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Utah Senate proposal lets public unions keep collective bargaining, with caveats

An educator holds a sign that says “HB267 has Zero Rizz” on the steps of the Utah Capitol, Jan. 31, 2025.
Martha Harris
/
KUER
An educator holds a sign that says “HB267 has Zero Rizz” on the steps of the Utah Capitol, Jan. 31, 2025.

Update Feb. 5: Senate leadership said they aren't seeing the consensus they want on the compromise bill and they are prepared to move forward with the ban. Our original story continues below.


The push to bar public sector unions from collective bargaining has reached a temporary moment of detente at the Utah Legislature.

Just a day earlier during debate, Senate Majority Leader Kirk Cullimore said a substitute version of the bill would be introduced. With the new text in hand, the Republican senator also hit the legislative pause button.

“We just want to ensure that everybody has an opportunity to look at [the substitute],” he told his colleagues on the floor. “So for right now, we're just going to circle the bill today and address this once everybody's had an opportunity.”

Unlike the version that passed the House, the Senate proposal would still allow collective bargaining if a majority of employees — not just union members — vote in favor of union representation. In a school district, for example, that would mean more than 50% of teachers would need to vote for it. A third party would have to facilitate the election and those who don’t vote would be counted as ‘no’ votes. Starting in 2026, a recertification vote would have to happen every five years.

Senate Majority Leader Kirk Cullimore moved to circle HB267 on the Senate floor, Jan. 31, 2025. The hotly contested bill would’ve banned public labor unions from collective bargaining. Cullimore said he wanted to give others time to review a substitute version that would keep collective bargaining.
Martha Harris
/
KUER
Senate Majority Leader Kirk Cullimore moved to circle HB267 on the Senate floor, Jan. 31, 2025. The hotly contested bill would’ve banned public labor unions from collective bargaining. Cullimore said he wanted to give others time to review a substitute version that would keep collective bargaining.

The original version outright banned the unions from collective bargaining. Teachers, firefighters and other public sector employees could still join a union, but they would have to negotiate for better wages on their own instead of through a union representation.

Before the Senate took to the floor on Jan. 31, more than 200 public labor union members waited outside the gallery doors. There were dozens of uniformed firefighters, public works employees in yellow construction vests and educators wearing red.

As business started and before the crowd was let into the gallery, the chant of union members could be heard through the doors.

“Solidarity forever! Solidarity forever! Solidarity forever! For the union makes us strong,” they sang.

Minority Leader Luz Escamilla told reporters Democrats will still likely oppose the bill since they do not want to make it harder for unions to be able to collectively bargain.

Cullimore said he’s heard from several public labor unions that they will be neutral on the new version. He told reporters the bill will likely be taken up again Feb. 3 or 4. If the Senate passes the substitute, it will go back to the House for another vote and then to the governor’s desk.

Utah firefighters sat in the Senate gallery waiting for debate and vote on a bill that could ban public unions from collective bargaining, Jan. 31, 2025.
Martha Harris
/
KUER
Utah firefighters sat in the Senate gallery waiting for debate and vote on a bill that could ban public unions from collective bargaining, Jan. 31, 2025.

If unions maintain the ability to collectively bargain, Senate Republicans want to make sure they represent at least half of employees.

He acknowledged that it will likely be easier for smaller groups, like 100-person fire departments, to meet that threshold than it will be for bigger school districts, which can have thousands of teachers. Cullimore said education is not a target and they don’t want to treat certain unions differently.

From the beginning, educators and other union members, however, felt lawmakers were using the bill as retaliation against the Utah Education Association. The state’s largest teachers union has sued the state over its largest voucher program, the Utah Fits All Scholarship. The union also challenged last year’s Amendment A in court, which would’ve removed the constitutional earmark on the state’s income tax revenue for education and certain social services.

Jack Tidrow, the president of the Professional Fire Fighters of Utah, told KUER his group is OK with the second substitute. This compromise meets the points he’s talked with lawmakers about in negotiations.

“It’s good because the main point is it does not prohibit collective bargaining,” he said.

Still, Tidrow will be back at the Capitol on Monday with other union members and said he’ll be there every day until the final vote happens.

Utah Education Association members and other public labor union employees gathered on the steps of the Utah Capitol after the Senate circled HB267, Jan. 31, 2025.
Martha Harris
/
KUER
Utah Education Association members and other public labor union employees gathered on the steps of the Utah Capitol after the Senate circled HB267, Jan. 31, 2025.

Some local education unions have also taken a neutral stance, according to Cullimore.

The Utah Education Association will take the weekend to analyze the changes before taking an official stance.

After the bill was circled, Renée Pinkney, the president of Utah’s teachers union, stood on the steps of the Capitol in front of dozens of educators and other union members to celebrate that the pressure they put on lawmakers is moving the needle. More than 15,000 people have signed the association’s petition opposing the bill.

“Lawmakers heard us, they heard you. And while this fight is not over, it's a testament to what's possible when public workers stand in solidarity,” Pinkney said.

Martha is KUER’s education reporter.
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