Utah lawmakers vote to ban unions from bargaining with government

SALT LAKE CITY — Public employees and union leaders left the Senate on Thursday in shock, and a few of them in tears, after the Senate voted to pass a labor bill that would ban public sector collective bargaining.

HB267 passed through the Senate late Thursday by a vote of 16-13. The bill will now go to Gov. Spencer Cox's desk.

"Collective bargaining does not belong in the public workspace," said Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton.

There were multiple substitutes to the bill introduced over the last week, but none of those were adopted and the Senate voted to pass the same version of the bill that went through the House and through a Senate committee.

The bill's floor sponsor Kirk Cullimore, R-Draper, said the sponsors decided to adopt this version of the bill because it was the version that had been through the whole process.

The substitute to the bill that was introduced last Friday would have taken away the ban on collective bargaining, instead requiring labor unions to be certified by a majority of all employees in order to participate in negotiations with their government employers. That change was made after Cullimore and the bill's House sponsor, Rep. Jordan Teuscher, R-South Jordan, had worked with unions to come up with a compromise.

Cullimore said that multiple groups pulled back from talks, and because there was no consensus they decided to bring back the original bill. Sen. Scott Sandall, R-Tremonton said they faced issues of miscommunication on what stance each union was taking, as well as mixed messages from the unions and their members.

This bill applies only to public sector labor unions and has nothing to do with the private sector.

Groups of public labor union members have gathered for Senate floor time every day since the bill arrived in the Senate. These public employees were once again there to watch the vote on HB267 on Thursday. In the few weeks since the Legislative session began, HB267 has become one of the most controversial bills this year.

"I'm in shock, honestly," said Skykell Ledford, who works for Salt Lake County and is a member of the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees. "No employer asked for this bill, so I don't know why it was brought up."

Debate around the public labor unions bill

Prior to the final vote, there was an extensive debate on the Senate floor, with lawmakers asking Cullimore questions and others speaking out both in favor and in opposition of the bill.

Sen. Daniel W. Thatcher, R-West Valley City, was among those who spoke in opposition of the bill. He said that not having access to collective bargaining makes public employees like firefighters less safe.

"I'm not surprised that there isn't support on this bill, because this does not support the workers, this does not support labor, this does not support local governments," said Thatcher.

The Democrats in the Senate remained opposed to the bill throughout the whole process. Sen. Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City, the Senate minority leader, said she hopes the issue can be revisited in the future.

Adams said he voted in favor of the bill because he felt it was the best policy.

"We try to pass really good policy, and that's probably a key to anything we do up here, and we're trying to find the best policy. I didn't hear policy arguments on the other side, I just didn't hear them," Adams said.

When asked whether or not the senators think there will be lawsuits from this, Sen. Michael McKell, R-Spanish Fork, said no. He added that he doesn't know what the cause of action would be and said he believes passing this bill is within the purview of the Legislature.

As HB267 has moved through the Legislature, the bill's sponsors have emphasized that most public unions in the state don't use collective bargaining.

"I think collective bargaining, by having it available, provides a mechanism for the unions to continue to work closely with those employers," Escamilla said. "I recognize that many of them do not utilize that, but it's a leverage they do have right now that will be prohibited."

Cullimore said this bill is meant to be a preemptive measure to help keep political balance in the public sector where market forces are not at play.

This bill does not ban public labor unions, or make it so people can't join unions. Lawmakers in support of HB267 said unions are still available and can still advocate they just can't participate in collective bargaining.

"This is not a bill that does away with unions. It seeks to realign our public sector labor practices with foundational principles of understanding that public employees and their issues are necessarily linked to public policy decisions," Cullimore said.

Sen. Kathleen Riebe, D-Cottonwood Heights, spoke out about how important it is for the government to protect civil servants.

"These are my people, these are the community, this is who keeps us going," Riebe said. "And we can negotiate the merits of this bill every day, all day long, but the fact of the matter is, the people that protect you, the people that care for you, and the people that make the city run are asking you not to pass this bill."

The Utah Education Association released a statement Thursday afternoon expressing disappointment in the Legislature for passing the bill.

"Despite hearing from thousands of public-sector workers and supporters, the majority of Utah lawmakers refused to hear us. Instead, they chose to pass this highly unpopular and unnecessary legislation that undermines the rights of educators and other public employees across the state," the statement read.

"The bill adopted by the Utah Legislature today will hurt the frontline public servants who Utahns depend upon every single day," Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall said Thursday.

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