For three years, Ivy Smith and her colleagues at the Salt Lake City Public Library worked hard to form a union.
Then, in the spring of this year, they finally succeeded. The workers voted 92% in favor of joining AFSCME Local 1004 and becoming the first public library workers in Utah to gain a voice on the job. AFSCME Local 1004 represents Salt Lake City public workers.
But they had little time to celebrate. On Valentine’s Day, Gov. Spencer Cox had signed HB 267, and it was set to go into effect in July. The bill targeted the rights of public service workers, making it harder for them to form strong unions, banning their collective bargaining rights and restricting their union activity.
“Unless we had managed to get a contract in before this bill went into effect, it would have completely squashed our union,” Smith said. “We would not have had a union.”
Today, though, Smith and her colleagues still have a union, and it’s as strong as ever. It’s the anti-worker politicians who voted in favor of HB 267 that are now empty handed: Last week, they were forced to repeal the very law they had approved.
The about-face was not a Scrooge-like change of heart by anti-worker politicians — it was the result of AFSCME members and other Utah public service workers mobilizing and taking decisive action to ratchet up public pressure on legislature. Through the Protect Utah Workers coalition, workers gathered more than enough signatures to place a veto referendum in next year’s general election ballot. They are got the public on their side.
In June, the law was placed on hold. Then, in a Dec. 9 special session of the Utah Legislature, the same anti-worker politicians who had attacked public service workers voted to repeal HB 267 rather than face the wrath of voters in next year’s general election. The workers’ massive signature drive had collected more than twice the required number of signatures for a referendum, or about 320,000 in total.
Shelley Bilbrey, a jury coordinator for Salt Lake City courts and a member of Local 1004, said the coalition’s efforts and the strong public support they received sent a clear message to their opponents in the state legislature.
“It definitely showed that our voices will not stay quiet, they will not get muffled,” Bilbrey said. “Our unions sent a strong message across the nation that you should never give up. Our voice as workers should always be heard.”