Florida A&M University’s dues-paying union members have fallen short of the state’s new certification threshold, which has led the FAMU faculty union to sue the state as it goes through recertification.
As a result of Senate Bill 256 – a law requiring public unions to cross a 60% membership threshold and ending paycheck deductions for union dues – the United Faculty of Florida and its FAMU chapter filed the complaint in Leon County Circuit Civil court against the Public Employees Relations Commission (PERC) last month.
The action came after the FAMU union chapter recorded that 56.6% of the university’s faculty paid their dues, which fell short of the state’s 60% requirement. Critics have said the intent behind the law is union busting .
In the complaint, the union asks that the Florida law be declared unconstitutional, among other things: “That 56.6% dues-payment rate was a clear majority of eligible employees in the bargaining unit but below the 60% supermajority threshold imposed by SB 256,” the complaint says .