SALT LAKE CITY — A bill that strips public employee unions of collective bargaining rights passed the Utah State Senate on a close 16-13 vote.
House Bill 267 was finally voted on Thursday after a standoff between union leaders and the bill's sponsors.
"I think it's going to crush unions," said Katy Hogge, an organizer with AFSCME, which represents some municipal union members.
Following the vote, some union members hugged and cried in the hallways outside the Senate chambers, while others expressed their anger.
"Utah is less safe now," fumed Jack Tidrow of the Professional Firefighters of Utah.
"I'm in shock, honestly," said Shykell Ledford, an AFSCME member. "No employer asked for this bill, so I don’t know why it was brought up."
But Senate Majority Leader Kirk Cullimore, R-Sandy, who ran the bill in the Senate, insisted unions could still organize and advocate for their interests under the bill. He said the problem is that public employee unions argue against the taxpayer.
"It’s only a very small minority of public employee unions in the state that even use collective bargaining," he said, later describing the bill as "pre-emptive."
Salt Lake City, which has public employee unions that engage in collective bargaining, oppose the bill. Sen. Cullimore was pressed on who supported it and said taxpayer watchdog groups did.
Senate Minority Leader Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City, said the bill sent a message to police officers, firefighters, teachers and others who are members of those unions.
"I have a lot of concerns for the impact that this is going to have on our first responders, our teachers," she said.
The bill had stalled while unions considered a deal offered by legislative leaders. A substitute version of the bill offered unions a chance to preserve collective bargaining rights — but only if a majority of the entire employee base agreed to it — if the unions agreed to remain "neutral." Another version of the bill tried to ban public employee unions entirely.
On the Senate floor, some lawmakers expressed frustration that they were inundated with emails and phone calls urging them to vote against the bill while they were still negotiating with union leaders. They accused them of not communicating effectively to the rank-and-file members.
"When neutral is completely empty? There’s a big problem," said Sen. Cal Musselman, R-West Haven.
Sen. Kathleen Riebe, D-Cottonwood Heights, a union member herself, said the bill "turns a civil servant into an indentured servant."
Union members said the public will feel the impact of the bill, should it be signed into law.
"People are going to get hurt," Ledford said. "It might be police and fire, or it might be your snow plow drivers because they weren’t trained well enough because their union wasn’t able to negotiate better safety."
Speaking to reporters following the vote, Sen. Cullimore insisted the legislature does support teachers, firefighters, police officers and other public employees. He spoke of wage hikes they've approved for teachers and other bills in support of first responders.
"We appreciate all civil servants, particularly our first responders and our teachers. This does not signal any less of a commitment to them and their industry," he said.
The bill now heads to the governor's office. A spokesperson for Governor Spencer Cox told FOX 13 News that he has been following the discussion and will evaluate the legislation before deciding whether to sign it into law or veto it.
