Florida Senate - 2021                                    SB 1014
       
       
        
       By Senator Baxley
       
       
       
       
       
       12-00705A-21                                          20211014__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to employee organizations; amending s.
    3         1012.2315, F.S.; requiring employee organizations that
    4         have been certified as the bargaining agent for
    5         educational support employees to include specified
    6         information in applications for renewal of
    7         registration; revising the information that employee
    8         organizations certified as the bargaining agent for a
    9         unit of instructional personnel or educational support
   10         employees must report in applications for renewal of
   11         registration; requiring that an employee organization
   12         whose full dues-paying membership as of a specified
   13         date is less than 50 percent of eligible employees to
   14         petition the Public Employees Relations Commission for
   15         recertification; authorizing the commission to conduct
   16         an investigation to confirm the validity of certain
   17         information; requiring the commission to adopt rules;
   18         requiring instructional personnel and educational
   19         support employees who are represented by an employee
   20         organization and have union dues and uniform
   21         assessments deducted from their salary to submit a
   22         specified form to school districts by a certain date
   23         and biennially thereafter; requiring instructional
   24         personnel and educational support employees who first
   25         request to have union dues and uniform assessments
   26         deducted from their salary after a certain date to
   27         submit a specified form to school districts within a
   28         specified timeframe and biennially thereafter;
   29         providing acknowledgment language for such form;
   30         prohibiting district school boards from deducting
   31         union dues or uniform assessments from the salaries of
   32         instructional personnel or educational support
   33         employees who fail to timely submit the form;
   34         requiring school districts to confirm directly with a
   35         form signatory that he or she has authorized
   36         deductions for union dues and uniform assessments from
   37         his or her salary and to wait for confirmation before
   38         making any deduction; requiring school districts,
   39         subject to certain rules, to adopt policies; providing
   40         an effective date.
   41          
   42  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   43  
   44         Section 1. Paragraph (c) of subsection (4) of section
   45  1012.2315, Florida Statutes, is amended, and paragraph (d) is
   46  added to that subsection, to read:
   47         1012.2315 Assignment of teachers.—
   48         (4) COLLECTIVE BARGAINING.—
   49         (c)1. In addition to the provisions under s. 447.305(2), an
   50  employee organization that has been certified as the bargaining
   51  agent for a unit of instructional personnel as defined in s.
   52  1012.01(2) or educational support employees as defined in s.
   53  1012.01(6) must include for each such certified bargaining unit
   54  the following information in its application for renewal of
   55  registration:
   56         a. The number of employees in the bargaining unit who are
   57  eligible for representation by the employee organization as of
   58  December 31 of that renewal period.
   59         b. The number of employees who are represented by the
   60  employee organization as of December 31 of that renewal period,
   61  specifying the number of members who pay full dues and the
   62  number of members who do not pay full dues.
   63         2. Notwithstanding the provisions of chapter 447 relating
   64  to collective bargaining, an employee organization whose full
   65  dues-paying dues paying membership as of December 31 of that
   66  renewal period is less than 50 percent of the employees eligible
   67  for representation in the unit, as identified in subparagraph
   68  1., must petition the Public Employees Relations Commission
   69  pursuant to s. 447.307(2) and (3) for recertification as the
   70  exclusive representative of all employees in the unit within 1
   71  month after the date on which the organization applies for
   72  renewal of registration pursuant to s. 447.305(2). The
   73  certification of an employee organization that does not comply
   74  with this paragraph is revoked.
   75         3. The commission may conduct an investigation to confirm
   76  the validity of any information submitted pursuant to this
   77  paragraph.
   78         4. The commission shall adopt rules to carry out the
   79  provisions of this paragraph.
   80         (d)1. By August 1, 2021, and on a biennial basis
   81  thereafter, instructional personnel and educational support
   82  employees who are represented by an employee organization and
   83  have union dues and uniform assessments deducted from their
   84  salary must sign and submit a form to the school district
   85  acknowledging that Florida is a right-to-work state.
   86  Instructional personnel and educational support employees
   87  represented by an employee organization who first request to
   88  have union dues and uniform assessments deducted from their
   89  salaries after August 1, 2021, must sign and submit the form to
   90  the school district within 30 days after making such request and
   91  on a biennial basis thereafter. The form must contain the
   92  following acknowledgment in at least 14-point boldfaced type:
   93  
   94  I ACKNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTAND THAT FLORIDA IS A RIGHT-TO-WORK
   95  STATE AND UNION MEMBERSHIP IS NOT REQUIRED AS A CONDITION OF
   96  EMPLOYMENT. I UNDERSTAND THAT UNION MEMBERSHIP AND PAYMENT OF
   97  UNION DUES AND UNIFORM ASSESSMENTS ARE VOLUNTARY AND THAT I MAY
   98  NOT BE DISCRIMINATED AGAINST IN ANY MANNER IF I REFUSE TO JOIN
   99  OR FINANCIALLY SUPPORT A UNION.
  100  
  101         2. A district school board may not deduct any union dues or
  102  uniform assessments from the salary of any instructional
  103  personnel or educational support employees who are represented
  104  by an employee organization and who have not timely signed and
  105  submitted a form pursuant to this paragraph.
  106         3. A school district shall confirm directly with a
  107  signatory of the form required by this paragraph that he or she
  108  has authorized deductions for union dues or uniform assessments
  109  from his or her salary and shall wait for confirmation before
  110  making any deduction.
  111         4. Subject to the rules of the State Board of Education,
  112  each school district shall adopt policies to carry out this
  113  paragraph.
  114         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2021.