Utah Reverses Ban on Public Union Collective Bargaining

In a special Dec. 9 session, Utah lawmakers have rescinded legislation that aimed to prohibit the state’s public sector unions from collective bargaining. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed a bill repealing the original measure two days later.

Passed in February 2025, H.B. 267 amended several provisions governing Utah’s public employee, public safety and public fire labor organizations.

As reported by KUER 90.1, the bill passed “despite strong public opposition.”

“Opponents of the bill filled the Utah Capitol every time it was debated,” wrote KUER’s Martha Harris. “And every time the bill advanced a step further, firefighters in uniform and public works employees sat in the gallery shaking their heads in disapproval.”

A group of unions quickly coalesced to start a signature-gathering campaign for a ballot referendum to let voters decide whether to repeal the legislation.

“The groups turned in about 320,000 signatures, more than double the amount needed,” wrote Harris. “That secured the referendum’s spot on the 2026 ballot and also put the law on hold until then.”

Utah lawmakers’ vote to repeal “allows us to step back, to lower the temperature and to create space for a clearer and more constructive conversation,” Rep. Jordan Teuscher, who sponsored the bill in the Utah House, said during the Dec. 9 special session, adding that the original legislation was “good policy.”

Meanwhile, union leaders heralded the decision to repeal H.B. 267.

In a statement, American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten and AFT Utah President Brad Asay called it “a historic step in the right direction to return respect and dignity to the workers of Utah.

“Over 5,000 union activists worked hard to collect more than 300,000 signatures to return a voice at work for teachers and other public employees,” Weingarten and Asay said. “Because of that effort, we now have a legislature that has reversed itself and a pathway for collective bargaining in the future.”