TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — Floridians frustrated with a bill they call a "union buster" fought to kill the measure Tuesday.
Union members in opposition to House Bill 1 lined entry to the House of Representatives as lawmakers entered the chamber.
The bill would require unions to get written approval before deducting member dues. It also requires employees to reapply for membership every three years and allows them to leave unions with written requests.
The measure's sponsor says it aims to protect employees from being pressured by unions to stay or pay.
Union leaders say the bill is unneeded, believing it was designed to weaken worker organizations across Florida.
"There is no cohesion. There is no system to keep people in," Karen Moria, the president of United Faculty of Florida, asserted. "What HB 1 does is interpose the HR department between the member and the union."
The House is expected to vote on the bill later this week. That's after GOP members pushed it through committee despite Democratic opposition.
A similar version in the Senate hasn't moved. Senate President Bill Galvano didn't expect that to change in the session's two remaining weeks.
