'Anti-freedom': Labor leaders push Polk lawmakers to oppose legislation targeting unions

WINTER HAVEN — The Winter Haven office of state Rep. Sam Killebrew was empty on Thursday, but those who gathered there hope he will nonetheless hear the message they delivered, standing just outside the front door.

About a dozen representatives of labor unions gathered at midday to rally against proposed legislation they say is aimed at undermining organized labor in Florida. They issued their pleas in an event livestreamed on the Facebook page of the West Central Florida Labor Council.

The labor leaders and members were protesting House Bill 1445, sponsored by Rep. Dean Black, R-Jacksonville. Titled “Employee Organizations Representing Public Employees,” the legislation would block the automatic deduction of dues from the the paychecks of employees in public-sector unions.

Stephanie Yocum, president of the Polk Education Association, was among the speakers. The union represents teachers and other school employees and has about 4,800 members.

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“Make no mistake, this is not a paycheck-protection bill,” Yocum said. “This is an anti-freedom bill for our right to belong or even not belong to our union and still work under a union contract. And so, this will directly impact our employees, which then impacts kids because our contract is not just for our teachers and staff. It also puts in good quality education protections and rights for our students.”

Killebrew, a Winter Haven Republican, and his staff were in Tallahassee as the 60-day legislative session continues. Killebrew did not respond to a Ledger request for comment left Wednesday with his Tallahassee office.

Polk County's other state House members are Rep. Melony Bell, R-Fort Meade; Rep. Jennifer Canady, R-Lakeland; and Rep. Josie Tomkow, R-Polk City.

The Florida Senate has passed a related bill, SB 256, introduced by Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill. Polk County’s Sen. Colleen Burton, R-Lakeland, and Sen. Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, each voted to pass the bill through committees and then joined the majority in the 23-17 Senate vote, as five Republicans defected.

The group assembled Thursday included Cheryl Schroeder, executive director of the West Central Florida Labor Council; and representatives from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees; the International Union of Operating Engineers; and Communications Workers of America.

(Some of The Ledger’s newsroom staff are members of a guild affiliated with the CWA.)

The activists held posters bearing such handwritten messages as “Protect MY Freedom To Belong To MY Union” and “Put Students Before Corporate Profits!”

After the livestreamed event, Schroeder stuck a letter in the crack between the glass doors of Killebrew’s office. Schroeder, whose council ranges from Sarasota to Citrus County, said that other labor groups were holding events Thursday at the offices of legislators throughout the state.

'Paycheck protection' bill?

Gov. Ron DeSantis held a news conference in January to promote the approach toward public unions — and in particular educator unions — embodied in HB 1445. DeSantis, joined by Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr., described the changes in dues collection as “paycheck protection” for teachers.

Under Florida law, no employee is compelled to join a union as a condition of employment. All members who pay dues choose to do so.

Many public employers arrange to deduct union dues routinely from the compensation of employees who willingly pay them as union members. That has long been the custom for many private unions as well.

“We want more transparency into how school unions operate, and we are going to fight against school union haggling that holds teachers and their salary increases hostage,” DeSantis said in the news conference. “Partisan groups should not be given special privileges.”

Deputy Press Secretary Jeremy Redfern said DeSantis has not taken a position on the bills moving through the Legislature.

“Since this legislation is still subject to the legislative process (and therefore different iterations), the governor will decide on the bill's merits in its final form if and when it passes and is delivered to the governor's office,” Redfern said by email.

Opponents have described the legislation as “union busting.”

The Florida Education Association has been a frequent target of Republican elected officials for years, portrayed as aligned with the Democratic Party. The FEA, which calls itself the state’s largest professional union with about 150,000 members, represents teachers and other school employees, higher education faculty and graduate assistants and retirees.

The legislation exempts unions that represent police officers, correctional and probation officers and firefighters. Thursday’s speakers said those carve-outs show that Republican legislators are seeking to undermine unions that traditionally support Democrats, whereas the public-safety unions tend to back Republicans.

Yocum mocked Ingoglia’s claim that unions for public-safety workers shouldn’t face the same guidelines because their employees have such stressful jobs.

“But yet the teachers and support staff who I represent and who work for Polk County Public Schools have to do active-shooter drills every month and have to worry if they're going to wake up and have to be a human shield for a kid,” Yocum said.

Rhea McKinney, a retired math teacher at Winter Haven High School, attended Thursday’s gathering, wearing a blue WHHS Blue Devils hat to contrast with his red union shirt. McKinney, 82, said he is active in the local Republican Party and noted that about one-third of teachers are Republicans.

“So when they (legislators) vote against us, they’re voting against Republicans,” McKinney said.

Not only teachers affected

Lisa Burke, an organizer with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, said the legislation will not only affect teachers’ unions but also those representing local government workers and employees with such state agencies as the Department of Children and Families.

HB 1445, which is now under review in the State Affairs Committee, would require the affected unions to include a passage on dues authorization forms — in large type — stating that Florida is a “right-to-work” state and that membership in a union is voluntary.

HB 1445 also states that no official of a union would be paid more than the highest salary of any union member. The bill exempts unions for police officers, firefighters and correctional officers from that requirement.

The legislation also adds several requirements for record-keeping and reporting to the state. Under the legislation, the public-sector unions would be forced to fold if their memberships drop below 60% of eligible employees.

Yocum said that PEA membership is now slightly below 60% for the roughly 8,800 eligible employees.

“At the end of the day, this is going to push us to 60% and grow our power,” Yocum said. “But the reason they're pushing this bill is because they want to take our voice away. They want to kill our unified, collective front as workers in this state.”

Yocum said that Killebrew has “stood with public employees” in the past, voting against previous bills she considered anti-union. She lamented that Republicans in the Legislature are now “kowtowing” to DeSantis as he pushes measures she said are aimed at bolstering his conservative credentials for an expected presidential campaign.

Jim Junecko of the International Union of Operating Engineers was one of two leaders at Thursday’s gathering from organizations that mostly represent private-sector workers, who would not be affected by the legislation. Junecko said his union includes employees with the South Florida Water Management District.

“They're hard workers,” Junecko said. “They're just trying to earn an honest living. And House Bill 1445 does nothing more than take aim at their rights to belong to a union that they already won. These workers went through a free and fair election. They won that election. They want to belong to a union. And unfortunately, the legislators that they have put in place are taking aim at them and trying to strip away their union rights.”

Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on Twitter @garywhite13.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Labor leaders urge Polk lawmakers to oppose bill targeting some unions