Floridians’ right to organize: under siege! Our say in local governments: consumed by big money! Citizens’ voice in our democracy: stifled by the terror of Tallahassee.
Week five of the 2020 Legislative Session saw the thrills, chills and terror continue from the State Capitol here in Tallahassee. Get the full picture with the newest episode of the Florida AFL-CIO’s Legislative Update: Razing Our Rights!
Legislative
HB 1: BAD FOR WORKERS, BAD FOR FLORIDA
Thursday Morning, February 13th, the State Affairs Committee Approved House Bill 1 12-7. This Bill is a Blatant Attack on Florida’s Workers.
Click here to find your Representative and tell them to Vote No on HB1
An out-of-state billionaire funded think tank has cooked up a new scheme to attack the unions representing our teachers, state and municipal workers, law enforcement officers, firefighters and other public sector workers. The bill is similar to policies that have been enacted in Alaska (although currently being blocked by a court order) to change the ways in which union members can keep their membership.
HB 1 will make it far more difficult for all public sector workers to exercise their constitutional right to stay in their union!
THE DETAILS
· HB 1 would require dues authorizations to be renewed every three years or upon authorization of a new contract, meaning the union would have to chase down re-authorization forms from members who have no intention of leaving the union.
· After the employer receives a signed dues authorization, deductions would not start until the employer goes on to “confirm with the employee, electronically or by other means, that he or she authorized the deduction of dues and uniform assessments.” This puts the employer in charge of the dues authorization process for the first time in history. Our public sector workers will have an indeterminate period of confusion and fear as they wait for their employer to verify their membership. There is no time frame or penalty for employers in the bill.
Public sector workers understand their Right to Work. This language is intended to tip the scales against membership.
· HB 1 is unnecessary. Florida’s workers NEVER have to join their union. It is their choice and they can cancel their membership at any time.
· HB 1 places a burden on workers who want to be a member in their union. It forces them to reauthorize every three years or upon authorization of a new contract, even though they can already quit at any time.
· HB 1 will create chaos. There are no time limits or other requirements for the employer to confirm the membership authorizations. They can simply ignore the requests for long periods of time.
HB 1 is the product of wealthy out-of-state special interests. The bill does not address any problems in Florida and does nothing to improve the situation for our public sector employees.
TAKE ACTION
Call your Representative and let them know that you stand against this legislation.
2020 Legislative Update Week 3: Horrors in the Halls of Power!
The lethal leviathan that is the Florida Legislature continues it’s campaign of destruction throughout the Sunshine State!
Efforts to further hide the machinations of our State government from the people! The colossus of Tallahassee continued to consume any and all power our local governments have! Direct democracy inches closer to death as big money continues it’s all out assault on the people of Florida!
All this and more in this newest episode of the Florida AFL-CIO’s Legislative Update: Horrors in the Halls of Power!
2020 Legislative Update Week 2: Calamity at the Capitol!
Union Busting! A State Legislature Dead Set on Stripping Power From Our Local Governments! Elected Officials Hiding Under the Cover of Darkness!
Floridians from every corner of the state fight back against the creeping terror!
This week’s Florida AFL-CIO Legislative Update brings you all the terror and excitement of the second week of Legislative Session!
2020 Legislative Update Week 1: The Return of Terror!
Attacks on our local governments!
Thousands of education staff, teachers and Floridians fight back against the menace in our Capitol!
Our democratic rights threatened by our elected officials!
All this and more in Week 1 of the Florida AFL-CIO’s 2020 Legislative Update: The Return Of Terror!
2020 Legislative Update: It Came From Tallahassee
Florida’s legislative session is here and our state is under attack!
This year we’re back just in time, as positively monstrous threats to working people are coming from our Capitol!
Stay tuned for our weekly updates on the issues, thrills and chills coming out of this session!
Want to join the fight for Florida’s working families? Sign up for our weekly E-Messenger and updates from HQ on how you can make your voice heard!
To sign up, simply click here.
See you next week for our first update!
🎥 2019 Legislative Update Week 9
The Florida Legislature’s annual assault on Working Families has come to an end. The final week saw a flurry of legislation guaranteeing an apocalyptic future for Floridians, and as the smoke clears the dystopian reality is becoming clear. Check out our final video of the year to see the last minute attack unfold and how the activists form the Working Families Lobby Corps stood strong against the politicians and their big-money friends.
2019 End of Session Brief
See below for pass/fail overview of the major working family issues we followed during the 2019 Legislative Session. Click here for a downloadable version of the brief.
Stay tuned this weekend to our Facebook and Youtube pages for your union legislative update video finale, “Sine Die” edition.
🎥 2019 Legislative Update Week 8
Florida’s Legislative Session is winding down, but the attacks on working families are still coming at full force. Committee meetings have ended so the final shape of our dark dystopian future is taking focus. The politicians and their big-industry allies continued the assault on public education, local control and healthcare access, setting up an apocalyptic reality for working Floridians. Thankfully, the Working Families Lobby Corps was there to meet their attack and help preserve Florida for future generations.
🎥 2019 Legislative Update Week 7
Week 7 of Legislative Session saw the politicians pull out all the stops in their attack on working families. Political tricks and last-minute amendments were used to be sure the big-money special interests were taken care of at the expense of Florida’s future generations. Public school safety and funding, access to healthcare and our constitutional rights were all under attack, and the Working Families Lobby Corps was there to fight back!