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SALT LAKE CITY — More than a week after Gov. Spencer Cox signed HB267 to ban public sector collective bargaining, a new bill has been numbered that would clarify definitions around labor organizations and public employees.
SB327 is sponsored by Sen. Lincoln Fillmore, R-South Jordan, and would narrow the definition of a union and expand the definition of a public employer for the previously passed public labor unions bill, HB267.
Fillmore's new bill builds onto the provisions of HB267 which bans public sector collective bargaining and was sponsored by Jordan Teuscher, R-South Jordan. Collective bargaining is when an employer and a union come together to negotiate a contract for employees, with the labor union acting as the sole bargaining agent for the employees.
Under SB327, an organization that contracts with government agencies to do internal work would be excluded from the definition of labor organization or union. These groups, such as law firms or human resources firms, would not fall under the restrictions set by HB267.
"The issue was that in 267 the labor union definition, which is new, was maybe a little bit broad and had the potential of encompassing contract organizations that were not intended," said Michael K. Mckell, R-Spanish Fork.
It would also expand the definition of public employees to include charter schools and schools for the deaf and the blind into the collective bargaining ban. This bill does not exclude any union from HB267's collective bargaining ban.
Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, said this bill is essentially a cleanup bill that they decided to run before the end of the session.
The bill also clarifies the definitions for other terms in HB267 such as union activities, labor union members, political purposes and labor organization representatives.
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Caitlin Keith
