I’ve only been capable of murder once. It was the moment I learned one of my family members was being beaten by their spouse, and had been for eight years of marriage.
Thankfully, the moment passed. I’ve learned a great deal about abusive relationships since then, especially the pattern: abuse happens, followed by apologies which routinely convince abused partners to remain in abusive relationships. It is frustrating to watch from the outside, where things seem so clearly obvious while those we love remain in danger.
People get to make their own choices, but I want to be perfectly clear: people have rights and governments are instituted to protect those rights.
And yet. In this moment, we see our constitutionally-guaranteed rights under attack, whether it be religious freedom, the free press or books, there are some, including Utah’s Senate President Stuart Adams, who believe some people are “more equal than others” when it comes to the people and our voice in government. He isn’t wrong to quote Benjamin Franklin’s response to a question about our form of government. Indeed, it is “A Republic, if you can keep it.” President Adams went so far as to have this statement engraved on the Challenge coins he presented to members of the Senate at the start of the session. His error is in his bold assertion that ONLY he and his fellow (supermajority) elected officials in the Legislature have a right to rule. The Utah Supreme Court ruled otherwise in defense of the Utah constitution, which guarantees THE PEOPLE the right to alter our form of government – this same right being proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence.
Yes, we are and ought to be a republic, but must we be ruled by a Republican supermajority that chooses their own voters through gerrymandering? That steals local property taxes from school districts? An out of control government that bans fluoride, makes voting by mail more difficult , and threatens to pack the state Supreme court? This Legislative session’s treatment of The People sounds much like Henry Ford stating his customers can have any color they want, “as long as it’s black.” They have forgotten it is The People who are sovereign here.
As part of their retribution tour, targeting the Supreme Court for invalidating proposed Amendment D last year, the Legislature also went after working class Utahns to attack the Utah Education Association for bringing the lawsuit against last year’s Amendment A. Despite what Rep. Tuescher claims publicly, this was an act of pure revenge as Senator Weiler clearly explained in a Facebook Town Hall. Unfortunately, Governor Cox displayed a case of Stockholm Syndrome in his Valentine’s Day decision to sign the bill erasing worker rights with a statement of “disappointment” that there was no compromise.
The latest outrage driven talking point suggests that public employee unions are somehow unfair to taxpayers. This is absurd. It suggests that police, firefighters, and teachers are OVERPAID. This, when first responders and teachers cannot afford to live in the communities we serve? It suggests that we are not taxpayers and do not deserve to advocate together as our privately employed peers are allowed. It suggests we have no right to negotiate, together, for better working conditions – which are student learning conditions and public safety conditions. It suggests, somehow, that each of us, alone, will be “empowered” to negotiate on our own behalf.
It doesn’t work that way.
Government of the people, by the people, and for the people exists to ensure the rights of the people are protected against tyrants of all types. Whether that be monopolistic big businesses that overcharge us, businesses that poison our air, soil, and water, or businesses that exploit children, individually we cannot effectively fight back. Collectively, through government action and labor unions, we can.
Sadly, big government can also lose sight of its role. I’m all for increased efficiency, transparency, and accountability. I don’t know anyone who opposes this, other than the Utah Legislature which eliminated GRAMA access through the State Records Committee, which had previously been kneecapped by the Legislature out of retribution, at the end of the Legislative session.
The Legislature’s revenge tour has, and will, hurt countless Utahns. We’re better than this and it’s high time the Legislature be reminded who is really in charge. Like we did with the 2019 tax referendum, it’s time we come together and stand up to their abuse before it’s too late. When Pastor Neimoller realized “they came for the trade unionists,” he didn’t speak up because he wasn’t one of them, but it wasn’t long before no one was left to speak for him.
We’re your neighbors and your friends and right now, we are in danger. Go to ProtectUtahWorkers.com and join our referendum effort to restore worker’s rights. We have one month.
Deborah Gatrell is a social studies teacher and a veteran who helped collect signatures in 2019 and is doing it again. Her opinions are her own.
