firefighters

Farrell Hayes represents something that veteran firefighters say is harder to come by these days: a young person who wants to get involved in firefighting.

From tents in the park to lines at the cafe, residents in Enterprise have felt the impact of welcoming hundreds of firefighters to town. But they say it’s a small price to pay.

With a referendum challenge looking like it will be successful, Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson put the law on hold while signatures are being counted.

As of the morning of April 28, the labor groups hit the 8% target in 15 Senate districts, and 146,480 signatures have been verified.

The signatures turned in are more than double the 140,748 needed. The next step is signature verification, followed by 45 days when opponents can convince people to remove their names.

Labor groups have until April 15 to gather enough signatures to put Utah’s collective bargaining ban on the ballot.

Representatives from eight unions announced Wednesday they intend to file and collect signatures for a ballot statewide referendum to overturn HB267.

Utah’s governor said he was disappointed “the process did not ultimately deliver the compromise” that was on the table. The state’s largest teachers union said lawmakers have “ignored thousands of voices.”

The sound of hundreds of voices yelling “veto” could be heard on every floor of the Utah State Capitol Friday. Just a day before, lawmakers passed a bill to ban public labor union collective bargaining.

GOP leadership ditched a deal that would’ve allowed some collective bargaining because they didn’t get the positive response they wanted from unions and their members. Democrats and the state’s largest teachers union are asking Gov. Spencer Cox to veto the bill.

Senate Majority Leader Kirk Cullimore said he’s gotten mixed messages from public unions and their members on his proposal to allow some collective bargaining. Without a consensus, he said they’ll likely press ahead with a full ban.

Organized labor is having a moment in Utah politics right now.