New Regulations To Hit FL Worker Unions

Workers' unions are organizations that have roots almost as old as the United States, however, legislation on these groups seems to never stop being written.

The Florida legislature is reportedly drafting new provisions to the union process in Florida through SB 78, by Sen. Ray Rodrigues (R-27) and HB 947, by Rep. Scott Plakon (R-29).

Under current Florida law, Article 1 section 6 of the state Constitution, labor organizations have the right to collectively bargain on behalf of all employees.  This law establishes a very blanket policy, in which the union becomes the exclusive representative of employees, even if said employee is not a member of the union.

If passed, the new law would require any public employee wanting to join a union to submit a signed authorization form to further the accountability of voluntary participation.

The bill also addresses departing from unions, making the employee also submit paperwork that the union must recognize.

This new law arises from the everlasting power prominent unions have over employees.

For instance, the ability to submit requests for payment deductions, there exists the possibility of unions bargaining on behalf of wages of employees who do not wish to be a member of said union.

One common argument made to pass this bill is that the state of Florida is a right-to-work state, meaning that employees should have the right to not be represented by entities they do not,  and or no longer associate with.

However, the House analysis report finds that this could face Florida businesses with an increased workload and administrative costs.  Whether this is a small or large price to pay is debatable.