Welcome to another edition of the Florida AFL-CIO’s weekly Florida Labor Letter for the week of 2/26. We’ve got another Special Edition here as Week 7 of the Florida Legislative Session has been one of absolute momentum. Working families were responsive to the sudden schedule changes and extensions rampant throughout committees this week. As the budget makes no moves this weekend as a result of continued disagreement, we appreciate the tenacity and resolve of our Working Family Lobby Corps and other advocates as they keep their foot on the gas to prevent the passage of bad bills.
Meanwhile, actions have begun across all of our affiliates to raise awareness statewide in response to the continued push for union busting to be on the legislative menu. As the final two weeks emerge, the stakes are increasing, but so is our momentum and resolve.
🏛️Legislative Session: Week of 1/30
Children’s Week at the Florida Capitol led to the best and brightest of Florida’s future blessing the halls of the Capitol with art, singing, and smiles as lawmakers, officials, and working families all took a much needed beat from the chaos. Outside of that though, the shot clock on the remaining time in the legislative session is getting smaller while the communication is getting messier than wet paint on a baby’s hands. Just this week, major shifts such as the governor’s anticipated postponement of property tax reform until after session occurred just days after the Florida House finally reached the conclusion of its year long solo effort into the issue when it passed an immediately shut down 13 billion dollar property tax exemption idea. In the storm, the ship of working families held steady though, and navigated the winds to be ready for whatever arrived. Here is some of what they encountered:
- Ideological Inconsistencies Emerge on Policing Ideology (SB 1632/HB 1471)
- In perhaps the second most surprising committee appearance of this session (See: Senator Martin’s SB 1296 performance from Week 5) , the Senate Appropriations Committee on Criminal and Civil Justice became a dramatic affair when it finally took up the Orwellian titled Ideological Inconsistent with American Values, after a brief postponement last week.
- After an intense and clinical question and answer portion, public comment on the dangers associated with a government appointee given authority to designate anyone a domestic terrorist became impossible for the Senators to ignore. The committee chair and majority members engaged in frequent dialogue with members of the public fearing the Weaponization of such a designation, and though despite voting the bill up, the chair and members of the majority noted serious concern and opposition for final passage of this bill on the Floor if left unchanged.
- The Offensive on our Elections Continue (HB 991/SB 1334)
- Mirroring the national political atmosphere and federal re-emphasis on the SAVE America Act, the Florida legislature continues to push this state-level version of this unfriendly, voter suppression bill ahead of the 2026 mid-terms. This week, the house floor debated the issue, with a bevy of amendments filed by the opposition meant to combat its many, many flaws. Despite debate highlighting the already present inability of non-citizens to vote in Florida and the threats to voter registration that this poses, it was passed along party lines before moving into Messages. The Senate, meanwhile removed this bill’s final committee stop (and chance for public comment) in order to bring it before the Senate Floor soon.
- The Labor Pool Act Crosses the Senate Committee Finish Line (SB 1112)
- For a bit of good news, working families received the final stamp of approval from the Senate Committee process this week when the Senate Committee on Fiscal Policy gave unanimous approval of this friendly, pro-labor effort. Though its house counterpart has not seen much movement this session, the continued presence and universal success of this good bill in the upper chamber bodes well for its future revival and those workers who need it most.
- Union Busting Makes its Final Attempts in Committees (HB 995) (see photos below)
- As we’ll get into below, out of state backed union busting efforts are making their big play for the finish line in these past weeks, with HB 995 passing its final House committee stop in an effort to make up for the embarrassing display put on by its Senate counterpart just weeks ago. With a surprise agenda and re-scheduling of the House State Affairs Committee appearing earlier this week, Working Families were quick to mobilize on Thursday morning, forgoing breakfast in order to meet this anti-union and anti-freedom bill at the top of the day. We knew to expect this bill to move forward in the Florida House, but their testimony and the powerful words of members in opposition made sure that it did not go quietly, and left a warning for the senate we’ll get into below…
🍊Florida Labor News – Statewide Call to Action Against SB 1296
Tell Your Senators – Vote NO on SB 1296!
This week, we are calling on all members of the Florida AFL-CIO family, in order to raise awareness, write letters, and ask legislators to OPPOSE SB 1296. The companion bill to the nefarious HB 995 mentioned above, this anti-worker, anti-union, and anti-freedom piece of legislation we’ve been tracking all session has been pulled back from the grave and put on the Senate agenda for it’s final pit-stop in Monday’s Senate Fiscal Policy Committee at 12:00PM.
The WFLC has been putting in non-stop effort from the earliest days of this session to ensure that the Florida Legislature understands that this poorly veiled attempt to “help teachers” is really just a guise to hide the fact that these bills are an attack on the rights and freedoms of all of Florida’s Public Workers and their constitutional freedom to collectively bargain. Workers in Week 5 dealt a lethal blow to SB 1296 when its disastrous committee performance put the bill’s chances beyond the grave. But motivated by the anti-union lies parroted on social media by Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas and the Governor last week, the bill has received one more bite at the apple, and it is up to all of us in these critical weeks to #KillTheBill.
How to Get Involved:
Share David’s Story
WFLC member, Veteran, and IUPAT member David Jimenez has been amazing in the past 3 weeks of Working Family Lobby Corps by continually speaking in committee, encouraging our siblings, and spreading word against SB 1296 across the state. Last week, he sat down with us to give his personal testimony on why SB 1296 is not just bad for all Florida Workers, but is also an attack on their freedoms, even if they put their life on the line for them. Share David’s story wherever you can! We would like to also thank David for his service and his continued passion and presence throughout the past several weeks of Lobby Corps.
Share David’s Story: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/18ApjXqYaE
Share YOUR Story
As we mentioned, SB 1296 affects all of Florida’s public service workers. To drive that home, we want you to share your personal story on how SB 1296 can impact your life, your rights, and more. To make things easy, our national partners have helped us develop this Toolkit to allow you to easily post to whatever your preferred social media and raise awareness against SB 1296. Whether on phone, computer or whether a camera or a photo, these templates are made to help you spread the word on the attack on personal freedoms going on in Florida. Feel free to share as far and wide as you can among your labor siblings, and when posting make sure to tag us so we can amplify your efforts!
Write the Senate Committee on Fiscal Policy and tell them to vote NO on SB 1296
This Monday, March 2nd at 12PM the Senate Fiscal Policy Committee will be the last place for public input on this dangerous bill. We encourage that all able members write a letter to a member of this committee to urge them to vote NO on SB 1296. Directions and a selection of letter prompts are available at our letter action here, which can help you select a member of the committee to tell your story to.
✊Solidarity Spotlight – Our CLCs join the Fight!
Earlier this week, we put out the action call to our Central Labor Councils across the state to help us defend our rights and to raise alarms across the state as to the shadowy anti-worker efforts of the legislature in Tallahassee, and they answered! This week we want to give a special spotlight to all of the many local unions and workers who we have seen amplify the message of solidarity across the state.
Whether its our Big Bend siblings mobilizing workers to Tallahassee, our Broward County siblings spreading the word across South Florida, our West Central siblings throwing a massive rally (seen pictured above), or the legions of workers from our coalition such as FEA, IUPAT, UNITE HERE, SEIU, AFSCME, FLARA, and more who have been relentless sharing and mobilizing for Monday’s Committee, we are so proud to see the solidarity amongst all of our working families in Florida. This bill makes one thing perfectly clear, whether it passes or not: an attack on one is an attack on all, and working families will always stand together in pursuit of a better future and life for all Floridians.
📸Bonus Bulletin – Long Legacies and Bright Futures
As we prepare for the final sprints of session, we wanted to finish by reflecting on two special moments that happened in the blur. Week 7 saw the appearance and advocacy of longtime legend, retiree, and relentless activist of Teamsters Local 512, Preston Drummer, with who we were grateful to be able to celebrate the birthday of this week at our WFLC Social. With a storied career of activism over decades, we were encouraged and inspired by the passion and wisdom he gave us this week, and his reminder of how far so many have of us have come on this journey, and how much we have and can achieve in time.
We also had Children’s Week at the Capitol, with thousands of children throughout the week from across the state reminding legislators and all of us of the scale and importance of the future we fight for, in Tallahassee and everywhere.
Got any tips, actions, or messages you’d like to see in this email?
Please email Daniel Diaz at ddiaz@flaflcio.org