by Michelle Nolan, UFF-UF Co-President
Calling all unionized public employees!
As you may have heard, the Florida legislature recently passed another piece of union-busting legislation, this one called SB1296. This legislation poses an existential threat to the existence of all public employee unions and the workplace rights we have secured over decades of collective bargaining.
Ever since the 2023 union-busting law (SB256), public employee unions in Florida have been held to an unheard of standard: make sure over 60% of your coworkers are dues-paying union members, or lose your contract and your right to collectively bargain. If our unions have less than 60% dues-paying membership, the only way to avoid union decertification is to hold a recertification election, where workers sign a large number of “Showing of Interest Cards” to authorize an election. And then we have to cast ballots saying “Yes! Of course we still want to have our union! Why do you think we keep doing this over and over every year, no matter how arduous it is?”
Under this year’s SB1296, this “Plan B” election method for maintaining our union certifications will be effectively rigged against all of us. Specifically, the law says that, in order for a union to win a recertification election, it must receive “Yes!” votes, not just from the majority of people who voted, but from a majority of eligible voters. Effectively, every non-vote will be counted as a “No” vote. Make no mistake that this law is once again moving the goalposts in an attempt to kill public employee unions across Florida.
Keeping our unions and contracts under this new law will be a challenge. But we can and will do what it takes.
If you are a public employee in a unionized workplace, the time to take action is now! To ensure your union and your contract live beyond this year, the most important things you can do are join your union today as a dues-paying member (if you’re not already a member) and talk to your coworkers about the importance of union membership (if you are already a member). If we can reach the all-important 60% membership threshold, we never have to worry about a recertification election again.
The next most important thing you can do to support your union is sign and return a Showing of Interest Card. Yes, the recertification process is intentionally rigged against public workers and our unions. Yes, it will be more difficult than before to win another recertification election. However, by turning in thousands of Showing of Interest Cards across the state and triggering recertification elections, we ensure that our unions have a viable Plan B while we continue building our membership.
Workers have the power to win. We will organize, we will sign the cards, we will cast the ballots, and then we will remind Tallahassee that you cannot build public institutions that serve the people of Florida without the workers who make them work!
Get in contact with your union leaders today and help us ensure that not a single union is lost to this anti-worker legislative crusade.