Orlando Weekly reports that just three years after enacting the most extreme union repression law in decades, Florida lawmakers recently clinched another win for anti-union special interest groups closely aligned with Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and the Trump administration.
Both chambers of the state legislature have approved Senate Bill 1296, and DeSantis is expected to sign it into law.
The measure could potentially reshape public sector labor union dynamics in the state, effectively making it harder for most local and state government employees to form a union or keep the union they already have.
Ryan Walters, Oklahoma's former superintendent of public instruction who now serves as CEO of the Teacher Freedom Alliance, recently told American Family Radio, "This is a huge win for teachers that are trying to do a good job, that are tired of union politics and actually just want to be represented fairly."
When the legislature allocates money for teacher salaries, he said it should go directly toward teacher pay rather than being controlled by a union that only represents a small portion of educators. Now, if a union is going to represent teachers, at least 50% of the teachers must participate in a vote and say they want that union to represent them.
In short, Senate Bill 1296 means the unions will no longer be able to bully and control school districts.
"The legislature has been smeared with all kinds of lies from the teachers unions; they have just been attacked," Walters observes. "The teachers unions want to keep the power and control over the dollars going through the schools rather than advocate on behalf of good, high-quality teachers and … what's best for students."
