Weeks after Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed a law prohibiting public employee unions from collective bargaining, a new labor-backed group called Protect Utah Workers is collecting signatures to put a referendum on the ballot to repeal it. 

The new state law applies to teachers, police officers, firefighters and other public sector workers. The coalition, which includes the American Federation of Teachers, needs 8% of registered voters in Utah and 8% in at least 15 of the state’s 29 Senate districts to sign the petition for a total of 140,748 valid signatures. 

If Protect Utah Workers is successful, voters would decide in a 2026 referendum whether to repeal the law. 

Hailey Higgins, a spokesperson for the Utah Education Association, said more than 1,500 people had volunteered to gather signatures. “It just shows the public opposition to [the bill] and the public support for overturning it,” she said. Salt Lake Tribune, March 14