Estimated read time: 6-7 minutes
- Opponents of HB267 are intensifying signature collection efforts for a referendum.
- Protect Utah Workers aims to double signatures before Tuesday's deadline, amid opposition.
- Conservative groups counter by urging Utahns not to sign, citing what they say is misleading information.
SALT LAKE CITY — Opponents of a bill stripping Utah public unions of bargaining rights are ramping up efforts to collect signatures this weekend ahead of the deadline to qualify for a referendum asking voters to overturn the law.
The Protect Utah Workers coalition announced last month it had already collected nearly 130,000 signatures — of the approximately 141,000 necessary — but hoped to double that number before Tuesday's deadline. The group has decided against providing further updates on the number of signatures because several groups are combatting their efforts, but a spokeswoman for the largest teacher union said they're "confident" the referendum will qualify.
"We're feeling pretty good about this, and we think we'll be successful," said Hailey Higgins, with the Utah Education Association.
Union members and volunteers will be out in force along the Wasatch Front this weekend looking to collect signatures from supporters, according to Donavan Minutes, a Salt Lake firefighter and member of the IAFF Local 81.
"We've had groups just go out and try to hit different hot spot areas within Salt Lake City to try to collect those necessary signatures," he said. "And then outlying counties where people live, they've been great on going to those places and being representatives in their own community to get these signatures."
One of those "hot spot areas" organizers are hoping to capitalize on is a Sunday afternoon rally in Salt Lake City with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, both of whom have been supportive of organized labor. Protect Utah Workers is circulating a petition for volunteers to help collect signatures outside of the Huntsman Center — where the rally will be held — according to Higgins.
"That's just one of many events that are happening over the next few days where people are signing up and volunteers are planning to be out gathering signatures during this final push," she said, adding that supporters can visit the group's website to find local signing events near them.
Some Utahns are hopeful that Sanders will use his megaphone to boost efforts to overturn HB267. Caroline Gleich, who ran for U.S. Senate as a Democratic last year, is one of them. She'll be one of the locals who will address the rally crowd on Sunday, and said HB267 is "really devastating for Utah workers."
"One of my best friends is a teacher, and part of the reason that she's able to provide as a single mom ... to her son is because of the power of union bargaining, of union negotiation," she said. "So, I hope that (Sanders) will make a shoutout to get folks to sign the referendum, because there's just a few more days left for that."
As Protect Utah Workers intensifies efforts to place a referendum of HB267 on the 2026 ballot, a pair of conservative organizations are trying to counter those efforts by encouraging Utahns not to sign the referendum petitions or to contact their county clerk to remove their name if they have already done so.
Americans for Prosperity-Utah — the Lehi-based chapter of Americans for Prosperity, a conservative advocacy group founded by the Koch Brothers — is promoting a "Decline to Sign" pledge, arguing that the bill gives power to individual workers to negotiate with employers.
Utah Parents United says some signers of the petition have been misled by organizers and is urging people to have their names removed from the petitions, according to its president, Corinne Johnson. She said teachers' unions have put the desires of educators over those of parents and kids in Utah, to the detriment of students.
That divide became evident during the COVID-19 pandemic, she said, when the UEA called on the governor to delay in-person classes.
"When parents were fighting to keep schools open, to keep our kids in schools and to allow us to decide whether they were masked or vaxxed, the unions pushed really hard to keep our schools shut," Johnson said.
Not enough is being made of provisions in the bill that prohibit public funds or resources from being used to administer or organize unions, according to Johnson, which is why Utah Parents United is running a counter-referendum awareness campaign called "Kids Not Unions." She said she has been contacted by several parents who signed the referendum petition not understanding the full scope of HB267, and encouraged signees to consider having their names removed.
It's hard to quantify how impactful the movement has been, but Johnson is optimistic that the referendum effort will fail and — even if it does qualify for the ballot — she thinks voters will see her side.
Protect Utah Workers has received more than $2 million in contributions, including more than half a million from the National Education Association, but Johnson said she expects money to pour in on both sides if the referendum qualifies.
"We feel very strongly that we have the winning argument," she said. "We'll definitely be ramping up some of those measures to be able to get this message out. We're going to be competing with unlimited money. ... Bernie Sanders is flying in to help them gather signatures. ... We will be really focused on that, to fundraise and educate parents for that next year and a half."
"We can support teachers. We love our teachers," she added. "We can be pro-teacher and anti-union. Just because we don't support the union on this issue doesn't mean that we are against public education or against teachers. It's actually the opposite."
But supporters of the referendum drive say they have been buoyed by the strong support they have received so far.
"It's really been humbling on all the people that we've had come out, the comments that they make and the support that they've been given," said Mike Evans, the president of the Utah School Employees Association and a maintenance worker with the Weber School District. His organization represents some 3,500 cafeteria workers, bus drivers and custodial workers in state schools.
"The support's been overwhelming," Minutes added. "There's a lot of people from all different walks of life who are kind of coming together for this, protecting the workers and letting us have a voice."
Organizers can collect signatures through Tuesday, and plan to hand over the signature packets to the state for verification on Wednesday. Officials will then have until June 21 to verify the results. If the referendum qualifies, voters will have the chance to vote it up or down in the 2026 general election.
Correction: An earlier version incorrectly stated the "Decline to Sign" campaign was sponsored by the Americans for Prosperity Foundation. The campaign is run by Americans for Prosperity-Utah, a local chapter of Americans for Prosperity, but is not associated with the Americans for Prosperity Foundation.
