SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah has repealed a collective bargaining ban passed earlier this year that prevented labor unions serving teachers, firefighters, police and other public employees from negotiating on behalf of their workers.

Republican Gov. Spencer Cox on Thursday approved the repeal of a policy that experts had called one of the most restrictive labor laws in the country.

The state’s Republican-controlled Legislature originally approved the policy in February, saying it was needed to allow employers to engage directly with all employees, instead of communicating through a union representative. Thousands of union members from the public and private sector rallied outside Cox’s office for a week, urging him to veto the bill, which he decided to sign.

Pushback continued in the mont

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