In Case You Missed It: Recent Utah Law Bars Public Unions from Collective Bargaining

April 25, 2025

A new Utah state law, signed by Utah Governor Spencer Cox in February, prevents public unions from collective bargaining, effective July 1, 2025. A coalition of labor unions has now submitted 320,000 signatures in support of a ballot referendum to overturn the law, thought to be the most signatures ever gathered for such a referendum in the state. These must now be verified and if the state referendum requirements are met – after a required 45-day opportunity for signatories to choose to rescind their support – the new law will be put on hold until voters decide if they want to repeal it in the 2026 general election.

HB267, the “Public Sector Labor Union Amendments,” passed the Utah House of Representatives on January 27, 2025; the Utah Senate on February 6, 2025; and was signed into law on February 14, 2025. It would:

require a labor organization for which a public employer collects union dues to provide an annual accounting to the labor organization members and to the Labor Commission;
prohibit a public employer from recognizing a labor organization as a bargaining agent for public employees;
prohibit a public employer from entering into collective bargaining contracts;
prohibit using public money or public property to assist, promote, or deter union organizing or administration;
exclude new labor organization employees from participating in Utah Retirement Systems;
authorize the state risk manager to acquire and administer professional liability insurance for disputes between K-12 personnel and a public employer, and other public employees if there is a sufficient demand;
remove the current requirement that gubernatorial appointments to the Utah Retirement System (URS) Board be made from a list of nominees submitted by the “associations representing “a majority of the school employees.” The same provision is removed governing the gubernatorial appointment of public employee seats on the URS Board; and
remove the current requirement that selections for appointments to the URS Membership Council be made by labor organizations. [The Membership Council makes recommendations to the Board and Legislature concerning benefits and policies, administrative procedures and practices, appointment of the URS executive director, among other duties.]

The “Protect Utah Workers” coalition, a group of labor unions, began collecting signatures in support of a ballot referendum to repeal the new law on March 15, and had 30 days to gather signatures from eight percent of Utah voters — roughly 141,000 signatures — including eight percent of the voters in at least 15 of the state’s 29 senate districts.

The coalition collected over 320,000 signatures within the 30-day period and submitted them on April 16. The next step in the process is for county clerks around the state to verify the packets and confirm that the signatures come from registered voters who live in their county. They have 21 days in which to do so.

[There are a number of reasons why signatures may not get certified: some people may have signed twice, are not registered to vote, gave an incorrect address, or have illegible handwriting. However, if invalidation rates prove to be similar to those in a legislative audit of signature verification for candidates for office done last year, between eight percent and 12 percent may be found invalid. This will apparently still leave at least 281,600 valid signatures — well above the required 141,000-signature statewide minimum, noted above.]

Once the overall verification process is complete, voters’ names will then be made publicly available. This will then trigger the 45-day period in which voters can choose to rescind their support for the referendum, if they choose.

At the end of that 45-day period, the coalition will need to have 140,748 valid signatures statewide – which must also include eight percent of registered voters in 15 of Utah’s 29 senate districts. (According to press reports, as of April 23, proponents of the repeal effort have so far now met the required eight percent threshold for verified signatures in four senate districts.)

Finally, the lieutenant governor’s office will then review the process. Assuming the coalition has complied with state law and gathered enough valid signatures, ballot language will then be crafted for the 2026 General Election offering voters the opportunity to vote to repeal the law. Until this vote occurs, HB267 will be suspended and will not take effect until voters have had the opportunity to decide on it.