From today’s Yahoo News:
Despite widespread and bipartisan opposition from hundreds of public workers who’ve appeared before lawmakers for weeks, the Florida Legislature passed legislation that labor advocates say will strike a blow to public sector unions.
The measure (SB 1296), which will head to Gov. Ron DeSantis, drew criticism from professions across the state, including teachers, electricians, sanitation workers and police officers. It fully reshapes union certification elections, but public workers say putting it into practice could mean certain death to unions.
The measure is backed by the DeSantis administration, particularly Education Commissioner Anastasios “Stasi” Kamoutsas — known for his repeated bashing of teachers unions, for example.
Moreover, U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon also weighed in on social media on the bill, commending the governor for “working to ensure unions truly have the support of the educators they represent.”The House on March 11 passed the Senate’s bill on a 73-37 vote.
It requires local chapters to have at least 50% of public employees in a bargaining unit to participate in the election, and then it needs 50% of those who vote to certify or recertify the union. It also sets different standards for certification elections for public safety employees, like police officers, firefighters and corrections officers.
Additionally, the bill narrows paid union leave rules for public workers who aren’t traditional first responders, but public safety employees would be exempt from the paid union leave rules.
Read the complete story here.