Posts tagged Utah
Salt Lake City reaches budget agreement with police union before new bill kicks in
April 22, 2025 // Groups opposed to the new law say they've gathered over 320,000 signatures to put it up for a referendum on next year's ballot. As of Friday, at least 33,000 of the signatures have been verified toward the qualifying requirement of about 141,000 signatures, which also includes a certain number of signatures in 15 of the state's 29 Senate districts.
Labor leaders make final push to get repeal of anti-union bill on Utahns’ ballots
April 14, 2025 // UEA, AFL-CIO, Utah Public Employees Association, Utah Professional Firefighters, AFSCME and others have banded together in an attempt to repeal HB267, which bans collective bargaining with government employers — meaning those public employee unions cannot represent members in contract negotiations.
‘Trump and Musk are setting the example’: how companies are becoming emboldened to be more anti-union
April 10, 2025 // That tougher behavior under former president Ronald Reagan sped the decline of private sector unions. Today, just 6% of private sector workers are in unions, while 32% of public sector workers are. Anti-union ideologues are increasingly targeting public sector unions, which often support Democrats. “Because almost half of the labor movement is now in the public sector, the assault that we’re seeing now is really focused on the public sector,” McCartin said. “That really threatens to break the spine of the labor movement.”
Tennessee Supports Independent Workers
April 7, 2025 // A portable benefits account is designed to empower contract and freelance workers by helping them save for key benefits such as health insurance, income replacement, retirement, and disability insurance. These accounts are owned by—or legally tied to—the worker and remain with them as they move between jobs, industries, or locations. This portability gives independent workers the flexibility and security they need to thrive. This year, Senator Bo Watson sponsored SB1377, accompanied by Representative Charlie Baum’s HB494, which allows any person or entity to contribute to a worker’s portable benefits account. The legislation includes three key protections
Via 313’s Austin location unionizes after 3-year fight, labor board ruling
March 24, 2025 // Unionization efforts began in January 2022, reported Eater Austin, when employees alleged that management was not transparent about safety concerns related to the Omicron variant of coronavirus. A group of 46 employees across Austin signed a petition asking for sick and hazard pay, alongside improved COVID-19 safety procedures. Employees later filed for union election through the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Aug. 2022.
Union contracts should not protect drunken teachers
March 6, 2025 // The Bay City union contract spelled out the process: A teacher’s first offense resulted in a written reprimand and the teacher was required to go through counseling. The second offense resulted in a three-day suspension without pay and mandatory counseling. Third offense: a five-day suspension without pay and mandatory counseling. Fourth offense: a 10-day suspension without pay and mandatory counseling. Only upon the fifth offense could the district fire the teacher. It gets worse. A teacher using illegal drugs at school got three strikes before she could be fired. Even teachers caught selling drugs could not be fired until their second offense.
UTAH, Opinion: Republicans Need to Learn Government Unions Can’t Be Trusted
March 3, 2025 // On Feb. 14, Gov. Spencer Cox signed a law I sponsored banning public-sector collective bargaining. This makes Utah the best state in the nation for protecting taxpayers and ensuring that government employees can negotiate their own employment terms. But this victory came only after fruitless attempts to work with government unions—efforts that exposed their pattern of saying one thing while doing another. In early 2024, I introduced a bill that would have required public-sector unions to hold regular recertification elections. As I argued at the time, unions representing teachers, firefighters and police should have to prove continuously that they represent a majority of workers. Taxpayers, too, have a stake: If a union doesn’t speak for most employees, why should the rest of the state be on the hook for its demands?
UTAH: Unions consider strikes, referendums on bill banning public employee collective bargaining
February 25, 2025 // "This is a statewide issue," he told FOX 13 News in an interview on Monday. "And if the Salt Lake Education Association is the only organization that walks out? It’s not going to be effective." Meanwhile, other labor unions are exploring a referendum on House Bill 267, which bans collective bargaining among public employee unions.
Opinion: Utah is leading the nation by prioritizing worker freedom
February 21, 2025 // Despite the rhetoric, government unions will still exist in Utah and public employees can still choose to join them. Workers who agree with union spending can support their unions wholeheartedly, while those who do not are free to decline membership and can negotiate their job requirements directly with their employer. The difference now is that these unions will no longer have a monopoly in representing public employees, including Utah public employees who did not want the representation in the first place.
Thousands of Denver-area King Soopers grocery store workers go on strike
February 6, 2025 // UFCW Local 7 members voted by 96% last week to authorize the unfair labor practices strike. King Soopers, a chain owned by Kroger, with 121 stores in Colorado and Wyoming, has been negotiating a new contract since October. The current contract expired in January.