‘You made this possible’: Labor organizers submit twice the signatures needed to put bargaining ban to voters

Labor groups submitted more than 320,000 signatures Wednesday, more than double the number required, in their effort to repeal an anti-union bill passed by the Republican-led Legislature this year.

The overwhelming number makes the union’s Protect Utah Workers campaign the largest signature-gathering campaign in state history.

Union members lined up Wednesday morning to unload and deliver about 20 bankers boxes of signature packets to the Salt Lake County Clerk’s office before gathering outside and singing “Solidarity Forever,” a popular anthem of trade unions.

“They said we couldn’t do it, but more than 320,000 people just proved them wrong,” said John Arthur, a Salt Lake City School District elementary teacher, on Tuesday as organizers delivered boxes of signature packets to the Salt Lake County clerk’s office.

“This isn’t about politics. It’s about people. It’s about making sure that the families who keep Utah running have a voice and a vote in shaping its future,” he said.

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Labor leaders turn in nineteen boxes of signatures (the sixth drop to Salt Lake County) in their attempt to qualify a referendum repealing an anti-union bill, at the Salt Lake County Clerk's office on Wednesday, April 16, 2025.

Wednesday was the deadline for the labor groups to submit their signatures for the repeal effort.

But it’s still not a guarantee the repeal effort will make it onto the 2026 ballot. The signatures have to be verified by the county clerks and organizers have to hit specific signature thresholds in 15 of 29 state senate districts. That process could take a few weeks.

“This is what solidarity looks like. A coalition of 19 labor unions came together — firefighters, police officers, educators, nurses, miners, food workers — all in support of this," said Donovan Minutes, a Salt Lake City firefighter.

“Public workers are the backbone of this state. We keep it educated, we keep it safe, we keep it strong,” he said.

Opponents, meanwhile, have begun mobilizing to defeat the referendum bid. A new political issues committee, Utahns for Worker Freedom, also known as Protect All Utahns, has been formed with an eye toward combating the repeal campaign.

Cole Kelley, a teacher, state school board member and spokesperson for the group, said the signature totals the union groups were able to get were not surprising, given the amount of money that organized labor has poured into the drive.

“When you spend [$2.5] million, you’re hiring firms that are very good at signature gathering, and that’s what they did,” Kelley said. “One of the concerns that a lot of us have is the signature-gathering process. How many people actually know what they’re signing when they sign their name? And that is why I think it’s important to not just verify [the signatures], but to give those voters an opportunity to withdraw their name if it is a cause they weren’t in favor of.”

The new committee opposing the referendum is being led by Nikora Anderson, co-owner of an event space in Daybreak, and Jim Hulme, who is in internet technology sales.

Under Utah law, referendum supporters need more than 140,748 valid signatures and to hit specific targets in at least 15 of the state’s 29 state senate districts.

Opponents will also have the next 45 days to contact voters who signed the petition to try to convince them to rescind their support.

That means there won’t be a definitive answer on whether the referendum qualifies for the ballot until June 21.

If the threshold is met, HB267 will be put on hold until the 2026 election, at which time voters will be able to decide if they want to rescind the law.

“This is just step one,” said Jessica Stauffer, a nurse at University Hospital. “There are people out there already trying to scare supporters, trying to confuse them, trying to convince them to remove their names. Don’t fall for it. If you signed the petition, keep your name [on it]. If you believe in nurses, teachers, first responders and public workers, stand with us. We are ready for the next fight and we will win.”

HB267, passed by Republican lawmakers and signed by Gov. Spencer Cox earlier this year, bans government agencies from negotiating contracts with unions representing public employees — teachers, firefighters, police officers and other government workers.

When it passed, it was heralded by national conservative groups as a cutting-edge bill that protects taxpayers.

But labor leaders said it deprived public servants of their voice and alleged the ban was punitive, a payback for teachers fighting a constitutional amendment last year that would have removed a provision guaranteeing funding for public schools.

Kelley, the Utah for Worker Freedom spokesperson, said he has been a teacher for 28 years and hasn’t seen unions improving the problems schools face.

“For years and years we complain about classroom size, and we complain about teacher salaries and we complain about the workload on our teachers, and over 28 years it has gotten worse, it hasn’t gotten better,” he said. “So if the collective bargaining process were working, we’d see things getting better, not worse.”

He said getting rid of collective bargaining gives more of a voice to the majority of teachers who aren’t members of the union.

Kevin Murray, president of the Utah Fraternal Order of Police, thanked the members of the public who signed the petitions.

“As signers of this referendum, you have given us the ability to speak on behalf of the line officers, the ones who risk their lives daily protecting our streets,” he said. “You have given us a voice to communicate with leaders of our communities the needs of the officers and to entice the best police officers in the nation to serve your communities.”

“All we know right now is that 320,000 Utahns stepped up to sign our referendum,” Arthur said.

A recent poll by RABA (Red America, Blue America) Research, a bipartisan polling firm, asked about HB267 and found that 80% of Utah respondents oppose “changing our state’s laws to weaken employment protections for health care workers, educators, first responders, and other essential workers.”

The Protect Our Workers signature effort was bankrolled largely by the National Education Association, the parent organization of the UEA, which provided about $1.7 million of the $2.5 million raised by the movement.