Utah Governor Spencer Cox signed a new policy banning unions representing a variety of public workers from negotiating wages and working conditions on behalf of their members, a decision that has shocked union leaders and members alike because of it's restrictive nature.
"Utah has long been known as a state that can work together to solve difficult issues. I'm disappointed that in this case, the process did not ultimately deliver the compromise that at one point was on the table and that some stakeholders had accepted," Cox said in a statement.
Government entities will no longer be allowed to negotiate with teachers, firefighters, police officers, transit workers and other public employees in Utah from July 1 onward, reported the Salt Lake Tribune.
Gov. Cox, a Republican, announced he would be signing the legislation last Friday despite protests held outside of his office in which union members implored him to veto the bill. He signed it after it was approved by the state's Republican-majority legislature with narrow support, meaning a veto from Cox would have stopped the policy from being passed.
"I'm disappointed that, in this case, the process did not ultimately deliver the compromise that at one point was on the table and that some stakeholders had accepted," Cox said in a statement after signing the bill.
"Looks like Utah will become the most anti-labor state in America," said Jack Tidrow, president of the Professional Firefighters of Utah. "Pathetic."
"The only word I have is disappointed," said Renée Pinkney, president of the Utah Education Association.
"We believed he was very supportive of public education and he was very supportive of the Utah Education Association," Pinkney continued, "and that clearly is not the case."
"Utah has always been a state of opportunity where the youth of our state could get a good job with affordable healthcare benefits and retirement benefits," said AFL-CIO President Jeff Worthington. "A place where they could afford to buy a home, raise a family and live comfortably. We've gone so far as to advertise ourselves to the rest of the world to come to Utah, the greatest place to raise a family."
"And now," Worthington added, "we are taking away the very opportunities for anyone to prosper in a state that would rather be divided into the land of the haves and have not."
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