![\"Anna](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/TFL-L-TEACHERS-UNIONS-0524-04.jpg\")
Anna Fusco, president of the Broward Teachers Union, stands in her Tamarac office on Thursday, May 21, 2026. (Mike Stocker\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)<\/p>\nAnna Fusco is known as a fighter, often pulling out a pair of boxing gloves inside the Tamarac office of the Broward Teachers Union, the group she has led for the past decade.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s now preparing for one of the biggest fights facing teachers unions in Florida: the fight for survival.<\/p>\n
This year, the state Legislature passed, and Gov. Ron DeSantis signed, a tough, new state law that makes it far harder for unions representing teachers, bus drivers, cafeteria workers and many others to remain active, forcing live-or-die votes as early as this summer.<\/p>\n
When he signed the bill, DeSantis said the new law would \u201cprovide once and for all for the decertification of partisan teacher unions.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was a chilling message for unions and their supporters.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re trying to get rid of us. They\u2019ve said it loud and clear,\u201d Fusco told the South Florida Sun Sentinel on Thursday.\u00a0But Fusco said she has confidence the Broward Teachers Union will be here for the long haul.<\/p>\n
\u201cI reject any kind of insinuation that we are in danger of extinction,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The new law is the latest in a series of state moves that target unions. It started in 2018 when the state required most public sector unions to represent at least 50% of eligible members, or else go through a yearly recertification election.<\/p>\n
In 2023, the Republican lawmakers raised that threshold to 60%, while also outlawing the public sector employees from using payroll deduction for membership dues. The law excluded unions representing police, fire and correctional officers, which are more supportive of Republican leaders.<\/p>\n
Many smaller government employee unions dissolved, although most teachers unions survived, holding elections with overwhelming support.<\/p>\n
This year, Republican lawmakers made it even more difficult for these same unions, requiring that at least 50% of employees in a union\u2019s bargaining group vote in the election, and the majority of those must vote yes to keep the union. In the past, the unions only needed a majority of whoever turned out for the election, and there was no minimum.<\/p>\n
If the turnout is below 50%, or if the majority of those voting cast a no vote, a union becomes decertified and will no longer represent the employees. School districts would decide on their own what kind of raises and health insurance to\u00a0give teachers and other union employees.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do believe that the 50% voting rule is grossly hypocritical,\u201d Gordan Longhofer, president of the Palm Beach County Classroom Teachers Association, told the Sun Sentinel. \u201cIt is a standard that few, if any, of our elected officials could ever meet in their own districts, and yet they see fit to put it on the backs of individuals, whose sole purpose is to enable and mentor and grow leaders for future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Antonio \u201cTony\u201d White, president of United Teachers of Dade, agreed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe way they\u2019ve set up elections for public sector units in general is a great concern, seeing that it\u2019s unprecedented,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s not a democratic election anywhere that I know in the country that operates under these terms.\u201d<\/p>\n
While unions can still avoid the recertification election if 60% of eligible employees are members, none of the South Florida teachers unions currently meet that.<\/p>\n
Anna Fusco, president of the Broward Teachers Union, stands in her Tamarac office on Thursday, May 21, 2026. (Mike Stocker\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)<\/p>\n
The Broward Teachers Union\u2019s membership has about 55% of eligible members, the Palm Beach Classroom Teachers Association has about 51% and United Teachers of Dade has 45%, according to union leaders.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m optimistic we can meet the (recertification) requirements, because of the strength of our union, but time will tell,\u201d Longhofer said.<\/p>\n
In Central Florida, the Seminole Education Association now counts 33% of the county\u2019s teachers as members.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven if everybody, 100% of our members, vote yes, we are decertified after the election,\u201d said Thomas Bugos, the Seminole union\u2019s president.<\/p>\n
Bugos said the future looks \u201cscary\u201d for teachers unions, and the teachers they represent, because of the new law. He views the new rules as part of an ongoing state attack on public education.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe teachers that have dedicated their lives to this \u2014 we\u2019re forcing these hoops and obstacles in front of them to make their job even more difficult,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Fusco, the Broward Teachers Union president, showed no signs of defeat during the Thursday afternoon interview, which she conducted before showing off her skills at boxing, an activity she took up about two years ago to become more physically and mentally fit. A large punching bag sits in a room right outside her office.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a great plan and a great campaign. Whenever the (recertification) election is going to be called, we\u2019re ready. We know we are not going to fail,\u201d Fusco said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know that it\u2019s important to have strong public schools, clean public schools, safe public schools, and having certified, real teachers in there teaching the students,\u201d Fusco said. \u201cAnd when you have a union that fights for those rights, it\u2019s important. And I believe the community backs us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Union leaders say that while many people don\u2019t join unions due to financial reasons, they still don\u2019t want unions to go away and will likely support them in recertification elections.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople who don\u2019t pay dues still would not want to lose the benefits of working under a contract,\u201d White said. \u201cUnion contracts uplift those that are members as well as those that are not.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the unions also have plenty of criticism, particularly among conservatives, who argue that union bargaining has delayed teacher raises and that unions often support liberal causes and oppose Republican-backed school choice efforts, such as charter schools and private school vouchers.<\/p>\n
Sen. Jonathan Martin, the Fort Myers Republican who sponsored the bill, said during the legislative session that the changes would hold teachers unions more accountable to the people they claim to represent.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese unions are all over the state of Florida, these collective bargaining groups, where the class that they represent doesn\u2019t want to be a member of that class. They don\u2019t. They\u2019re not voting. They don\u2019t care,\u201d Martin said.<\/p>\n
The conservative Freedom Foundation, an organization that played a role in the law\u2019s creation, celebrated its passage.<\/p>\n
The changes were \u201clong overdue\u201d to combat \u201czombie unions\u201d that do not really represent most of a district\u2019s teachers, said Aaron Withe, the group\u2019s CEO, in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cA handful of activists shouldn\u2019t control workplace representation for hundreds of employees who never asked for it,\u201d Withe said.<\/p>\n
Andrew Spar, the president of the Florida Education Association, a statewide union, told the Orlando Sentinel that teachers unions in Florida have gained 4,000 new members since the bill passed the Legislature. But he said there\u2019s still \u201cgreat concern\u201d about the new law.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Governor and his activist administration are being clear that they do not care about the workers of this state,\u201d Spar said.<\/p>\n
![\"Dan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/TFL-L-TEACHERS-UNIONS-MORE-02.jpg\")
Dan Reynolds, president of the Federation of Public Employees, speaks to the Broward County School Board during a meeting at Plantation High School on Thursday, May 21, 2026, to discuss the pay and benefits of employees represented by his union. (Mike Stocker\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)<\/p>\n
While teachers unions have gotten the most attention, the law also affects many other public sector unions, including those that represent bus drivers, janitors, cafeteria workers and maintenance workers.<\/p>\n
In Broward, many of those are represented by the Federation of Public Employees.<\/p>\n
The union and the Broward School District held an impasse hearing after the union rejected the district\u2019s proposed contract that included more expensive insurance and no raises.<\/p>\n
Federation President Dan Reynolds referred to the new law when urging the district to provide a more favorable contract.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the last four years, we\u2019ve had the Legislature try to put us out of business,\u201d Reynolds told the School Board. \u201cWe\u2019re up against some challenges in the state of Florida.\u201d<\/p>\n
Orlando Sentinel Steven Walker contributed to this news article.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Audience](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/TFL-L-TEACHERS-UNIONS-MORE-03.jpg\")
Audience members listen as Dan Reynolds, president of the Federation of Public Employees, speaks to the Broward County School Board during a meeting at Plantation High School on Thursday to discuss employee’s pay and benefits. (Mike Stocker\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Anna Fusco is known as a fighter, often pulling out a pair of boxing gloves inside the Tamarac…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":282717,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[113,28,30,29,266,115,109,32797],"class_list":["post-282716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-education","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-social","tag-south-florida-schools"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=282716"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282716\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/282717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=282716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=282716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=282716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}