Proposed legislation that some school union leaders say could be “fatal” to their existence soon will face votes in the GOP-dominated Florida Legislature, which three years ago passed another measure that made it tougher for those same unions.
The Senate version of the bill (SB 1296) was amended on Monday by a Republican lawmaker who said he tried to appease some of the concerns of union leaders and Democrats. It narrowly won approval at its last committee stop, advancing by a 10 to 8 vote with two Republicans voting against it.
The similar House version (HB 995) remains unchanged, however, and has the backing of a group that says on its website “unions are a root cause of every growing national dysfunction in America.”
Both bills would make it harder for teachers unions and faculty unions at public schools and colleges to earn required recertification from the state in part by requiring more votes from teachers as part of the process.
Meera Sitharam, the president of the United Faculty of Florida at the University of Florida, said the bills felt “retaliatory” against teachers, who have largely opposed Republican-led education laws, and could spell doom for their unions.
“It’s really getting close to being fatal,” she said.
The bill exempts police and firefighter unions, whose leaders tend to support Republicans.
Sen. Jonathan Martin, R-Fort Myers, the sponsor of the Senate version, said requiring more votes for a union to be recertified keeps unions more accountable, arguing most don’t really have the support of their school system’s teachers.
“These unions are all over the state of Florida, these collective bargaining groups, where the class that they represent doesn’t want to be a member of that class. They don’t. They’re not voting. They don’t care,” Martin said.
Monday, about 100 union workers attended a Senate committee meeting to speak against the measure and ask legislators to change course.
John O’Berski, a teacher and Republican voter from Highlands County, said the bill felt like a “slap in the face” to conservative values.
“It is a solution to a problem that does not exist,” said Mary Rivera, a Marion County teacher who also described herself as a Republican.
Under initial versions of both bills, unions would need to garner 50% plus one vote of the entire bargaining unit — all public school teachers in a district, for example, even if they are not union members — to earn recertification. Previously, teachers unions only needed a majority of those who voted, a mark most far exceeded.
But typically, only about 30% of the entire bargaining unit turns out to vote, far below the threshold the state could set with the new legislation.
“The legislature’s job is to help make life better for people in the state of Florida. Why would they spend so much time doing something that’s going to make it harder for workers? Workers are the engine of the state. Workers are the engine of the economy,” said Andrew Spar, president of the Florida Education Association, the statewide teacher’s union.
Sen. Corey Simon, R-Tallahassee, successfully amended the bill Monday so that 60% of a bargaining unit would have to vote in favor with at least a 25% turnout.
“This isn’t a partisan issue. It really isn’t. As someone who was a part of the union during my playing days … I understood the benefits that came with having representation,” said Simon, a former NFL player.
Spar said the amendment was a “step in the right direction” but that the bill still “makes it harder for Florida’s workers to fight for a better life.”
The amended bill moved forward largely along party lines, with Republican Sens. Alexis Calatayud and Ana Maria Rodriguez joining Democrats in opposition.
The House version has the tougher voting requirements.
Rusty Brown, the director of special projects at the Freedom Foundation in Washington, an anti-union group, urged the Senate to approve the bill.
After Brown spoke, Sen. Shevrin Jones, D-Miami Gardens, asked if the Freedom Foundation had written the bill, and Brown said his group “consulted” with Martin on the bill’s language.
“We’re gonna call this bill what it is. This bill is the union’s nail in the coffin,” Jones said.
Both bills are now ready for floor votes, where lawmakers could decide which version to pass and send onto Gov. Ron DeSantis for approval.
Should the bill pass and get signed into law, Spar said the union will look into potential legal challenges.
In his view, the bill raises questions about Constitutional violations, such as the right to collectively bargain and the right to freedom of association. According to the Senate’s staff analysis, the bill could face several legal challenges, but could survive if the law serves a “compelling state interest in the least intrusive means possible.”
Angela Barron, a mother of three who has worked as a bus driver for the Marion County school district for nearly 30 years, asked senators to “not turn your back” on public school workers.
“I work hard every day for the Marion school district, and I believe my legislators should work hard for me too. I believe you when you say that you want to support public school workers like me, but this bill is not the way to do it,” she said.
In 2023, the Legislature passed, and DeSantis signed, a bill that ended payroll deductions for school union dues and required bigger membership numbers for unions to remain active, both changes that local unions said made it tougher for them.