SALT LAKE CITY -- Some people in the community I spoke with shared how they are optimistic about the study that ranked Utah the number one state for economic outlook, but others think we have a lot of work to do before those rankings ring true.
The honor of being the top state in the American Legislative Exchange Council's rankings is the 19th in a row for Utah.
Unions have been around the state for decades, and one of them is UA Local 140.
"In my career, we're the largest we've ever been," said UA Local 140 business agent Cody Weaver. "We have potential to grow quite a bit more with the work that's coming up here in Utah."
Weaver said there's no shortage of work for his union's plumbers, pipefitters, and HVAC workers. With more growth, he says, union members are always needed for projects, and more people are reaching out to join their apprenticeship programs.
"We have hundreds of people beating down our door to get in," Weaver said. "Right now, we have available jobs that we'll be able to get them to work."
An Urban Institute analysis echoed by the office of Gov. Spencer Cox says that Utah leads the nation in adjusted median household income growth. Weaver claims the union works to get employees good pay, as well as negotiating wages and benefits for cost-of-living.
"The people that are out there that are doing the same job for much less are pushing the market down. They're worth a lot more, and they should be paid that," he said.
At Teamsters Local 222, union president Britt Miller is seeing more people join, too, but added that it's not necessarily a good sign for the economy.
"You don't organize new union shops in healthy, functioning, well-funded communities. You organize it where you don't have money," Miller explained. "[Employees] don't have good working conditions. People are getting injured and dying at work. They don't have a choice. The fear of that step is far worse than the fear of what's happening today."
The governor's office says the state was number one in GDP growth and number one in upward mobility, but Miller says workers with boots on the ground aren't necessarily seeing that.
"Housing, healthcare, if you have been watching your water bill for the last six years, it goes up constantly, electricity bill, natural gas bill, the bills are going up. Is your pay going up? If your pay is not going up, then that's not a positive outlook," he said.
Looking back at the past 19 years, Miller shared it is hard to compare conditions from nearly two decades ago to now, but says there needs to be policy change to achieve those high rankings.
"Remind ourselves that this is a very family-oriented state," he said, "and start putting in policy that help families, not punish them."