TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The North Central Florida teacher’s unions are leading a case against a new law in Florida that puts more limits on public-employee unions. Gov. Ron DeSantis has called the law “political retaliation.”
Tuesday, a case was brought in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, Gainesville Division, by the Florida Education Association, the United Faculty of Florida, the Alachua County teachers union, and the University of Florida faculty union.
It says that the law breaks the First Amendment, the Equal Protection Clause, and the right to a contract.
During an event in Miami on Tuesday, SB 256 was signed by DeSantis. The Republican governor and the teacher’s unions have had many disagreements about education policies, and the unions were key backers of Charlie Crist, who ran against Ron DeSantis for governor last year.
The lawsuit said that the limits didn’t apply to unions that represent police officers, jail officers, and firemen. These unions have supported DeSantis and other Republicans, so the lawsuit said they shouldn’t have to follow the rules.
“To punish the “school unions” and other public employee unions that have been against him, Gov.
DeSantis pushed for “unprecedented” changes to Florida’s collective bargaining law that would hurt the unions he didn’t like while protecting the unions that represent law enforcement, corrections, and firefighter employees who have supported him,” the lawsuit said.
Among other things, the law says that union dues can’t be taken out of workers’ paychecks, so union members have to pay them separately.
Also, it needs to be figured out how many qualified workers pay union dues. If less than 60% of qualified workers join a union, the union will have to get re-approved as a bargaining agent.
Also, it forces unions to put specific information on registration forms about how Florida is a “right-to-work” state and how much their five highest-paid leaders and workers make.
Also, it says that unions have to have approved financial records that members can look at.
Supporters have said that the law would make unions more clear to workers. DeSantis said Wednesday in Jacksonville that the law will be “good for teachers.”
DeSantis said, “They can make a better decision because they know more.” “They have a better idea of where the money is going, and they can figure out what the union is doing for them.” They aren’t doing much at all. They use that money to help their political party. This is what they do with it.”
But state and national union leaders said at a news gathering on Wednesday that the law is about getting back at the government. They compared it to the fight DeSantis had with the Walt Disney Co. over a 2022 state law that would have limited what schools could teach about sexual orientation and gender identity.
“The governor is using this law to get back at his critics, which is a lot like what we saw with the attacks on Disney,” said Andrew Spar, president of the Florida Education Association.
The case says that the bill breaches the First Amendment because it says that union registration forms must include certain details.
“By requiring disfavored unions to include a prominent, government-written, 91-word “right-to-work” affirmation on the membership authorization forms they give to potential members and by requiring public employees who want to join disfavored unions to sign that affirmation, this section of the law violates the First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and freedom of association,” the court said.
The case also talks about equal protection because the rules don’t apply to all groups the same way. For example, law enforcement officers, jail officers, and firemen are free from the rules.
Also, it says that the rule might violate the Constitution by hurting union contracts. For example, the Alachua County Education Association union’s deal with the Alachua County school district lets union dues be taken out of teachers’ wages. The same thing is written into a contract between the United Faculty of Florida and the University of Florida.
The case said that a part of the law “substantially hurts the contractual rights” of the United Faculty of Florida and the Alachua County Education Association by making it illegal for unions that aren’t liked to collect membership dues through salary payment.
The Republican-led Legislature passed the law during the session that finished last week. The law affects many different groups. But the case only names school groups as the people who want to sue.
