How does SB 256 impact Government Employees in Florida

• On July 1st, the state will no longer collect dues directly out of employees’ paychecks on behalf of the union.
  • If you are currently paying dues, you are going to see an increase in pay.
• The decision to join or not will be left up to you and your family in the privacy of your own home.
• If you don’t want to give the union your money for whatever reason, all you have to do is decline to sign anything they give you.
• Those that want to be members will need make arrangements to pay the union directly—like any other private or trade association collects its dues.

• Before joining the union, the state is going to be sending out a notice, informing all employees that joining a union is voluntary and they cannot be discriminated against based on that decision. 

 Less than 60% membership DOES NOT mean the union disappears!

• Every year, the union has to report how many people they represent in a given bargaining unit as well as the number of dues paying members.
  • If the number of dues paying members is less than 60% of the total represented, the state schedules an election.
  • The election will allow you and your fellow employees to vote on whether to retain the union, go non-union or even switch to a different union.
  • In the election, all employees in the bargaining unit are eligible to vote but the outcome is determined by a simple majority of ballots cast.
• Without this type of legislation, if you were unhappy with your union representation, you were stuck with them. The only other way to get rid of them is a complicated, expensive legal and grassroots process called decertification. This legislation gives the power of determining representation back to the workers themselves.

• The union will now be required to file an audited financial statement, listing all receipts and expenditures. 
  • Many of the unions in Florida already comply with this law through the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act. 
    • LMRDA takes effect if a union represents so much as a single private sector member.
  • The cost of the audits WILL NOT put them out of business. 
    • Due to this disclosure, we can see that unions regularly undergo audits and we can see how much they pay for them.
• Without this legislation, employees represented by a union that does not fall under LMRDA reporting requirements, you have no way of seeing how your union is spending your dues money.

• Despite what the union wants you to believe, your contract is between the employees and the employer, and WILL REMAIN IN PLACE.
  • The union is just a party to the contract.
• The department or agency you work for is not out to get you.
  • If you actually sit back and think about it, unions are unnecessary without an “enemy,” so they foster an adversarial relationship between employees and employers. Often, issues wouldn’t exist without the union fanning the flames.