MAGNA, Utah — At Magna Copper Park, hundreds gathered for the annual Labor Day picnic put on by numerous labor unions.
They lined up for barbecue and tacos as children ran around, crawling into bounce houses and playing games.
"It’s getting bigger every year, thank God," said Scott Overby, a member of the mechanical insulators Local 69. "It’s what we like to see, members come out and enjoy themselves."
Michael Lujan, a member of Iron Workers Local 21, said he loved coming to the picnic every year. He and some friends were playing horseshoes and planned to visit the nearby car show.
"It's just a great thing," he said.
Labor unions are celebrating some wins they've notched. Membership in unions is increasing, according to a new national study. In Utah, union leaders are happy with the Republican-supermajority state legislature's retreat on a bill that banned public employee collective bargaining. At last year's Labor Day picnic, they were preparing for a political campaign on the November ballot to urge people to vote to repeal the legislature's ban. Then lawmakers met in special session and repealed their own law.
"Last year was a little bit stressful," Brad Asay, the vice-president of the Utah AFL-CIO, said. "This year? We’re still being very vigilant. We’re watching everything that comes out. We’re planning on more legislation that may be similar."
On Monday, House Democrats had a booth at Magna Copper Park where they handed out snow cones and cotton candy.
"I think the public spoke to them and said, 'Look, we appreciate our public unions and we don’t want you to touch them,'" House Minority Leader Angela Romero, D-Salt Lake City, said of the special session.
Asked if more bills going after unions could emerge on Utah's Capitol Hill, the House Minority Leader replied: "You never know with the Utah legislature, but my recommendation to my colleagues would be a solid no."
