HB 1059

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to the deduction and collection of a
3	bargaining agent's dues and uniform assessments; amending
4	s. 447.303, F.S.; eliminating a right of certain
5	bargaining agents to have certain dues and assessments
6	deducted and collected by an employer from certain
7	employees; providing legislative findings and intent;
8	providing that the deduction and collection of certain
9	dues and assessments is a proper subject of collective
10	bargaining; providing requirements and limitations;
11	providing for accounting of funds; providing for
12	enforcement; providing an effective date.
13
14	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
15
16	Section 1.  Section 447.303, Florida Statutes, is amended
17	to read:
18	447.303  Dues; deduction and collection.--
19	(1)  Any employee organization which has been certified as
20	a bargaining agent, other than a certified bargaining agent for
21	instructional personnel as defined in s. 1012.01, shall have the
22	right to have its dues and uniform assessments deducted and
23	collected by the employer from the salaries of those employees
24	who authorize the deduction of said dues and uniform
25	assessments. However, such authorization is revocable at the
26	employee's request upon 30 days' written notice to the employer
27	and employee organization. Said deductions shall commence upon
28	the bargaining agent's written request to the employer.
29	Reasonable costs to the employer of said deductions shall be a
30	proper subject of collective bargaining. Such right to
31	deduction, unless revoked pursuant to s. 447.507, shall be in
32	force for so long as the employee organization remains the
33	certified bargaining agent for the employees in the unit. The
34	public employer is expressly prohibited from any involvement in
35	the collection of fines, penalties, or special assessments.
36	(2)(a)  The Legislature acknowledges that Florida is a
37	right to work state as guaranteed by s. 6, Art. I of the State
38	Constitution, which provides employees the right to bargain
39	collectively. However, the State Constitution does not require
40	an employer to deduct and collect a bargaining agent's dues and
41	uniform assessments from an employee's salary. Furthermore, the
42	Legislature, in implementing s. 6, Art. I of the State
43	Constitution, has declared that it is the public policy of this
44	state to neither encourage nor discourage participation in a
45	certified employee organization. The current statutory right of
46	a collective bargaining agent to have its dues and uniform
47	assessments deducted from an employee's salary is inconsistent
48	with this policy because it assumes a non-neutral position
49	regarding membership in a certified employee organization. By
50	statutorily requiring an employer to deduct a collective
51	bargaining agent's dues and assessments, the state facilitates
52	the financial support of that organization not only for its
53	collective bargaining functions but for whatever political or
54	social causes that organization chooses to support. The payroll
55	deduction process does not require the identification of how the
56	money deducted will be used. Other voluntary payroll deductions
57	are clear on their face as to the amount and purpose of the
58	deductions. In addition, other payroll deductions are not
59	encumbered with the legal complexities surrounding collective
60	bargaining rights and this state's policy of neutrality
61	regarding membership in a certified employee organization.
62	Moreover, the First Amendment to the United States Constitution
63	guarantees a person freedom of association, which includes the
64	right of a person to not be compelled to financially support a
65	social cause or a political candidate or cause. To the extent
66	members of a certified employee organization are uninformed
67	regarding the use of their payroll deducted dues and
68	assessments, are unaware of their rights to be refunded any
69	portion of such dues or assessments used for political or social
70	purposes to which they do not agree, or are prevented or
71	inhibited from exercising their associational rights, directly
72	or indirectly, for whatever reason and from whatever source,
73	then the state's participation in their payroll deduction
74	impinges on those employees' First Amendment rights.
75	1.  The Legislature finds that instructional personnel
76	represent the largest collective bargaining unit in this state.
77	Furthermore, the Legislature recognizes and finds that teacher
78	shortages in this state have reached critical proportions and
79	anticipates that Florida will need an additional 162,000
80	teachers over the next 10 years to meet the challenges of this
81	state's growing student population. Attracting new teachers as
82	well as retaining existing teachers is a priority for this
83	Legislature. Furthermore, the Legislature finds that this state
84	has a substantial and compelling interest in protecting the
85	First Amendment rights of instructional personnel and that the
86	state's ability to recruit and retain instructional personnel
87	should be enhanced by empowering instructional personnel to
88	pursue their First Amendment rights and to make informed
89	decisions regarding their political and social participation
90	within the context of exercising their collective bargaining
91	rights. The Legislature also finds that, as a result of the
92	recent merger and industry consolidation of the collective
93	bargaining agents that represented instructional personnel as
94	defined in s. 1012.01, a virtual monopoly in such services has
95	been created in this state, depriving instructional personnel of
96	the benefits of competition. Accordingly, this state must
97	redouble its efforts to remain neutral and thereby not empower
98	or detract from that collective bargaining agent's
99	representational role, or from the employees' ability to be
100	represented in the collective bargaining process by whomever
101	they so choose.
102	2.  Because of these facts and trends, the Legislature
103	finds that the current status of instructional personnel
104	constitutes a set of circumstances distinct and unique from any
105	other area of public employment within this state. Therefore,
106	the Legislature finds that with regard to instructional
107	personnel, the deduction and collection of the certified
108	bargaining agent's dues and uniform assessments should not be
109	mandated by the Legislature but should be a permissive subject
110	of collective bargaining, as otherwise restricted by this
111	section. The Legislature further finds that the restrictions
112	imposed by this section do not interfere with the ability of
113	instructional personnel to be a member of a certified labor
114	organization or to contribute directly to that organization in
115	support of its noncollective bargaining activities.
116	(b)  With regard to a certified bargaining agent that
117	represents instructional personnel as defined in s. 1012.01, any
118	deduction and collection by an employer of that certified
119	bargaining agent's dues and uniform assessments from an
120	employee's salary may be a proper subject of collective
121	bargaining. If the deduction and collection of an agent's dues
122	and uniform assessments are collectively bargained, the
123	collectively bargained agreement shall provide that payroll
124	deduction for dues or uniform assessments shall not exceed an
125	amount actually used for activities of the certified bargaining
126	agent necessary to perform the agent's duties regarding the
127	resolution of labor-management issues which consist of
128	collective bargaining, contract administration, and grievance
129	adjustment. Such amount shall not include any amounts used for
130	any other purpose, including, but not limited to, electoral
131	activities; independent expenditures or contributions to any
132	candidate, political party, political committee, or committee of
133	continuous existence; voter registration campaigns; or any other
134	political or legislative cause, including, but not limited to,
135	ballot initiatives. Additionally, the collectively bargained
136	agreement must require the written authorization of the
137	employee; commencement of the deductions upon the bargaining
138	agent's written request to the employer; collection of
139	reasonable costs, which must include all of the costs incurred
140	by the employer for making such deduction; revocation
141	provisions, including revocation pursuant to s. 447.507; and a
142	prohibition against the public employer's collecting fines,
143	penalties, or special assessments or for any purpose other than
144	labor-management issues, as provided for in this subsection.
145	(c)  The collectively bargained agreement shall also
146	provide for a reasonable accounting of payroll deductions
147	through either:
148	1.  The perpetual segregation of all funds received through
149	payroll deductions from any funds used for purposes not
150	authorized in paragraph (b); or
151	2.  An independent audit of the use of funds received
152	through payroll deductions.
153	(d)  Any taxpayer or other aggrieved party may seek
154	enforcement of this subsection in a court of competent
155	jurisdiction. In addition to injunctive relief prohibiting
156	violations of a bargaining agreement and this subsection, relief
157	shall include an order for a pro rata refund to bargaining unit
158	members in an amount equal to the amount of any funds received
159	through payroll deduction which were used in violation of this
160	subsection. Such refund shall be enforced by an order reducing
161	payroll deductions up to 50 percent below the agreed amount each
162	pay period until the amount has been fully refunded. A refund
163	under this paragraph shall supplement and not preclude a money
164	judgment against the bargaining unit in favor of one or more
165	individuals who had funds deducted from their pay that were used
166	in violation of this subsection.
167	Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2006.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.