The Utah Senate passed HB267 Thursday on a 16-13 vote. The bill bans collective bargaining, a process where an employer and a union negotiate wages, benefits and other aspects of worker compensation.
This comes after days of negotiations with public sector unions where legislators said they would try to reach a compromise.
According to the Salt Lake Tribune, an earlier revision removed an outright ban on collective bargaining but required public sector unions to undergo a “recertification election” every five years.
Lawmakers had discussed a compromise with unions, but abandoned those efforts Wednesday and largely restored the bill to its original wording. That means collective bargaining would be prohibited across all public sector organizations like public schools, law enforcement and fire departments.
The bill also bans public employers from “recognizing a labor organization as a bargaining agent” and “entering into collective bargaining contracts.” Under the bill, new labor organization employees would also be excluded from participating in Utah Retirement Systems, which provides retirement and insurance benefits to public employees.
Lawmakers said the move back to a complete ban on collective bargaining was because there was no consensus on the neutrality of the proposed substitute to the bill.
Utah Education Association (UEA) President Renée Pinkney said her union felt the bill’s passage was retribution.
“The Utah Education Association is deeply, deeply disappointed, and quite frankly, betrayed by the legislative process,” she said. “An ultimatum was given to public sector unions that there needed to be 100% that went neutral, and some of them didn't meet that demand.”
Pinkney taught in the Park City School District for 26 years and was a local education association president. She said collective bargaining allowed Park City to negotiate policies to improve working conditions, which in turn improves student learning outcomes.
Pinkney said this has allowed Park City schools to retain highly qualified educators and veteran teachers, which can be difficult as 50% of new teachers leave the profession within four to five years.
“We know student success is higher when you have a veteran educator workforce,” she said. “When you have teachers and counselors and librarians and administrators and everyone who is supporting our students, and that could be paraprofessionals, that could be our bus drivers, and when we have a shortage, ultimately, it's students who experience the negative impacts.”
The bill now heads to Gov. Spencer Cox and UEA is strongly urging him to veto the legislation.
“He needs to show up for teachers, listen to public employees and reject the policies that weaken our ability to advocate for fair working conditions and quality public education,” Pinkney said.
If Cox signs HB267 into law, it will take effect July 1.
