'Give Us Back Our Union!'
Workers at Florida colleges are standing up to privatization.
By Jimmie Turner
TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA
At the Sunshine State's universities, the shades are coming down on Gov. Jeb Bush's (R) unenlightened attempt to remove public employees from the payroll system and privatize their jobs.
Last January, Bush eliminated the university system's Board of Regents, replacing it with a group of trustees — one at each institution — who were handpicked by the governor to represent the state's 11 campuses. That maneuver made the schools autonomous and allowed them to dismantle state-employee contracts, forcing workers to move quickly to reclaim their union representation.
Council 79 activists mobilized, then organized, and are returning to the union: more than 1,500 workers in all from Florida State, Florida A&M and North Florida. Members from A&M and North Florida achieved victory with card-check campaigns; at Florida State, workers who were forced to take the election route won handily.
ORGANIZING 101. "We had started organizing way before January," says Mary Howard, vice president of Local 3343 at A&M, "because we knew that as soon as Bush got his trustees, we were in trouble."
Howard and a handful of the local's activists held several meetings on campus. In addition, they talked to members — one on one — during breaks and the lunch hour. "We explained to them that if we don't get our bargaining rights back, Bush can come in here and privatize our jobs."
When the organizing committees at A&M and North Florida sought to reclaim their rights via card check, those institutions' trustees assented. But things were different for Florida State workers, who are literally across the street from A&M in Tallahassee.
Greg Turner, president of Local 3341 at Florida State, explains that the trustee there wouldn't recognize card check despite a majority of the workers endorsing, so an election was held. "The university could have given us voluntary recognition, but they wanted to 'hear' from the employees. They heard loud and clear."
The organizing campaign leading up to the election maximized available resources. Union organizers and student-government representatives protesting overseas sweatshops supported each other's campaigns.
When they heard about the organizing campaign, they contacted Turner and offered their assistance. He, in turn, joined them at their sit-ins. "The students couldn't understand why the university wouldn't want the union," Turner says. Organizers and their supporters ran a phone-bank program, did house calls and worksite visits, and posted flyers around campus.
Members at the other eight campuses of the state system are currently organizing. At Florida State, Florida A&M and North Florida, members are renegotiating contracts. Since the institutions are now autonomous, each group of employees will hammer out agreements that address their own particular needs.
