Legislature plans to repeal recent collective bargaining ban, but more reforms could be on the way

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s legislature plans to repeal a recent law that bans state employees from collective bargaining during Tuesday’s special session. However, that does not mean the legislature is done trying to reform the state’s union policies.

The legislature’s plan to repeal the law is beating voters to the punch. Earlier this year, more than 300,000 signatures were gathered to get this issue on the ballot in 2026. That is twice the number of signatures needed for a ballot referendum. 

Jessica Stauffer is the president of the local chapter of Communication Workers of America and is a part of the Protect Utah Workers Coalition. Stauffer told Inside Sources she is glad the legislature is making the decision to repeal the law itself.

 

“I honestly think that the legislators started listening to us,” Stauffer expressed. “We had over 5,000 volunteers and we gathered over 320,000 signatures and that’s a huge part of our population and workforce in the state.”

The bill’s original sponsor, Rep. Jordan Teuscher, R-South Jordan, told Inside Sources he believes a lot of people misunderstood what they were trying to do and saw the law as an attack on teachers, firefighters and other public employees.

“We have public workers who are not members of those unions, and they don’t feel like they have a voice in the process. They’re not represented at the table.” Teuscher said. “So how can we bridge that gap, by not taking away a voice from workers, which none of us want to see, but ensure all workers have a voice?”

Teuscher said the repeal is a show of good faith, so lawmakers can have more conversations with union leaders in future general sessions about what reforms will be best for Utah.

“Really in meeting with people across the state, we decided it would be better to take a reset, come back to the table, try to help everyone understand the issues that we’re trying to solve and make sure that we have the best approach moving forward, and that’s what you’ll see with the repeal,” Teuscher explained.

He said reforms are still in the works, though it is unclear if the revisions will be ready in time for the next general session. It is important to him that more public workers have a voice throughout their negotiating processes, even if they are not part of a union. He also thinks it’s important to end the practice of using public dollars to fund union activities.

However, Stauffer is optimistic that this repeal is a clean slate, and a step forward in building a better working relationship between union leaders and lawmakers. 

“This is really the beginning of this, not the end,” Stauffer said. “So I’m really hopeful that we can maintain a working relationship and come up with something that works for most Utahns.”