SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s Republican governor on Friday signed a collective bargaining ban that experts are calling one of the most restrictive labor laws in the country, despite overwhelming opposition from union members.
Beginning July 1, unions serving Utah teachers, firefighters, police officers, transit workers and other public employees will be banned from negotiating on their behalf for better wages and working conditions.
Gov. Spencer Cox announced his decision Friday evening following a week of rallies outside his office in which thousands of union members from the public and private sector urged him to veto the bill. The Republican-controlled Legislature had narrowly approved it last week after its sponsors abandoned a proposed compromise that would have removed the outright ban.
“I’m disappointed that, in this case, the process did not ultimately deliver the compromise that at one point was on the table and that some stakeholders had accepted,” Cox said in a statement announcing he had signed the bill.
The measure did not pass with veto-proof margins, meaning that if Cox had rejected it, Republican supporters would have needed to pull in more support to override his veto.
Utah joins North Carolina and South Carolina as the most restrictive states for public sector unions, said John Logan, a labor expert at San Francisco State University.
Many educators, who are the state’s most frequent users of collective bargaining, view the new law as way for Republicans to curb the political influence of teachers unions and clear a path for their own education agenda.
Its GOP sponsors argued it was needed to allow employers to engage directly with all employees, instead of communicating through a union representative.
The Utah Education Association, the state’s largest public education employees’ union, criticized Cox for ignoring the many workers who urged him to issue a veto. The union is exploring a possible ballot referendum to try to overturn the law, though the effort would come with a high price tag.
“Despite overwhelming opposition, Governor Spencer Cox and the Legislature ignored the voices of thousands,” the union said in a statement. “This is a blatant attack on public employees and our right to advocate for the success of our profession and students.”
Cox’s decision comes as President Donald Trump is working to gut the U.S. Education Department to the greatest extent of his power by slashing spending and pressuring employees to quit.
The governor signed another bill Friday prohibiting transgender college students from living in dorms consistent with their gender identity.
Students at the state’s public colleges and universities will only be allowed to enter or live in a gendered space, such as a dorm building, locker room or bathroom, that corresponds with their sex assigned at birth. It’s the first transgender restriction explicitly aimed at university housing, though some states have broad bathroom laws that could be interpreted to apply to dorms.
