Below you will find our Pass/Fail overview of the major legislative issues for Florida’s working families that we have tracked throughout the 2021 Legislative Session. You can also download the overview here.

Stay tuned for our final Legislative Update video.

The 2021 Legislative Session has reached its final level, but Florida’s digital defenders will continue the fight for Florida’s working people! Find out more in this edition of the Florida AFL-CIO Legislative Update: Game Over!

Deleterious data attempts to damage our democracy! Find out more in Week 8 of the 2021 Florida AFL-CIO Legislative Update: Crisis In Cyberspace!

Our constitutional rights are at risk of a hostile takeover! Working Floridians are fighting back against the dastardly damaged data attempting to derezz Florida’s democracy. Find out more in this edition of the Florida AFL-CIO Legislative Update Week 7: Digital Devastation!

Session continues, and the Florida Legislature has gone haywire! Find out more in this edition of the Florida AFL-CIO Legislative Update: Future Shock!

From the first committee weeks, through Sine Die, the end of every Legislative Session, Working Families Lobby Corps activists stand up for Florida’s working people. In order to ensure the safety of the working people involved in the Working Families Lobby Corps, this year, the program will be held virtually. The Florida AFL-CIO office and building will remain closed until further notice. All activities will be virtual.

While the fight for Florida’s workers may look a little different this year, we will continue to make our voices heard. This year our army of digital activists will continue to meet with their representatives, learn the ins and outs of “politics as usual” in Tallahassee, and be a part of Florida’s democratic process, all while remaining safe and socially distanced. 

 Members of this year’s Working Families Lobby Corps will be a part of: 

• Regular remote briefings on legislation and session. 

• Virtual meetings between participants and legislators.

• Committee viewing and, if possible, virtual testimony.

• Virtual phone banks to alert members of critical issues and legislative processes.

• Letter writing campaigns.

• Safe, in-district activities such as car caravans and virtual delegation meetings.

Join us as we strive for a democracy that’s “for the people, by the people.” The Working Families Lobby Corp has long been the premier civic program for Florida’s working people. Join us as we continue our mission online. Contact your local Field Representative below to sign up and get involved! 

Broward AFL-CIO: Dana Shumate – 954-804-0533, DShumate@flaflcio.org

Central Florida AFL-CIO: Billy Lawson – 407-257-6081, wlawson@flaflcio.org

North Florida Central Labor Council: Yennifer Mateo – 386-299-7719, ymateo@flaflcio.org 

North Central Florida CLC: Jeremiah Tattersall – 352-222-1991, jtattersall@flaflcio.org

Northwest Florida Federation of Labor, including Big Bend & Panama City Chapters: Danielle Thomas: 850-320-0884, dthomas@flaflcio.org

Palm Beach-Treasure Coast AFL-CIO: Ted Parsons – 561-324-6636, tparsons@flaflcio.org

South Florida AFL-CIO: David Beltran – 305-215-7070, dbeltran@flaflcio.org

Southwest Florida Labor Chapter: Laura Griffin – 239-823-4743, lgriffin@flaflcio.org

Space Coast AFL-CIO: Karen Houston – 321-506-5867, khouston@flaflcio.org 

Volusia-Flagler AFL-CIO: Yennifer Mateo – 386-299-7719, ymateo@flaflcio.org 

West Central Florida Labor Council: Kyle Gawroriski – 850-228-9831, kgawroriski@flaflcio.org 

In this time of crisis, Florida’s Legislature is responding by jamming through legislation that would infringe on public frontline workers’ right to join a union.

House Bill 947, Dues and Uniform Assessments, is part of a national push by billionaire-funded think tanks to make the unionization process needlessly complicated in order to suppress membership. If passed, the legislation would put employers in charge of the membership process for the first time in Florida’s history and prevent union members from automatically renewing their membership. HB 835, Employee Organizations, contains similar but even harsher provisions that single out K-12 educators, university and college professors, and education support employees.

Here in Florida, workers have the freedom to choose whether or not they join a union. HB 947 and HB 835 are government overreach that would unnecessarily insert the government into that decision and attempt to tip the scales against your right to collectively bargain. Working people should be able to make that decision themselves, without interference from the state.

This legislation not only sets a dangerous precedent, it’s an insult to the working people putting themselves in harm’s way to keep our state functioning. Call your representative and tell them to vote NO on HB 947 and HB 835.

Governor DeSantis recently announced that he will be ending the federal enhanced unemployment benefits that have been a lifeline for unemployed Floridians.

Florida has some of the worst unemployment benefits in the nation, for those that receive them in the first place, as most applicants won’t receive a dime. Ending the extra $300 a week in pandemic assistance is a slap in the face to working people barely scraping by on these embarrassingly low benefits. Studies have shown that increased unemployment benefits don’t keep workers from looking for work, but instead help keep our local economies solvent. Ending these benefits will pull roughly $700 million in stimulus funds out of Florida’s economy!

Much has been made about Florida’s “hiring crisis” with false claims that people are making more money to stay home than get a job. In reality, the pandemic has made Florida’s childcare, housing, and healthcare crises worse and this is keeping many out of the workforce. It has also reset our labor market with more and more looking for jobs that don’t pay poverty-level wages and could still be dangerous as we continue to crawl out of the pandemic. Most are still looking for steady, safe employment. Cutting these vital, lifeline benefits does nothing in the long run to strengthen our already hammered state economy and won’t force people back to work, just to the food lines.

Ending federal pandemic assistance is a short-sighted and mean-spirited piece of politically driven policy that does nothing to address the long-term issues facing our state and our working people. Join us in sending a message to Ron DeSantis by signing the petition and stand up for our working families.

Senate Bill 78 is a blatant attack on frontline workers’ right to organize.

SB 78 is part of a national push by billionaire-funded think tanks to make the unionization process needlessly complicated in order to suppress membership. If passed, the legislation would put employers in charge of the membership process for the first time in Florida’s history and prevent union members from automatically renewing their membership.

This legislation not only sets a dangerous precedent, it’s an insult to the working people putting themselves in harm’s way to keep our state functioning. Call your senator and tell them to vote no on SB 78.