The 2018 Supreme Court decision Janus v. AFSCME clarified public-sector workers’ constitutional rights with respect to unionization, but many states have failed to update their laws in response. The Florida legislature, with its large Republican majority, has passed a bill to do that, and Governor Ron DeSantis is expected to sign it. More states should follow Florida’s lead.
In Janus, the Court said that no worker can be forced to subsidize a public-sector union; he must “affirmatively consent to pay.” Because everything public-sector unions do is political in nature, requiring workers to support a public-sector union, either with dues or agency fees, would violate the First Amendment.
Florida’s 15-page bill ends some of the forms of special treatment that public-sector unions have enjoyed. Florida public employees had their union dues deducted from their paychecks by the state government; under this bill, union members will have to make those payments themselves, just as they would for any other voluntary organization they might join. The bill requires public-sector workers who wish to be union members to sign a form authorizing dues deduction. The form notifies workers of their rights under Florida’s right-to-work law and the Janus decision.
This is a smart and straightforward way to bring state law in line with the Supreme Court’s ruling.
We’ve seen the consequences of not updating state law to reflect the Janus decision. Oregon and Washington, two states with automatic dues deduction, have seen public-sector workers sue after their money was taken from them without their consent. In some cases, unions allegedly forged documents to continue taking public-sector workers’ dues after they had opted out of the union. Florida’s bill solves this problem by ending automatic deduction and changing the law so that workers opt in to public-sector unions if they want to join, rather than having to opt out if they want to leave.
The Florida bill also says unions must allow workers to leave whenever they want. This seemingly simple provision is important because unions elsewhere have tried to limit workers’ ability to leave by restricting it to “window periods,” sometimes as little as ten days per year. If a worker missed that period of time, the union would keep taking dues until the next window on the calendar. That will no longer be allowed in Florida.
The bill also requires public-sector unions to submit audited financial statements to the state and to members each year. Public-sector unions will be required to register with the state each year and provide basic information, including how many employees are eligible for representation and how many are actually members. If fewer than 60 percent of eligible employees actually pay dues, the union will need to be recertified.
Union activists have complained about the “free-rider problem” with right-to-work laws, arguing that because a public-sector union is the exclusive bargaining agent for the entire workforce, nonmembers still benefit from the contracts the union negotiates despite not paying dues. The Florida bill’s 60 percent threshold provides a solution to that problem.
Florida’s Public Employees Relations Commission will have the power to issue cease-and-desist orders, suspend or revoke certifications, and fine public-sector unions if they go on strike in violation of Florida law. Striking against the public should not be permitted, and punishing unions that violate the law to do so is common sense.
One weakness in the bill is that it excludes public-safety workers and transit workers. The second exclusion is designed to keep federal transit funding flowing to Florida. Federal transit laws should be reformed, but they are out of Florida’s control. The carve-out for public-safety workers, however, has no such justification. It’s hard to ignore that public-safety unions are some of the only unions that support Republican candidates. The Florida bill protects public-sector workers’ constitutional rights, and those rights are just as important for police officers as they are for teachers. States should seek to apply these protections to all public-sector workers.
Some states have already ended automatic dues deductions, with Arkansas in April being the latest. Similar bills are currently under consideration in Tennessee and Oklahoma. Every state with public-sector unions that has yet to adopt these reforms should do so. Florida’s bill is based on transparency, the rule of law, and common sense. It’s time for every state to bring its laws into accordance with the Janus decision.