FL GOP Legislature ramps up assault on organized labor with 4 new bills (March 8 opening day)

[seafan]

Lawmakers take aim at unions

Bill Cotterell reports:

March 1, 2011

In a move that could bring Wisconsin-style protests to Florida, four Republican legislators are sponsoring bills that would effectively wipe out collective bargaining for government employees.
Proposals would end payroll deduction of union dues, dump labor organizations that don't enlist at least half of the workers they represent and require annual reminders to employees about how they can decertify a union.

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The pending bills are:

# SB 830 by state Sen. John Thrasher, a Jacksonville Republican, and HB 1021 by Rep. Chris Dorworth, R-Lake Mary, would end automatic union-dues deduction by public employers. The bills would also forbid use of dues for political activities. Organized labor, including AFSCME and teacher unions, are major supporters of Democrats, but Thrasher said he wasn't trying to dam the cash flow.

# HB 1023 by Rep. Scott Plakon, R-Longwood, would require recertification by July 1 for any union with membership below half of the employees it represents. Law enforcement unions like the PBA, which has generally supported Republicans in recent elections, would be exempt from the requirement.

# HB 1025 by Rep. Jason Brodeur, R-Sanford, would make it easier for public employees to seek decertification of their unions from the Public Employees Relations Commission, which oversees labor elections. Unions would be required to send financial reports to members every year, including political contributions and salaries, along with a written explanation of how members can go about decertifying a union.

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There aren't enough padlocks to keep the people of Florida out of Tallahassee to fight these enemies of our rights.

We don't like having our hard-fought rights taken away.


Palm Beach Post

February 26, 2011

Long before Wisconsin's teachers, police officers and firefighters walked off the job to protest at the capital, Florida claimed a distinction of its own: the nation's first statewide teacher strike over funding for education.

It was 1968 and roughly a third of the state's schools were forced to close. Almost half the state's teachers resigned at one time or another, an attempt to get around the law preventing them from striking.

The national arm of the teachers union, the National Education Association, warned its 1 million members that working conditions for teachers were so poor that it could be considered "unethical" for them to take a job in Florida, according to Time magazine.
Teachers were not successful in getting more funding for education, but their act ultimately provided public workers with something far more powerful than a year's worth of additional money.

The state Supreme Court ruled that public employees have a right to collective bargaining. Ruling on another case a year later, the court solidified that position, finding that teachers have a constitutional right to collective bargaining.

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Now, in 2011, this is about an escalating offensive against ALL unions across the country, as radical conservatives viciously attack the rights of working people.



D-Day in Tallahassee is Tuesday, March 8, on the opening day of the 2011 Legislative session.


And we must be prepared to hold our ground.