Unions

University professors, custodians, municipal employees and school district administrative employees across the state have lost union representation and the ability to collectively bargain since Florida's Senate Bill 256 went into effect last year. A total of 54 public sector unions have been legally terminated.

The law requires professors to undergo more frequent evaluations to earn tenure. That, along with restrictions on topics about race and DEI, are causing some to leave, USF faculty say.

A federal judge has rejected much of a lawsuit challenging restrictions that Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Legislature placed on public employee unions — but a fight will continue about a ban on deducting union dues from workers’ paychecks.

Baristas at Dale Mabry and Linebaugh filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board Wednesday. It would be the first location in the region to unionize.

Workers at the restaurants operated by Patina Restaurant Group, part of the Delaware North corporation, have concerns about lower wages compared to Disney employees, part-time instead full-time work, and a lack of benefits.

Higher education faculty is one group that's feeling the effects of tougher regulations placed on Florida public sector unions. Their leaders say union protections are more important than ever as state laws target certain freedoms.

While tens of thousands of public sector workers have lost their unions since a 2023 law went into effect, the United Faculty of Florida-FIU union is poised to stay alive and stronger than before.

Ever since the passage of a union law in 2023, tens of thousands of public employees have lost their bargaining rights.

This week on The Florida Roundup, we discuss how a new state law is eliminating public unions that had represented tens of thousands of workers. And six years later, we remember the Parkland 17 and look at how March For Our Lives has impacted the NRA. Plus, we hear about a Florida man stealing the Super Bowl spotlight and another Florida man who did something no one else has done in a Super Bowl — and now is going to the Hall of Fame.

This week on The Florida Roundup, we discuss how a new state law is eliminating public unions that had represented tens of thousands of workers. And six years later, we remember the Parkland 17 and look at how March For Our Lives has impacted the NRA. Plus, we hear about a Florida man stealing the Super Bowl spotlight and another Florida man who did something no one else has done in a Super Bowl — and now is going to the Hall of Fame.

A WLRN investigation begins to reveal the scope of SB 256, a sweeping anti-union labor law passed in 2023. What is emerging is an outright crisis for teachers and other public sector workers. “The work conditions of hundreds of thousands of people are going to be up in the air,” said one advocate.

The Biden administration wants a federal judge to reject a lawsuit filed by Florida in a dispute about transit funding and a new state law that placed additional restrictions on public-employee unions.