The right to join a labor union is enshrined in the Florida constitution. But twice in the last decade, the State of Florida has targeted public sector unions across the state with new laws, pushing to make it more difficult for those unions — especially teachers’ unions — to survive.
After signing a new anti-union bill into law in early May, Gov. Ron DeSantis promised that the third time would be the charm. The governor said the new law would “provide once and for all for the decertification of partisan teacher unions.”
“ If you look at one thing that conservatives have complained about in terms of education in the United States of America over the past thirty, forty years, it has been the role and influence that partisan teachers' unions play in our public education system,” said DeSantis at an event in Fort Myers. “This is something people have been wanting to see for a long time.”
As the law goes into effect, the state's largest public sector union is holding a new election in uncharted territory.
Antonio White, the president of United Teachers of Dade, the Miami-Dade public schools union, is defiant. The union has also been planning ahead for the current fight for its survival, he said, and he is mobilizing resources to make sure all eligible members vote.
“I still sleep pretty well at night because I know we generally respond well to pressure,” White told WLRN.
Under the new law, union elections will only be valid if more than 50% of covered employees participate in the union election, and over 50% of voters agree to be represented by the union.
The new conditions make union elections dramatically different from political elections. Florida’s gubernatorial elections in 1998, 2006 and 2010 were under 50% turnout, according to state records.
“ There's not an election that I know of in this country where 50% of all eligible voters have to participate in order for that election to be valid. Normally, in this country, those who vote determine the outcome,” said White. “ They kind of turned democracy on its head. Now those who don't participate have a greater chance of determining the outcome of an election than those who do.”
UTD’s new election started on May 27 and runs through July 7, and is taking place entirely by mail. The timing of the election left teachers with only one week in classes before summer break.
White acknowledged that the vote is entirely taking place by mail — during the summer, when many teachers are off — presents a unique challenge. But White said having even one week with teachers in schools greatly helped in communicating with teachers about the stakes of the battle.
UTD needs 11,540 teachers to participate
With 23,079 people in the union’s bargaining unit, the union needs at least 11,540 teachers to participate in the mail election.
The new law technically goes into effect July 1, and White said it is unclear if it will apply to UTD’s election, since the election began before the law went into effect and ends after it is in effect. But the union is pushing full steam ahead as if the new rules are surely in place.
“ We can't afford to leave anything to chance, since they control every phase of the process,” he said, speaking of the Florida Public Employee Relations Commission, which is made up of DeSantis appointees.
The decertification of the union would mean a total dissolution of the current contract that sets pay, workplace conditions and benefits for more than 23,000 employees. The union has a storied history in Florida labor, becoming the first public sector labor union to be registered with the state in 1975.
“Our contract is a compilation of things that have been acquired during that period,” said White.
Under SB 256, passed in 2023, at least 60% of public sector union members also need to pay dues in order to be safe. If less than that amount pays dues, a new union election needs to be held. United Teachers of Dade has to hold its new election for a second time after failing to meet that newly mandated threshold.
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“ It's an attempt to obviously drain our resources, get us focused on things other than what unions focus on, which are terms and conditions of employment. And it puts us in a posture to stay on what I call a hamster wheel, until you actually reach that 60% threshold,” he said.
The new rules and restrictions do not apply to police, firefighter or correctional officer labor unions.
As WLRN previously reported, tens of thousands of public employees lost their union representation after the 2023 law went into effect. At the same time, the pressure of decertification led to sharp increases in member dues and involvement for many unions.
White predicted that the same phenomenon will happen with teachers in Miami, leaving labor in a better position and with more strength than it had before the wave of anti-union laws.
“ There are unintended consequences when bad people do things to good people,” he said. “ It's only gonna create us more resources and revenue to push back against those bad education policies that we face in this state right now.”
