National Labor Board certifies election outcome
Salt Lake City, UT (December 19, 2025) – Employees of Smith Power Products, Inc are free from the hold of Operating Engineers Local Union No. 3 union officials after an overwhelming majority of the units 58 workers voted to “decertify” the union in a secret ballot election administered by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
NLRB Region 27 certified the election results, officially ending Operating Engineers officials’ exclusive monopoly “representation” of the Smith Power Products employees. The decertification effort was spearheaded by Smith Power Products employee Bryce Runia, who filed his petition with the NLRB with free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.
The NLRB is the federal agency responsible for enforcing federal labor law, a task that includes administering votes to install (or “certify”) and remove (or “decertify”) unions in workplaces.
The election took place among all full-time employees employed in the Parts and Service Department of the Smith Power Products, Salt Lake City, Utah, facility. Seventy percent of the workers’ votes were cast against the continued presence of Operating Engineers union officials in the workplace.
Utah is one of the 26 states with Right to Work protections that safeguard workers by making union affiliation and dues payment strictly voluntary. Yet, even in Right to Work states, union officials can impose exclusive bargaining control upon all workers in a workplace, even those who oppose the union. The workers’ decertification victory removes the union officials’ monopoly bargaining powers over the employees.
“The Foundation is pleased to have assisted Mr. Runia and his colleagues in exercising their right to remove an unwanted union from their workplace,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “This case serves as another reminder that, in addition to the vast majority of workers who polls show are happily non-union, there are numerous other employees in Utah and across America who are currently trapped in a union against their will.”
The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is a nonprofit, charitable organization providing free legal aid to employees whose human or civil rights have been violated by compulsory unionism abuses. The Foundation, which can be contacted toll-free at 1-800-336-3600, assists thousands of employees in about 200 cases nationwide per year.
