CWA, Allies Focus on Florida Senate to Fight Anti-Worker Bills

The nearly 3-1 Republican majority in the Florida House has passed a bill banning payroll dues deduction for public sector unions, but a labor alliance is working hard to stop it and other union-busting legislation in the state Senate.

"Any one of these bills would drive a knife through the heart of labor," said CWA Local 3179 President Steve Sarnoff, who got on a bus with other public worker union members at 1:30 a.m. Tuesday for a five-hour Lobby Day trip to the state capitol in Tallahassee.

Sarnoff said he's cautiously optimistic after speaking with Republican senators who represent his members, municipal workers in Clearwater and four other cities. "As I talked with them and other staff, it appeared there is a lot of pushback against Gov. Scott's anti-union agenda," he said. "They're not all in tune with him the way the Wisconsin Republicans were with Gov. Walker."

In the House, three Republicans broke ranks and voted against the dues-deduction ban. "I went and thanked them all personally," Sarnoff said.

CWA is part of an AFL-CIO strategic campaign that is fighting Florida's anti-union bills by targeting 14 Senate Republicans and one Democrat. Currently, the bills are all in committees, with no dates set for hearings or votes. "Normally, you'd consider that a good a thing, but when you have a party that's a supermajority, they can decide tomorrow morning to bring a bill to the floor," Sarnoff said. "We are trying hard to make sure that doesn't happen, and that these bills never become law."