"They're really upset about this, about this benefit [being] taken away from them," Audrey Wood, executive director of the Utah Public Employees' Association, said Saturday. "They're up in arms."

Last week, the union held its last hearing with members to discuss House Bill 213, which ends a 20-year program allowing state workers to trade unused sick leave for generous medical benefits after retirement. Wood said members want the UPEA's board to authorize a lawsuit against the state.

The board will decide Friday whether to sue. No board member could be reached Saturday.

Wood said the board would decide not to sue "if legal counsel came back and said there are no grounds."

HB213, sponsored by Santa Clara Republican Rep. David Clark, affects about 25,000 employees. Huntsman rushed to sign it, approving it the same day it crossed his desk.

For years, retiring state workers could trade eight hours of sick leave for one month of medical benefits. Starting Jan. 1, employees will be required to deposit 25 percent of the value of their "banked" sick leave in a 401(k) account. The rest could be traded for medical benefits, but at a reduced rate. The program will end in 2014.

Until now, the program has been viewed as compensation for nonexistent or low raises.

During the Legislature, Clark argued that new accounting rules would require the state to list $220 million in banked sick leave as a liability.

House budget chairman Ron Bigelow, R-West Valley City, voted against the bill. "We owe a lot to our state employees," he said Saturday. "Once you give a benefit you should generally hold to that."

But he said he hopes the UPEA decides against suing. "Clearly there will be no winners from the suit. Should the employees prevail, the state will be forced to fund that and where will those funds come from? It will impact them and other programs as well. We're not talking here a few million dollars. We're talking large amounts of money."