UEA launches referendum signature campaign to repeal union law, efforts to block it underway

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — The Utah Education Association is kicking off a statewide signature gathering campaign Saturday, spearheading the effort of a coalition of unions to get enough signatures to ask voters to repeal a recent law that bans public labor unions from collective bargaining.

The group has a heavy lift ahead of them, they need nearly 141,000 signatures by April 16, and must get 8% of the registered voters in 15 of 29 Senate districts to place the question before voters in 2026.

The efforts could also face pushback from groups looking to either counter the messaging or contact voters asking them to rescind their signatures.

“I’ve heard of groups (outside of the legislature) who are looking to educate voters on why it’s good policy,” said Rep. Jordan Teuscher (R-South Jordan) who sponsored the legislation.

Americans For Prosperity Utah (AFP), a conservative think tank, tells ABC4 they are launching a campaign called “Decline to Sign.”

“Yes, we will be working to encourage the public to decline to sign the referendum and educate them on why HB267 is good common sense policy,” Kevin Greene, AFP Utah’s state director, told ABC4.

The coalition trying to repeal the public union law is led by the UEA and called “Protect Utah Workers.”

UEA volunteers plan to gather at their headquarters in Murray for a main kickoff event Saturday as well as at several locations from Logan to St. George. They say they already have 1,500 volunteers planning to help.

According to state filings, the group will also get help from a signature gathering firm. They have hired Landslide Political, co-founded by Salt Lake City Council member Alejandro Puy.

The group has received a lot of smaller donations, but its national organization, the National Education Association, gave the largest chunk — close to $500,000 toward the effort.

“This legislation is a direct attack on Utah’s working families,” said Jerry Philpott, local 1004 president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) who is part of Protect Utah Workers. “Politicians are counting on us to back down. We’re here to show them that we’re just getting started.”

Signers can rescind

It’s also possible that there could be an effort to get voters to rescind their signatures.

According to state referendum laws, Protect Utah Workers has 40 days (from the end of the session) to collect the requisite signatures, which again, in this case, is nearly 141,000 in 15 of 29 Utah Senate districts by April 16.

But voters also have 45 days from the day they signed their name to change their mind and remove, or rescind, their signature.

“A voter who signs a local referendum petition may have the voter’s signature removed from the petition by … submitting to the county clerk a statement requesting that the voter’s signature be removed no later than the earlier of 30 days on which the voter signed the statement requesting removal or 45 days on which the local clerk posts the voter’s name,” the law reads.

As names are turned in to county officials, they are also required by law to be posted on the Lt. Governor’s website within 21 days of receiving them.

That gives signature firms, presumably hired by those who want the law to stand, the ability to contact and push voters to change their minds. If enough do, the issue would be blocked from being on the 2026 ballot.

It’s not yet clear if the groups, or anyone else, will launch a recession campaign.

Big labor organizer is not participating

Meanwhile, the AFL-CIO — a big organizer of 42 different unions in Utah — is not on the list of organizations backing the referendum effort, despite a statement from UEA on Thursday saying that they were.

Their absence is significant because of just how many labor groups they represent — including both public and private unions. They were also a big player in trying to stop the legislation.

AFL-CIO President Jeff Worthington was adamant that his group was neutral on the referendum because not all of their unions are public unions. The bill at hand only impacts public sector labor unions like teachers or firefighters, not private ones like the ski patrol, for example.

Around 24 hours later, after ABC4 flagged the issue for Worthington, UEA corrected the list saying that AFL-CIO was included “in error.”

“His people have been on the calls, but apparently that was a mistake,” said UEA spokeswoman Hailey Higgins.

It’s unclear whether any of the other 14 groups UEA says are supporting the referendum take issue with their organizations being included.

According to UEA, these are the groups in that coalition. Names with an * are also members of AFL-CIO:

• AFSCME Local 1001*
• Utah School Employees Association
• American Federation of Teachers*
• Teamsters Local 222*
• Utah Public Employees Association
• Salt Lake Valley Law Enforcement Association
• Communication Workers Association Local 7765*
• Utah Education Association
• International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers L354*
• Sheet Metal Workers L312*
• United Mine Workers*
• American Federation of Government Employees*
• International Union of Painter Allied Trades*
• United Mountain Workers*