Utah labor unions said Wednesday they will run a ballot referendum to repeal Utah’s anti-public union bill, which Gov. Spencer Cox signed into law last month.
If labor unions manage to get the referendum on the 2026 ballot and a majority of voters side with it, the effort would upend South Jordan Republican Rep. Jordan Teuscher’s HB267, which prohibits public employee unions from collectively bargaining with their government employers.
“We have a coalition made up of various labor organizations who are filing this referendum because we believe that our legislators and our governor did not listen to the overwhelming public outcry,” said Renee Pinkney, president of the Utah Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union.
“We believe that the people should have a voice and should be able to vote to repeal this legislation,” she continued. “We believe that the public is on our side.”
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) UEA President Renée Pinkney speaks to members of the media as union leaders announce their intent to file a referendum with the lieutenant governor to repeal HB267 at the Utah Capitol in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, March 5, 2025.
The bill that goes into effect May 7 instead requires government agencies — like fire departments, police departments and school districts — to negotiate contracts directly with employees, not bargain with union representatives.
Carlos Vasquez, with Teamsters Local 222, said public employees make up a small part of the union’s membership, but other members in organized labor are rallying to support those who are impacted.
“The employers didn’t ask for this,” Vasquez said. “Our employees want [the union]. They wanted the contract. The only people that took it upon themselves to do something about this was the state Legislature, and when we spoke to them, they didn’t listen. This is our opportunity to take it back to our membership and to the public in general, and give them a chance to speak on the matter.”
The initial attempt to file the referendum paperwork Wednesday hit a snag, when the lieutenant governor’s office rejected it, because referendums can’t be filed until after the end of the legislative session, which concludes Friday.
“We are sympathetic to the applicants’ sense of urgency and are committed to facilitating the process in a fair and expedient manner in accordance with the law,” Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson said in a statement.
Organizers say they will refile the paperwork after the session ends.
House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, and Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, issued statements acknowledging that referendums are part of the process and hoped voters will study the issues and make informed decisions.
But getting it across the finish line won’t be easy.
Utah has the toughest referendum process in the U.S., requiring supporters to gather more than 140,748 signatures — 8% of all registered voters in Utah — and meet that same threshold in 15 of the state’s 29 counties.
That’s a higher signature target relative to the population than any other state. And organizers will have a tight deadline, needing to submit the signatures within 30 days after it launches.
If they meet the signature requirement, HB267 would be put on hold until the 2026 election. That, too, could be a challenge.
A recent poll by RABA Research, a bipartisan polling firm, asked about HB267 and found that 80% of Utah respondents opposed “changing our state’s laws to weaken employment protections for health care workers, educators, first responders, and other essential workers.”
But anti-labor groups have highlighted Utah’s bill as a model, focusing national attention on the fate of the measure. Utah’s chapter of Americans For Prosperity praised the Legislature for its “courageous action to make sure public funds do not go towards causes that aren’t in their best interests.”
And the American Legislative Exchange Council named HB267’s sponsors — Teuscher and Senate Majority Leader Kirk Cullimore, R-Cottonwood Heights — as the organization’s “policy champions” after the bill’s passage.
National groups opposing public employee unions could pour millions of dollars into a campaign trying to defeat the referendum.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Union leaders speak to members of the media as union leaders announce their intent to file a referendum with the lieutenant governor to repeal HB267 at the Utah Capitol in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, March 5, 2025.
“The legislature has made it extremely difficult to do referendums,” said Brad Asay, vice president of the Utah AFL-CIO. “It’s monumental, but we’ve had good turnout from community partners, people wanting to help. The trade unions are on board with us. Everyone’s ready to go to work, and we’re we’re gonna have tens of thousands of people out there getting those signatures out in the public.”
It is a tool that Utahns have only used a few times.
In 2020, citizens from across the political spectrum, with the backing of a major grocery store chain, launched a referendum to repeal a legislative tax reform package that included an increase in the sales tax on food.
After they gathered enough signatures to put the measure on the ballot — at the time 117,154 — the Legislature relented and agreed to repeal the tax legislation.
And in 2007, the Utah Education Association along with its backers spent millions of dollars on a referendum to repeal a school voucher program. Utahns supported the repeal with 62% of voters wanting the voucher program rescinded.
