The bill, HB267, is aimed at banning collective bargaining across all of Utah’s public sectors. The bill would not prevent public employees from joining or forming unions, but it would prohibit government employers from “recognizing a labor organization as a bargaining agent.”

The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Jordan Teuscher, R-South Jordan, said rather than “silencing” public workers, as Pinkney put it, his proposed legislation “will enable more participation in the negotiation process and provide better benefits for our public employees.”

It would do that, Teuscher explained, by “opening up the free market” and allowing other people and organizations to have a seat at the negotiating table.