we will be successful in this,” Pinkney said.

House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, said in a statement he “respects that referendums are an important part of the democratic process” and hopes “voters will study the issue, understand the debate and make an informed decision.”

Schultz’s sentiment was echoed by Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, who said, “Referendums are part of the process. I encourage voters to thoroughly research the issue at hand to make informed decisions.”

“Legislature did not listen to the constituents”

Brad Asay, president of the American Federation of Teachers Utah, said the coalition is resorting to the referendum because the Legislature “did not listen to the constituents when it came to HB267.”

“There was overwhelming opposition to this bill, and they (lawmakers) went ahead and it got passed anyway,” Asay said.

During the process, a “compromise” version of the bill that would have allowed labor unions to use collective bargaining if they had a majority of all employees vote for them failed to pass. The final version of the bill that passed brought back the complete ban on collective bargaining.

So, why didn’t the labor unions accept the compromise?

“We have a huge coalition, and the expectation was that we would all be neutral. And there were some organizations who opposed, and so they ran sub-one instead of sub-three,” Pinkney explained.

Protect Utah Workers will host signature collection events across the state — the first one is planned for March 15 — and provide training for those willing to help gather signatures.

“It’s been overwhelming, the support we’ve had out there from the public saying, ‘You know what? We love our public employees: firefighters, police, teachers, municipal workers,'” Asay said. “This is much bigger than that. This is the people of Utah having a voice and respecting their public employees.”

Contributing: Daniel Woodruff