State PMSA/SES News & Updates

Check Out Our RESOURCE CENTER

In order to streamline certain sections of our web site and to avoid redundancy, we have reorganized some of the information that used to be on some of your web pages. Please note that access to stuff like legislative information (ie., Acts, Statutes, Laws, etc.), information about the 2010 health care law, and other valuable resources can now be found by clicking on our new “Resource Center.”

So, if you want to know more about, say, the FMLA, or Whistleblower Protection, or what health care law provisions are currently in effect, or what corporate spin and governmental propaganda to watch out for, check it out.

Florida Teachers’ Union Class Action Over Pension Reforms Affects Us, Too

In case you haven’t been following what’s been going on in the Florida Legislature this past spring, we’ve been trying to keep you up to speed on the legislation that Governor Rick Scott has signed into law that is most repugnant and reckless. As pointed out above, labor won big here in Florida as efforts failed to cripple public service workers’ dues deduction ability. However, Governor Scott along with the leadership of the Republican Party did impose a new law that will force government workers to pay into the state pension system.

But the perception that the too-generous retirement benefits for state and local governments does not coincide with reality. There’s much documentation supporting this, but in short, suffice it to say pension contributions from state and local employers didn’t cause the budget shortfall, nor are the funds “broke,” as Scott and his cronies are so fond of saying. Sure, they became underfunded because of the Great Recession of 2007-2009, but so did the rest of the market, including the investments held in 401(k)s by the private-sector. But even underfunded, research shows that there’s still enough to pay benefits for years to come. In fact, the Florida Retirement System is funded at 87% of its liabilities.

So while anti-government, anti-union elected officials continue to grossly exaggerate and down right lie to make the people think that the state’s budget woes are all our fault, the Florida Education Association, the state’s largest teachers’ union, filed a class-action lawsuit to prevent the 3% salary “contribution,” aka, ‘pay cut,’ from state workers. The basis of the lawsuit is that the new contribution requirements for all workers hired prior to July 1,2011 violates the state Constitution. [To read documents of this lawsuit, click on the links below.]

Although the new pension reforms took effect July 1, the judge has set the case for final hearing on cross motions for Summary Judgment on October 26, 2011. So be sure to stay tuned as we follow this story. And know this - we will not let up on the pressure. As legislators head home for the summer, we will continue to make sure they know that we know what’s really going on here! The corporate CEOs who’ve given them gobs of money might not like having to deal with us unions and expect the legislators to get rid of us - but we’re not going anywhere.

That, you CAN bank on!

Fiscal Year 2011-2012 Successor Collective Bargaining Agreement

As you are all too painfully aware, Governor Rick Scott, in concert with the Republican controlled Legislature in their notorious attack against public employees, has once again refused to provide any pay increase. Additionally, he has legislated that all public employees pay 3% toward their FRS accounts and continue to pay a portion of their health insurance.

While this mean-spirited, anti-public employee Governor wanted to “gut” state and other public employees’ benefits even further, our lobbying efforts at the very least decreased the amount of employee contributions to the FRS at 3% in lieu of the Governor’s demand for 5%. Our efforts also held contributions to health insurance at its current level, whereas the Governor supported a cap on state contributions and that all state employee’s pay up to $5000 a year for family coverage.

Because of the unwarranted attacks and anti-public employee legislation, numerous litigations naming the Governor and the Legislature are taking place. Privatization of 18 state prisons, the 3% retirement contribution issue, and the demand that all DOC employees be subject to Random Drug Testing, to name but a few, are all being challenged as unconstitutional.

In any event, with respect to this Fiscal Year’s Agreement, the Parties were unable to reach an agreement on any of the proposed articles offered by the Union or proposed by the State. Therefore, all of the unilateral anti-state employee changes were imposed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor, including no pay raise, 3% FRS tax, contribution for health insurance (although at the same rate as last year) and privatization of DOC.

In light of the anti-employee imposed agreement, we propose that YOU VOTE NO and reject the Agreement by filling out the ballot you have recently received, or will soon be receiving, and return it to our address. These are hard times and we must all stand together through negotiations and legislation and create a strong message that we are “mad as hell, and are not going to take it anymore.” Let’s collectively throw the bums out. If you are not a dues paying member, now is the time to join your colleagues and support the fight we are all up against. When you receive your ballot, enclosed will also be a Membership Form – fill it out and return it to our office with your ballot. As always, feel free to call with any questions.

The end of August saw some important changes to existing labor laws. The NLRB’s new “posting rule” is one, as discussed above. But perhaps more significantly, the NLRB issued a decision that paves the way for the generation of bargaining units by overruling a decision they had made ten years ago in Park Manor Care Center, 305 NLRB No. 872 (1991). Before, the types of permissible bargaining units in acute healthcare facilities were limited to eight appropriate units and smaller units, such as a unit of certified nursing assistants (CNAs) only, were deemed inappropriate. Furthermore, the NLRB had in the past determined that the same standard also applied to non-acute healthcare facilities.

But now that standard has been overturned in Specialty Healthcare, 357 NLRB No. 83 (2011). Now, under the new standard, so long as a union’s petitioned-for unit consists of a clearly identifiable group of employees, the Board will presume the unit is appropriate. If an employer argues that the unit should include additional employees, the employer must demonstrate that employees in a larger unit share an “overwhelming” community of interest with those in the petitioned-for unit. Applying this standard, the Board found that in this current case that the union’s petitioned-for unit consisting solely of CNAs was an appropriate unit.

Although the case that led the Board to this decision involved a nursing home, it is NOT limited to the healthcare industry and it fundamentally changes the standard for determining appropriate bargaining units applicable to ALL employers. So, unions in all industries are encouraged to organize the smallest units of employees possible as this is much easier and once it gains a foothold, it most certainly can have a domino effect.

Employers, meanwhile, will be forced either to accept the appropriateness of a “mini-unit” or take on the difficult and costly task of proving that other employees belong in the unit.