Feb 6, 20222 min read

💙ACTION ALERT: OPPOSE HB 1197 Employee Organizations Representing Public Employees, before Tues

All,

HB 1197 (Plakon, Byrd) Employee Organizations Representing Public Employees is a union busting bill moving through the House and we need you to OPPOSE it. It bans automatic paycheck deductions for union dues, yet requires that these unions prove they represent 50% or more of the total bargaining unit through payment of dues. It mandates reauthorization of union dues every year while stipulating that membership forms must contain language that discourages union membership.

Talking Points

This bill is misogynistic. It exempts those public union employees who are primarily men in law enforcement, fire fighting, and corrections, while targeting those public employees from the K-12 teaching sector who are primarily women.
Besides being misogynistic, this bill highlights the anti-public teacher bias that exists in the Republican Florida Legislature. These legislators know perfectly well that by forcing teachers to manually pay union dues, union membership will decline not because of disinterest in the union, but solely as a result of the extra time-consuming step to manually send in the dues. In addition, they know that a delayed payment may miss the union registration date deadline.
Once union membership falls below 50%, the union automatically is decertified and loses its bargaining power. What better way to tape the mouths of those pesky opinionated women teachers who are always speaking up for themselves and their peers!
This bill also increases the administrative and financial burden by making teachers rejoin their union every year and sign a form acknowledging that they are aware Florida is a right-to-work state. So not only does this bill discriminate against women's right to unionize, it infantilizes them!

Please contact the legislators below in the House State Administration & Technology Appropriations Subcommittee before Tuesday and ask them to VOTE NO on HB 1197 (Plakon, Byrd) Employee Organizations Representing Public Employees.

Their emails are grouped below their names for easier cut and paste into your emails.

Chair: Stevenson, Cyndi [R]Cyndi.Stevenson@myfloridahouse.gov

(850) 717-5017Vice

Chair: Maggard, Randall Scott "Randy" [R]Randy.Maggard@myfloridahouse.gov

(850) 717-5038

Borrero, David [R]David.Borrero@myfloridahouse.gov

(850) 717-5105

Duggan, Wyman [R]Wyman.Duggan@myfloridahouse.gov

(850) 717-5015

Fabricio, Tom [R]Tom.Fabricio@myfloridahouse.gov

(850) 717-5103

Fischer, Jason [R]Jason.Fischer@myfloridahouse.gov