The New York Times has an interesting story about a Republican anti-union bill in Florida that may be heading for defeat in the Legislature in part because the unions financially support the campaigns of numerous GOP state senators.
Here’s a part of that report:
“Unions representing teachers, firefighters, the police and other public employees say they have persuaded nearly half of the Senate’s Republicans to oppose the bill by reminding them that in Florida, far more than in most states, organized labor has supported Republicans.
“’We have traditionally been a Republican-based organization,’ said James Preston, president of the Florida Fraternal Order of Police. ‘How much more conservative can you get than the police officers? Who wants to go against the cops and firefighters on these matters?’
“Still, the unions’ success is surprising, especially since Republican lawmakers in traditionally labor-friendly states like Wisconsin and Ohio have passed far tougher anti-union legislation this year. In Florida, just one in 20 of workers in the state belongs to a union.
“By some counts, 12 of the 28 Republican senators are against the latest version of (the) bill, which would require public employee unions to get each member’s permission each year before they could use that person’s dues for political purposes. Senate Democrats are unified in opposition to the bill. Republican and business leaders — noting that Florida’s state employees contribute nothing toward their pensions — have praised the bill because it would reduce unions’ leverage over health coverage and pensions.”
One senator said this: “…The fact that unions in Florida were weak had forced them to be bipartisan. Using Wisconsin as an example, he said, ‘You just don’t have the animus between union and antiunion here that you have in some other places.’”
It turns out that in Florida, of all places, many Republican lawmakers have enjoyed labor’s campaign support and worked with unions on numerous issues.
It should also be noted, however, that this is a bill to limit union powers in a state that is already anti-union in some aspects. For example, Florida’s public employees are already not required to join the unions that represent them or to pay dues.
In addition, union lobbyists have repeatedly said the bill would cripple the payroll deductions that fuel labor’s political efforts while continuing to allow similar deductions at 360 organizations and private companies that spend money on politics.
