ALEC-Modeled Anti-Union Bill Introduced in Florida House
State House Representative Scott Plakon (R-Seminole) just filed House Bill 11, an anti-public employee union bill that was originally created and promulgated by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and that was introduced in other states. Were the bill to become law, it would effectively decertify public employee unions with membership below 50% of all eligible employees. The bill would also require yearly registration of bargaining units that would include financial information about its individual members. The legislation specifically but inexplicably exempts law enforcement and firefighter unions.
The UNF-UFF current membership is 38%. Thus, were the legislation to pass, all UNF faculty would lose the ability to engage in collective bargaining, to enforce a standard contract, to protect individual faculty members’ academic freedom, and to ensure equity in terms of course load. Correspondingly, university administration could hire, fire, alter work assignments, and pay different faculty per its whims rather than via specific and negotiated standards.We need you now more than ever!
