Florida Senate votes to place new restrictions on public sector unions

A bill to make it harder for public sector unions to establish or renew their certification passed the Florida Senate despite arguments that it would unconstitutionally impinge on workers’ constitutional rights.

The legislation, SB 1296, which is strongly backed by the anti-union Freedom Foundation, drew hundreds of union members from across the state to Tallahassee earlier this week to voice their opposition.

On Friday, five Republicans joined all Democrats in voting against the bill, which does not have the same language as the House, where it heads next. Among them was Sen. Ed Hooper, R-Pinellas County, a former firefighter union leader who suggested the measure had too many problems.

The bill’s sponsor said the legislation was targeted primarily at teacher unions, but it also sweeps in others, including public hospital doctors and sanitation workers. However, firefighters and other first responders are exempt from the legislation.

One of the complaints was that the bill creates two tiers of employees with differing rights.

“I wish we could have worked on some language that would have made this a better bill,” Hooper said.

It’s not the first time the Legislature has aimed to limit unions’ efforts to organize. The legislation builds on restrictions lawmakers imposed in 2023.

Leaders at that time said teacher unions had become “political weapons” pushing misinformation and standing in the way of getting teachers state-approved raises.

The arguments made by this year’s bill sponsor, Sen. Jonathan Martin, R-Fort Myers, touched on similar themes. He frequently referred to the Lee County teachers union suing the district over a proposal to give pay incentives that the superintendent offered without collective bargaining.

The union lost that lawsuit. But Martin said its attempt to stand in the way of the stipends convinced him that more controls were needed to ensure that unions have adequate support from the people they represent.

“If all the unions were great, we would not have this bill in front of us,” Martin said. “But they’re not all great.”

He noted that the new certification rules would, if ultimately put into law, only come into play if union membership falls below 60% of eligible participants.

Critics of the bill argued that the initiative would violate workers’ federal constitutional rights such as equal representation, further noting the state constitution guarantees workers the right to collectively bargain.

“I think we really need to be honest about what SB 1296 really is,” said Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando. “This is the next step in a years-long campaign to eliminate public sector unions in Florida.”

The bill had lain dormant in both chambers until a video clip from a Feb. 5 Florida Education Association news conference was widely spread by Corey DeAngelis, a national school choice advocate who calls unions the “main enemy of education freedom.”

In the video, student activist Zander Moricz said student protest against injustice, such as federal immigration enforcement in Minnesota, is reasonable, rational and “required.” Moricz spoke against such protests disrupting schooling, but that portion of his comment was not featured in DeAngelis’ clip. Florida officials began sharing the video as evidence that the teachers union was indoctrinating children and encouraging chaos in schools.

Education commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas called on lawmakers to move the legislation forward, as did its House and Senate sponsors. Gov. Ron DeSantis soon joined the chorus, and the bills in short order found renewed traction in both chambers.

As it headed to the Senate, U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon urged senators on social media to rein in “fringe political activism from teacher unions.”

The House version remains available for consideration.