Utah legislative plan prohibits collective negotiation for teaching unions and other jobs in the public sector – News East Idaho

Salt Lake City (AP) – the unions serving teachers, firefighters, police and other public officials in Utah, will no longer be able to negotiate on behalf of their workers on a bill, which received final legislative approval on Thursday.

Republican policy, banning collective negotiation for all professions in the public sector, adopted the Senate with 16-13 votes after its sponsors abandoned the proposed compromise that would eliminate the outright ban. After days of negotiations, some alliances have not yet been approved, leading to MPs to move forward with the more limiting original version that has already crossed the house.

“If there is no consensus, then let’s just put it on our face,” says Senator Kirk Kulimore, a sponsor of the Senate of the bill.

Labor experts claim that the proposal, which is directed to the governor’s desk, will establish one of the most restrictive laws on labor in the country, as Republicans seek to limit the political influence of teaching unions.

This move in Utah comes when President Donald Trump is preparing to draw up the US Department of Education to the largest extent of his power, reducing costs and pressing employees to give up.

Public teachers are the most frequent consumers of the state in collective negotiation and view the policy as a direct attack against their organizing power. Teachers’ unions are outspoken opponents of Republican policy in Utah and other countries where legislators seek to eliminate programs for diversity, justice and inclusion, to expand vouchers to choose school and to limit the use of bathroom in the bathroom and sports participation in schools.

Civil servants can still join the bankruptcy bank. But the unions could not officially negotiate on their behalf for better salaries and working conditions.

Republican governor Spencer Cox did not indicate whether he would sign or veto the measure. Spokesman Robert Carroll said on Thursday that the governor had followed the discussion and would look more closely now when he had passed.

The Utah Education Association, the largest union of public education staff, called on Cox to prove its support for teachers by publishing Swift Veto.

The bill does not pass with veto margins, which means that if COX rejects it, Republicans will have to withdraw more support to cancel its veto. All Democrats from the Senate and seven Republicans opposed the bill on Thursday.

Cullimore and his home associate, reporter Jordan Teuser from South Jordan, said collective agreements often restrict workers to participate in their own contract negotiations, allowing communication between a union and the employer.

Some conservative teachers who testified to the legislature have said that the left -wing teaching unions should not have the whole negotiating. TheSer said the bill removed the intermediary and allows employers to engage directly with all employees when dealing with workplace problems.

The proposal, according to Cullimore, is not an anti-union or anti-teacher.

“We have accepted bills here to directly support the pay of teachers when this is not done locally when this is not done by the Union,” he said. “We accepted on ourselves to ensure that they feel respected.”

If Cox signed the bill, Utah will be among the most resistant countries for unions in the public sector, together with North Carolina and South Carolina.

“This bill turns a civil servant into a servant,” said Senator Kathleen Reyb, a teacher and Democrat from Salt Lake City, just before the vote. “The people who protect you, the people who care for you and the people who make this city ask you not to accept this account.”

Firefighter Jack Tidrow, who appeared in the legislature almost every day for two weeks to express his opposition, said the unions play a decisive role in keeping firefighters at work. Utah is less safe now, he told reporters after the Senate approved the measure.