Union supporters collected more than double the number of needed signatures needed to potentially repeal House Bill 267 in what the Utah Education Association is already calling “the most successful citizen-led referendum in Utah history.”
To qualify for a referendum in Utah, citizens need to collect approximately 140,000 verified signatures from registered voters across at least 15 of the 29 state senate districts in just 30 days.
With 320,000 signatures submitted on Wednesday morning, the Protect Utah Workers campaign — a coalition of public labor unions and employees — gathered well within the number of needed signatures.
“They said we couldn’t do it, but more than 320,000 people just proved them wrong,” said John Arthur, a Salt Lake City teacher. “This isn’t about politics. It’s about people. It’s about making sure that the families who keep Utah running have a voice and a vote in shaping its future.”
The Utah Education Association said in a press release the statewide movement shows Utahns “still believe in checks and balances.”
“No group had more volunteers out in the field than the Utah Education Association,” said Renée Pinkney, president of the Utah Education Association and a longtime Park City social studies teacher. “We could not have reached this historic success without the tireless dedication of our educator members, who know firsthand how vital it is to protect the rights of public workers.”
Other labor unions and organizations also participated in the signature-gathering push, including paid collectors.
Now, county clerks across the state and the Lieutenant Governor’s Office will work on verifying voter signatures, a process that is expected to take a few weeks. If 140,000 signatures are verified and the referendum petition is declared sufficient, opposition groups will have 45 days to contact voters to convince them to remove their names from the petition.
“A well-funded campaign, backed by the same legislators who passed H.B. 267 and special interest groups, is actively working to get voters to remove their names from the referendum petition,” the Utah Education Association said. “They’re targeting signers with pressure, misinformation and scare tactics to reverse their support. Organizers are urging Utahns to ‘keep your name, keep your voice’ and to beware of misleading outreach from opposition groups.”
The deadline for the Lieutenant Governor’s Office to finish counting signatures is June 21.
If successful, however, H.B. 267 will appear on the ballot in November 2026 unless a special election is called earlier.
The Park City Education Association, the local affiliate of the Utah Education Association, participated in the signature-gathering push, too.
“We hope this works, but if it doesn’t, at least they’re going to know that our voices and the citizens’ voices are heard,” said Diana Sylvester, a McPolin Elementary School interventionist, at a signature-gathering event in Kimball Junction last month.
H.B. 267 was sponsored by Rep. Jordan Teuscher of Salt Lake County and Sen. Kirk Cullimore, who represents parts of Salt Lake and Utah counties. The bill makes it a class B misdemeanor for any public union members, including teachers, firefighters and police officers, from engaging in collective bargaining.
The Utah Education Association has repeatedly described the legislation as “union busting.”
Cullimore introduced a substitution of the bill on Jan. 31 during the general session that would have allowed some collective bargaining if over 50% of employees in the “collective bargaining unit” voted to authorize the union to speak on their behalf.
But the state Senate “circled” the bill, putting the legislative process on hold. Then, instead of voting on the substitute, the Senate reverted to the bill’s original language the following week and stripped collective bargaining rights entirely in a 16-13 vote.
Gov. Spencer Cox signed the bill on Feb. 14.
Mary Morgan, the co-president of the Park City Education Association, said local administration continues to be supportive of the union. In a joint statement sent to Park City School District employees shortly after Cox signed the bill, the school board and Superintendent Lyndsay Huntsman outlined their commitment to continued collaboration with local union members despite the legislation.
“I think the main thing is that it’s important for our Park City employees to know that no matter what happens with this bill, they are still supported by the district office and by the school board very heavily,” Morgan said at the time. “There are no discussions of going back on anything. I think it’s always important for our employees to know they are protected.”
The law was slated to go into effect on July 1, but the legislation will be put on hold until voters decide its fate, assuming there are enough valid signatures to place the issue on the ballot in 2026.