MURRAY -- Thousands of people across the state came together Saturday to launch the Protect Utah Workers campaign and overturn an unpopular new law that would take away the collective bargaining rights of public employees.
A coalition of 14 unions and community supporters have until April 15 to collect enough signatures to let voters, not politicians, decide whether to restore workers’ rights.
At a news conference Saturday, Renée Pinkney, a social studies teacher and president of the Utah Education Association, said, “This referendum is about restoring fairness, dignity, and the ability for workers to have a say in their wages, working conditions, and futures.”
“While this coalition is strong, this fight is ultimately about the individuals and families who make up our communities. The people who drive our kids to school, who ensure public safety, who test our water, and who work every day to keep our state running,” Pinkney said.
School bus driver Breezy Davis told reporters, “More often than not, we are the people in the background, supporting you in ways you did not know you needed the support. Now, we are asking you to support us.”
“Public service and strong unions go hand in hand. We must continue fighting for the ability to negotiate, have a seat at the table, and protect the workers who show up for Utah every single day,” said Davis, who serves as president of the Granite Education Support Professionals Education Association.
“This referendum is our chance to make sure public workers do not lose their collective voice,” she added.
Ben Jordan, a lab chemist for a sewage treatment facility, is a member of AFSCME Local 1004.
He told the news conference, “My union does negotiate with the employer for better wages and working conditions,” which helps attract and retain public employees in jobs that serve the public statewide.
Jordan said his union always advocates for its members to “share raises equally with no regard to seniority as opposed to HR’s recommendations, we vote to include raises for starting salaries. This helps us attract new hires and keep them longer, which reduces burnout for everyone else on typically understaffed teams.”
Watch the livestream of Saturday’s news conference.
On Saturday, the Protect Utah Campaign opened eight locations around the state where volunteers can be trained as well as pick up and drop off referendum signature packets. Teams around the state reported brisk business at these sites, with some running out of signature supplies because so many volunteers showed up to pick up referendum materials.
To put the question on the ballot, Protect Utah Workers must collect 140,748 valid signatures by mid-April, representing 8% of the registered voters statewide, as well as 8% of the registered voters in at least 15 of Utah’s 29 counties.
Joshua Dietz, a lab technician at the Utah Public Health Laboratory, said, “I know we will get out there and get the signatures that we need to get this referendum on the ballot and we will get our voices back.”
Pinkney, the UEA president, said, “Fighting as one, we can restore the voices of Utah’s public workers and ensure that those who serve our communities have a say in their futures.”
The Protect Utah Workers coalition is made up of the following unions:
- AFSCME Local 1004
- AFT Utah
- American Federation of Government Employees
- Communications Workers of America Local 7765
- International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers L354
- International Union of Painter Allied Trades
- Salt Lake Valley Law Enforcement Association
- Sheet Metal Workers L312
- Teamsters Local 222
- UFCW Local 99
- United Mine Workers
- United Mountain Workers
- Utah Education Association
- Utah Public Employees’ Association
- Utah School Employees’ Association
