SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — A Utah lawmaker behind a bill that amends rules for public labor unions calls the legislation a “win-win” for government workers and taxpayers, but some of the Beehive State’s largest unions don’t see it that way.

House Bill 285, sponsored by Rep. Jordan Teuscher (R-South Jordan), would make it so that public workers would have to opt in each year to have union dues taken out of their paychecks. It would also require public employee unions to hold a recertification election every five years.

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Additionally, it would prohibit public employers from paying workers while they perform union activities, and it would bar public money from going toward assisting or promoting union organizing or administration.

“This bill is really focused to ensure that no government resources, taxpayer money, is going to public labor unions,” Teuscher said. “And it also ensures that the government workers who are members of these unions have protections and guardrails against these unions.”

But the Utah Education Association, which represents 18,000 educators across the state, says the law would interfere in how educators choose to manage their paychecks, an affront to individual liberty. The group noted that government workers join unions by choice, and no one is forced to do so.

Renée Pinkney, president of the UEA, said that the bill imposes “unfair restrictions on labor unions that solely aim to weaken our collective voice.”

On Friday, throngs of union members — from teachers to electricians — lined the halls of the capitol to voice their opposition to the bill.

According to Utah AFL-CIO, HB 285 would bar public union members from accessing public property for union activities, thereby treating them unfairly.

“This discrimination is solely based on who they represent,” the organization said on Facebook.

Last week, the bill passed the House Business and Labor Committee with a favorable recommendation.

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