The push by a coalition of Utah labor groups to gather enough signatures to meet the threshold for a ballot referendum in efforts to repeal a recently passed labor union bill is coming into its final hours.

Over the past five weeks, the Protect Utah Workers coalition, including teachers, police, firefighters and other public and private sector union workers, has been collecting signatures from registered voters across the state to repeal House Bill 267 and put the question out to voters on next year’s ballot.

The new state law eliminates collective bargaining rights for public unions, including those representing teachers and public safety officers.

Around Utah County, advocates for labor unions and volunteers conducted signature gatherings at local parks, grocery store parking lots, their respective homes among other locations.

In order for the referendum to advance, state law requires 8% of registered voters, and 8% in 15 of Utah’s 29 state Senate districts to provide signatures for the measure — all in a matter of 30 days.

The ambitious effort began March 15.

About two weeks later — at least 130,000 signatures out of the needed 141,000 that are needed to meet the 8% threshold had been collected, Jessica Bruner, director of the Utah Public Employees Association stated during a late March news briefing.

“We are excited to have collected almost 130,000 signatures, but we need to double that number before our deadline on April 15,” said Bruner during the March 28 conference.

Following the Tuesday deadline, the coalition plans on delivering the signature packets to county clerks.

Michael Gowans, president of the Alpine Education Association, said around 400 packets have been given out to volunteers for signature gathering efforts during the past month.

“We’ve had over 5,000 volunteers helping out with the signature gathering across the state, and we’re cautiously optimistic,” he told the Daily Herald on Monday.

With the finish line in sight, Gowans said the teachers union among other sectors are committed to the very end in making sure enough signatures are collected.

“There’s offices all over and honestly, we’ll stay as late as we possibly can, but we’ve got to have everything to UEA and to our coalition and everything so that we can get those to the county,” he said.

The Protect Utah Workers coalition did not immediately respond to the Daily Herald’s inquiry regarding a signature count in Utah County. However, a coalition spokesperson told the Standard-Examiner that some signatures may be rejected due to insufficient voter status and/or information that does not match an individual’s voter records. Thus, signature gatherings remain crucial to ensure that enough are collected to proceed with the referendum process.

The signature packets will be handed over to the county clerks to verify each signees voter registration, before passing off to the lieutenant governor’s office for review. A final count of the signatures will likely become available in June.

Cheryl Cofie, Woodland Peaks UniServ director on the Utah Education Association board of directors, said she’s been out on the frontlines with other volunteers collecting signatures and has seen overwhelming support for the effort.

She’s also optimistic going into Tuesday’s petition signing deadline.

“We’ve had volunteers that are not teachers that have helped us,” Cofie said. “We have 19 unions actually, that are together in a coalition with the UEA. So it’s not just the teachers, it’s the firefighters and police and nurses.”

The Woodland Peaks UniServ represents educators in Provo, Nebo, and Carbon school districts.

Cofie noted the importance of collective bargaining for safety and teaching conditions, benefiting all teachers in the district.

“That makes our working environment a lot better, makes us better able to teach our students,” she said.

Meanwhile, efforts to deter people from signing the referendum are also underway.

Conservative advocacy group Americans for Prosperity also launched its “Decline to Sign” campaign in mid-March to counter the efforts to overturn H.B. 267, Utah News Dispatch reported.

The group believes that H.B. 267 stops the misuse of taxpayer funds, increases transparency and ensures all public workers have a voice, according to their website.

Despite the opposition, labor union advocates continue to stand firm in support of overturning the bill.

“Let’s give Utah a voice, let’s give everybody a voice, and let’s place this on the ballot and let the people of Utah decide,” Gowans said.

Those interested in learning more or signing the petition can go to https://www.protectutahworkers.com/get-involved/.