Unions including Florida A&M University professors and St. Lucie County teachers have challenged the constitutionality of changes approved by Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Republican-controlled Legislature that can force public-employee unions to seek recertification.
The Florida A&M and St. Lucie County unions, along with the United Faculty of Florida and two educators, filed a lawsuit last week in Leon County circuit court alleging that the changes made in 2023 and this year violate constitutional collective-bargaining rights.
The lawsuit, which names as a defendant the Florida Public Employees Relations Commission, is the latest in a series of legal cases stemming from the controversial changes.
The new lawsuit centers on part of the 2023 law that requires unions to be recertified as bargaining agents if fewer than 60 percent of eligible employees had paid dues. The lawsuit said the requirement was “exacerbated” by this year’s law (SB 1746), which added a 60 percent requirement for employees signing what are known as membership authorization forms.