Posts tagged United Faculty of Florida
Judge finds Florida’s anti-union law union unconstitutional and ‘unreasonable’
November 12, 2024 // U.S. District Court Judge Mark Walker ruled that public teacher union members in Pinellas and Hernando counties had been damaged by the Florida Public Employees Relations Commission after the passage of SB 256, which had a component banning payroll deductions for the purpose of paying dues. Hernando United School Workers and the Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association argued that prohibiting payroll deductions was unconstitutional, violated their right to be free from the state impairment of contracts. The state argued the law was necessary to promote transparency and “allow union members to decide how to pay their dues and understand how much they were paying.”
FLORIDA: Graduate student union could lose recognition under new law
September 12, 2023 // If a union doesn’t meet the membership requirements, its employer is no longer obligated to legally recognize and honor union contracts, according to the bill. Failure to meet the quota triggers an application process for the union. It is unclear whether the union is able to collectively bargain while in the application stage. GAU and its parent unions: United Faculty of Florida, Florida Education Association, National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers also have negotiated thousands of discounts for members, ranging from local restaurants to phone and insurance plans.
Federal judge refuses to block law currently restricting Florida unions
June 28, 2023 // A federal judge Monday refused to block key parts of a new Florida law that places additional restrictions on public-employee unions, turning down a request from teachers unions that argue the law violates First Amendment and contract rights. Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker declined to issue a preliminary injunction, ruling that the Florida Education Association and other unions had not shown they had legal standing. The 12-page ruling came after Walker held a more than three-hour hearing Friday. The unions sought the injunction against parts of the law that require union members to fill out new government-worded membership forms and prevent union dues from being deducted from workers’ paychecks.
Florida: State officials sued by education unions over SB 256
May 22, 2023 // SB 256 outlaws requiring the state to deduct union dues, restricts the freedom of educators and other working people to join unions, forces local unions to undergo monitoring, and requires that an arbitrary 60% supermajority of eligible employees pay dues in order for a union to exist. “Dues will no longer be deducted from their paycheck along with Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and taxes,” Brown told the Florida Record. “Union dues don't belong on there anyway. The state should not be collecting money on behalf of private organizations anymore. Unions can just call their members and get their credit card information, their bank account and have it set up as a direct payment that way if they would like to.” Defendants include Donald J. Rubottom, chair of the Florida Public Employees Relations Commission, Jeff Aaron, commissioner of the Florida Public Employees Relations Commission, and Michael Sasso, commissioner of the Florida Public Employees Relations Commission.