Brianne Kramer, Ph.D. SUU AFT Chapter President, UCC Chapter #4738
Utah had a public sector collective bargaining enabling law, then it was repealed (“amended”) and then that was “amended” too!
In 2025, the Utah State Legislature passed HB 267 S1 which, among other things:
prohibits a public employer from recognizing a labor organization as a bargaining agent for public employees;
and
prohibits a public employer from entering into collective bargaining contracts;
This language and the anti-union spirit behind it will be familiar to people in Texas, Tennessee, Georgia, Missouri, North and South Carolina, Virginia and other states, some of which have similar laws. While private sector labor law is federal, each state can write its own public sector labor law. HB 267 was signed by Governor Spencer Cox in February 2025.
The Project Utah Workers coalition
In response, 21 unions formed a broad labor coalition called the Protect Utah Workers coalition to gather signatures and lead a referendum to repeal this law.
This coalition, which included American Federation of Teachers Utah (AFT Utah), turned out over 5,000 union members to collect over 300,000 signatures, nearly twice the number required. Once these signatures were verified, Lieutenant Governor Deirdre Henderson blocked HB 267. Protect Utah Workers continued to hold talks with legislators. Then Governor Cox convened a special session of the Utah State Legislature on December 8, 2025 which resulted in the complete repeal of the bill. Public sector unions in Utah will continue to hold their collective bargaining rights moving forward. The AFT Utah College Council #4738 will be continuing to push back against harmful legislation targeting higher education in the 2026 session that begins January 20th. The Utah AFT Higher Education President, Dr. Sean Crossland, was asked to share what their union is facing and how organizing and unionization are being utilized in a Salt Lake Tribune Voices feature.
See a state-by-state guide to public sector collective bargaining rights here.
HB 267 was actually an amendment to existing Utah public sector law, which says that “an employee has the right, if the employee desires, to associate with others in organizing and bargaining.” You can see it here.
The links for Utah public sector law were last updated January 1, 2025, which was just before Governor Cox signed the now-repealed HB 267.