Teachers and Democratic legislators fired a shot across the bow of government reformers when they walked off their jobs last week in Wisconsin.
Public-employee unions and their Democratic Party allies are enraged at Republican Gov. Scott Walker's proposals to curb collective bargaining and to require that workers shoulder a larger share of their pension and health-care costs.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott also is calling for pension reform -- requiring a 5 percent employee contribution and introducing 401(k)-style plans for new workers.
Alarmed that such reforms are sprouting up across the country, public-employee unions and their Democratic allies are spoiling for a fight. The disruption in Wisconsin is part of a national strategy to halt unfavorable legislation -- apparently by any means necessary.
Though Florida is officially a "right-to-work" state, one union has demonstrated the ability to organize sizable protests by members.
Last year, the Florida Education Association mobilized teachers to pack legislative hearings and jam phone lines to protest Senate Bill 6, which would have abolished tenure in the K-12 system and tied pay to performance. Their efforts paid off when Gov. Charlie Crist vetoed the measure.
Last week's walkout by Wisconsin teachers might re-stoke the FEA's fires as GOP lawmakers resurrect education reform legislation here. Gov. Scott's pension initiatives upped the ante by including tens of thousands of additional government workers.
But union power in Florida pales in comparison to Wisconsin, where organized labor is more deeply and broadly entrenched. Indeed, Wisconsin was the first state to authorize collective bargaining for public employees in 1959.
Though collective bargaining is widespread in the Sunshine State's public sector -- as it is in virtually every state -- a much smaller percentage of Florida government workers formally belong to unions or pay union dues. Non-members are still covered by collective-bargaining agreements, however.
Government workers in Wisconsin also benefit from a competitive state Democratic Party. Fourteen Democrats were able to halt consideration of Gov. Walker's bill last week by simply walking out.
Florida's union-supported Democratic lawmakers could leave Tallahassee and no one would much notice because Republicans hold supermajorities in both the state House and Senate. Democrats do not have enough members to block bills or override gubernatorial vetoes.
Still, workplace disruptions and Capitol rallies cannot be ruled out. Teachers, the largest public-employee group, remain especially restive. Many school districts have not approved pay raises in recent years, and a mandatory 5 percent pension contribution is seen as a 5 percent pay cut.
On the other side, taxpayer groups and tea parties strongly support Gov. Scott's effort to rein in employee benefits. Florida is the only state in the nation that does not require its government workers to contribute to their retirement fund. Increasingly, public-sector benefits outstrip those received by workers in private industry.
Since 2001, the U.S. Department of Labor found that public-sector benefits climbed 60 percent compared with 40 percent in the private sector.
Robert Sanchez, policy director at the conservative James Madison Institute in Tallahassee, says Floridians pay a steep price under the state's collective-bargaining rules.
"Collective-bargaining sessions -- often conducted out of the publics view -- lock in the salaries and benefits that typically form the largest portion of most government budgets. By the time the average taxpayer has a chance to be heard, there is little left to discuss," Sanchez said.
James Sherk, senior policy analyst for labor and economics at the Washington, D.C.-based Heritage Foundation, said it's "too bad" that Scott is not tackling collective bargaining as part of his reform agenda.
"Up to the 1950s, even union leaders didn't believe there was any right to collective bargaining in the public sector," because government does not turn profits and does not have market competition, Sherk said.
"But through bipartisan complicity, public officials just kick the can down the road. Well, we're at the end of the road," he said.
Nevertheless, Florida AFL-CIO legislative and political director Rich Templin has branded Scott's call for modest pension reforms "political rhetoric" and "ideological posturing."
In the same vein, National Education Association president Dennis Van Roekel called Walker's public-employee initiatives "a politically motivated attack."
Such broadsides appear to signal future disruptions by government workers.
Though politicians, including Republicans, prefer to avoid protests by public employees, Florida's taxpayers may be spoiling for a fight. Voters who increased the GOP's majorities in Tallahassee last fall aren't likely to sympathize with teachers and other government workers who go AWOL in search of more tax money.
"The message of voters last November was clear: Government spending had grown much too fast," Sanchez said.
"Reining in excesses such as those inflicted upon Wisconsins taxpayers -- and the taxpayers in some of Floridas largest cities -- is not 'union bashing.'"
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Contact Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 801-5341.
