After a month of organizing to oppose Utah’s collective bargaining ban, union members and supporters dropped off boxes on boxes of signature packets at county clerks’ offices across Utah.
The Protect Utah Workers coalition said Wednesday morning these mounds of paper contain about 320,000 signatures — more than double the amount they needed.
The group of 19 labor unions wants to repeal the state’s new ban on public sector collective bargaining through a ballot referendum. To get the issue before voters, they had to get 140,748 valid signatures from Utah voters and those voters needed to represent at least 8% of voters in 15 of the state’s 29 Senate Districts.
John Arthur, a Salt Lake City sixth grade teacher and the state’s 2021 teacher of the year, held back tears as he announced to union members gathered at the Salt Lake County Clerk’s Office that they’d tallied 320,000 signatures.
“That number matters,” he said. “It matters because it represents voices from across our great state. It represents everyday Utahns who care about their neighbors, who just want strong, safe communities for their kids to grow up in.”
With such a large number of signatures, Arthur said this is on its way to being one of the most successful citizen-led referendums in the state’s history. Salt Lake County Clerk Lannie Chapman echoed his assessment, saying it's the most signatures she’s ever seen for a referendum.
The coalition received about $2.5 million in contributions for the referendum effort, with the largest chunk of that coming from the National Education Association. In addition to educators, the coalition includes firefighters, law enforcement, health care workers, as well as other private and public unions.
Arthur thanked those who collected signatures and signed the referendum. He said lawmakers came after public workers and “the public got to work.”
“This isn’t about politics, this is about people,” he said. “You made this possible. You empowered the people, and now the people of Utah will get to decide what kind of state we’re going to be.”
Even though labor unions surpassed their goal, it is yet to be determined whether this issue will make it on the 2026 ballot. Wednesday’s signature drop-off triggers the next step in the referendum process.
Now, county clerks across the state will have 21 days to verify that the signatures belong to registered Utah voters. Union leaders have anticipated that some signatures will be thrown out, like if a person’s address or signature doesn’t match their voter record.
After signatures are verified, Chapman said clerks will post each signer's name on the lieutenant governor’s website, per state law. Then, referendum opponents will have 45 days to try to convince signers to remove their names.
Conservative groups like Americans for Prosperity-Utah and Utah Parents United ran campaigns discouraging people from signing in the first place and are now encouraging people to remove their names. They argue that the collective bargaining ban will stop unions from misusing taxpayer resources and will give non-union employees fair representation.
The Lt. Governor’s Office will then do a final count of the packets.
By June 21, the unions will have an answer to whether they got enough valid signatures in enough Senate districts to qualify for the ballot. If that happens, the law banning collective bargaining would be put on hold until the election.
While they wait, coalition members are asking referendum signers to keep supporting them.
“There are groups who will try to confuse and pressure voters to remove their names from the list,” said Salt Lake City firefighter Donovan Minutes. “Don't let them. Stand your ground. Keep your name. Let the people decide. This moment proves what we've always known: The power’s in the people and the people are strong.”
Arthur said opponents of the referendum are telling members of the public to do something that is against the interest of public workers, including educators and nurses.
“Just ignore the noise and just trust your gut, trust your heart, and understand that the people who take care of you every single day are asking for a little bit of help,” Arthur said. “I'm nothing but confident that Utahns will step up to give that help.”
Union members hope the large number of signatures sends a message to the lawmakers who passed the collective bargaining ban despite vocal opposition. University of Utah nurse and CWA 7765 President Jessica Stauffer said lawmakers ignored what the public wanted.
“I highly encourage them to listen to their constituents,” Stauffer said. “Some of the [bill] hearings that I attended, they suggested that we show up in person and talk to them one-on-one. And I want to know which lawmaker has time for 320,000 people to sit down and have one-on-one conversations.”
