House fast tracks legislation Democrats call "union-busting" bill

Supporters say it's a much needed update to labor union regulations. Opponents charge it’s a “union-busting” bill targeting teachers, state workers and women.

Ultimately, HB 25 survived a gauntlet of hostile questioning by Democrats in a Government Accountability Committee this week and is ready for a House vote when lawmakers convene the 2018 session in January.

Rep. Scott Plakon, R-Longwood, said it’s a simple bill about transparency, democracy and accountability. The four-page proposal is a holdover from the last session that passed in the House and died in the Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee.

It would require labor organizations to have at least half the employees of a bargaining unit paying dues to maintain its certification. Florida’s Right to Work law prohibits union membership as a condition of employment.

“The problem to be solved is if there’s a small number of people claiming to represent a large number of people,” said Plakon.

Fewer than 10 percent of workers in some AFSCME chapters representing state employees pay dues. Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith rejected Plakon’s measurement of money as an indicator of support for a labor organization among low-pay workers.

“I guess you can call it an assumption, but if 97 percent of people do not see enough value in being represented by this bargaining unit to not even pay a nominal amount of dues then I would suggest there is a real question whether they are properly representing those people,” Plakon said.

That assumption frustrated Rep. Kristen Jacobs, D-Broward, who called it a false premise, undemocratic and an idea that would wipe out union membership for thousands — all in just one committee stop, she added.

The measure exempts firefighters and police and corrections officers from the 50 percent requirement for certification. The provision raised suspicions last session with opponents who charged the bill’s intent was to silence the teachers’ union because of its advocacy on education policy.

While the Government Accountability Committee debated the bill, the FEA, which represents public education workers, and the SEIU, the union for state hospital workers, rallied supporters outside.

Reps. Loranne Ausley, D-Tallahassee, and Lori Berman, D- West Palm Beach, joined with FEA president Joanne McCall to denounce the bill as an attempt to silence workers’ organized efforts — most of whom are women in state government — to bargain for better pay, benefits and working conditions.

When asked if the House Democratic Caucus had taken a position on the bill, Ausley responded, “No, the caucus hasn’t.

“But you can look at who’s here and what is going on inside and you will see where we are.”

Inside Jacobs, Smith and the six other Democrats on the committee performed a tag-team interrogation of Plakon. Picking up the thread of each other’s questioning, they weaved a charge that the bill rested upon false premises and was at odds with fundamental American principles.

While wrestling with Plakon’s responses, Jacobs echoed the protesters outside that the bill unfairly targets women.

“I know you said that was not your intent,” Jacobs told Plakon. “But when you look at the workers affected by this bill – over 80 percent are women. Now if you look at the unions exempted . . . they are largely made up of men.”

The bill was sent to the House floor on a mostly party-line vote of 14-9. One Republican, Rep. Chris Latvala, broke ranks and voted with the Democrats

Reporter James Call can be reached at jcall@tallahassee.com.