Broward schools’ unions fall short of automatic certification. Here’s what comes next.
Sun-Sentinel | By Scott Travis | August 27, 2024
Employee unions for Broward schools fell short of the membership needed for guaranteed bargaining rights and must now hold elections to ensure their survival.
David Azzarito, the district’s human resources chief, said all six unions that represent the school district fell short of a 60% membership threshold required by the state. These include the Broward Teachers Union and the Federation of Public Employees, which represents workers such as bus drivers, custodians and cafeteria workers.
Many other public sector unions in the state, including United Teachers of Dade and Palm Beach County’s Classroom Teachers Association, also were below 60% and are facing recertification elections.
Torey Alston, a staunch critic of the Broward Teachers Union, said he has heard many questions and concerns about the union’s status in the last couple of days and what effect that has on members. Azzarito said it’s minimal.
“They’re still a certified union while they go through the appeal. My guess is they will be recertified, so really nothing’s changing for our employees,” Azzarito said.
The questions about the union’s status are the result of a state law passed in 2023, which bans government agencies from collecting union dues through payroll deductions while also raising the threshold for unions to be guaranteed certification.
The law exempts law enforcement, firefighter and correctional officer unions. Critics argue that’s because these groups largely support Republicans, while education and service workers unions largely support Democrats.
Unions are important to many employees, as the groups bargain contracts for better pay and working conditions than what they believe management would normally offer. Union supporters see the law as “union busting.”
Supporters of the law say it increases transparency and can make unions stronger by ensuring they represent a large number of employees and are attentive to members.
For the unions affected by the law, 60% of a bargaining group must be dues-paying members to avoid the need for an election.
Broward Teachers Union’s membership was 64% at the time the law passed, but has since fallen to 54%, union President Anna Fusco said.
Unions below 60% must get interest cards from at least 30% of eligible members to petition for an election. That has already happened for the six unions, Azzarito said.
The elections will be held through the mail. A simple majority of eligible employees who vote must say yes. So if 100 employees return ballots, and 51 vote yes, the union would remain certified, under the state rules.
While some smaller unions in the state have already been decertified because they failed to get enough interest cards, most unions that had held elections so far have gotten overwhelming support to continue, according to a review of recent elections on the Public Employees Relations Commission website.
For example, municipal workers for the city of Oakland Park voted 19 to 0. A union for city workers in Miami Gardens won its election 73 to 7. A teachers union in Calhoun County won 71 to 22, while one in DeSoto County won 80 to 9.
“There’s no possible way we’ll get decertified,” Fusco told the Sun Sentinel. “We got well over the threshold of commitment cards. Even people don’t want to join they know the benefit of having bargaining rights.”
The elections haven’t been set yet. The district and the unions are revising some job descriptions, some of which haven’t been updated in decades, officials said. The Public Employee Relations Commission will set up the elections and is behind now due to a large of elections happening statewide, Azzarito said.
