Unions

Twenty hours each week, Cassie Urbenz acts as a therapist, lawyer and customer service representative. As president of the Graduate Assistants United chapter at the University of Florida, Urbenz handles the grievances of over 4,000 fellow union members, helps them fill out paperwork and shows them how to access their benefits.

The School Board for the School District of Lee County has approved a new contract with the Teachers Association of Lee County.In a joint release made Tuesday night, the district and the teachers union said the agreement reflects "our shared commitment to valuing educators, supporting students, and maintaining one of the most competitive compensation packages in the state of Florida."

A strike by dockworkers at 36 ports from Maine to Texas, the first in decades, could snarl supply chains and lead to shortages and higher prices if it stretches on for more than a few weeks.Workers began walking picket lines early Tuesday in a strike over wages and automation even though progress had been reported in contract talks. The contract between the ports and about 45,000 members of the International Longshoremen’s Association expired at midnight.

The Biden administration wants a federal judge to reject a lawsuit filed by Florida in a dispute about transit funding and a new state law that placed additional restrictions on public-employee unions.Attorneys for the U.S. Department of Transportation, the U.S. Department of Labor and other defendants Friday filed court documents disputing Florida’s arguments that federal officials were improperly threatening to withhold hundreds of millions of dollars for local transit programs in the state.

Dealing a blow to teachers unions, a federal judge has refused to block part of a new Florida law that prevents union dues from being deducted from workers’ paychecks.Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker on Friday issued a 40-page ruling denying a preliminary injunction sought by the Florida Education Association, the United Faculty of Florida and unions representing employees of the Alachua County, Hernando County and Pinellas County school districts and the University of Florida.

Thousands of U.S. auto workers stopped making vehicles and went on strike Friday after their leaders couldn’t bridge a giant gap between union demands in contract talks and what Detroit’s three automakers are willing to pay.

A statewide firefighters union has joined the Florida Police Benevolent Association in challenging the way a state agency is carrying out a new law that placed additional restrictions on public-employee unions.

Just days before the change is slated to take effect, a Leon County circuit judge Tuesday refused to block part of a new state law that will prevent government employees from having union dues deducted from their paychecks.

The board saw a big change in January, when Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed six conservative trustees, who quickly fired the college's then president, and appointed former state education commissioner Richard Corcoran.

Teachers unions have quickly filed a constitutional challenge to a new Florida law that places additional restrictions on public-employee unions, describing the measure as political retaliation by Gov. Ron DeSantis.The Florida Education Association, the United Faculty of Florida, the Alachua County teachers union and the University of Florida faculty union filed a lawsuit Tuesday in federal court in Tallahassee, alleging that the law violates First Amendment, equal-protection and contract rights.