Eleven months ago, the Utah state Legislature passed a controversial ban on collective bargaining for public employees, and Governor Spencer Cox signed it into law. On December 15, lawmakers reversed that action, repealing the ban during a special session.

For the past few years, the Republican-led state body unsuccessfully attempted to pass legislation to disavow unions from leading negotiations on terms of employment, including wages, for police officers, teachers, firefighters and other public employees. Last year’s H.B. 267, the Public Sector Labor Union Amendments, passed with a slim majority.

But collective bargaining oftentimes conjures up strong political opinions on both sides of the aisle. Proponents claimed the law would allow employers to communicate directly with individuals rather than having to through union leadership. Whereas the bill didn’t sit well with union memberships. The Associated Press reports opponents protested outside the governor’s office for a week hoping to persuade him into vetoing the bill. When that failed, a campaign was launched to collect signatures to put a repeal of H.B. 267 on the ballot for voters to decide. Nineteen unions formed the Protect Utah Workers (PUW) organization and, in record time, it collected 320,000-plus signatures, more than double the needed count to secure a referendum for the upcoming November election. Under Utah law, the petition’s success automatically blocked H.B. 267 from taking effect as scheduled on July 1, 2025.

“The referendum. All the signatures. Over 5,000 volunteers, 320,000 signatures in 30 days. That’s awesome. That’s not a message. That’s an indictment to the Legislature. Going into these negotiations, knowing that 320,000 people support us, gave us a lot of leverage,” said Scott Stephenson, executive director of the Utah Fraternal Order of Police, reported the Utah News Dispatch.

Perhaps it was in response to the strong public outcry to the bill or, as some suggest, the possibility of voters deciding on the referendum on the same ballot as candidates in the midterm elections, Governor Cox compelled a special session last month specifically to address repealing the ban, just weeks before the 2026 legislative session was set to begin.

“[I] appreciate the Legislature’s work to refocus this conversation to ensure government is doing its best to support our first responders, educators and all those who serve our state,” Cox wrote on X.

“[I] appreciate the Legislature’s work to refocus this conversation to ensure government is doing its best to support our first responders.”

In fact, Stephenson told the Utah News Dispatch that PUW representatives had been in talks with lawmakers about a possible repeal for weeks leading up to the special session. “To their credit, they listened to us and they agreed with us that this is what needs to happen,” he said.

Republican state Representative Jordan Teuscher, the original bill’s sponsor, said, “It was good policy. However, since that bill’s passage, House Bill 267 has been overshadowed by misinformation and unnecessary division,” reported The Salt Lake Tribune. “This was never the intent behind the bill. As such, H.B. 2001 repeals H.B. 267 in its entirety. It allows us to step back, to lower the temperature and to create space for a clearer and more constructive conversation.”

While the vote to repeal was supported overwhelmingly by both parties and was signed by the governor, lawmakers still can take up a collective bargaining ban once again. Indeed, Teuscher indicated as such when posting on X: “I intend to work closely with union leaders, public employees and Utahns across the state in the coming year to determine the best path forward. My focus is on developing [policy] that protects public workers, supports taxpayers and keeps Utah’s public employment practices open, responsible and grounded in good governance.”

If lawmakers decide to reintroduce another bill to restrict or redefine collective bargaining for public employees this year, union leaders hope to be included in the process.

“During the [previous] session, we did not feel like they were listening to the people. And when we called on the governor to veto, we had that huge rally — it just felt like it landed on deaf ears,” Utah Education Association President Renée Pinkney told the press. “And so now the people’s voice is in the room.

“I really would like to believe that we can move forward and work together, and I guess the only way that you know if that isn’t going to happen is when it doesn’t happen,” she added.