¶ DeSantis Repeatedly Attacked Unions
Highlights:
- Ron DeSantis attacked teachers’ unions, calling them “pernicious” and “partisan.”
- DeSantis signed legislation to end paycheck deductions from public employees, which resulted in a lawsuit by several Florida teachers’ unions
- DeSantis baselessly claimed that union dues were being used irresponsibly and suggested teachers were coerced into signing forms and paying dues.
- DeSantis asserted that unions held up pay increases for teachers.
- DeSantis praised charter schools for not being influenced by teachers.
- DeSantis bragged that he was sued by unions and said he hoped to “reign in” teachers’ unions.
- Ron DeSantis spoke favorably about the anti-union Janus court decision.
¶ DeSantis Attacked Teachers’ Unions
¶ DeSantis Smeared Teachers’ Unions
DeSantis Called Union Influence “Pernicious” And “Partisan”: According to DeSantis at Reagan Library, “DESANTIS: One of the things that we've seen with the pandemic is the pernicious influence that you have with the school unions. They're very partisan and they're pursuing a partisan agenda through our K-12 schools. We think that's wrong in Florida.” [Ron DeSantis Speaking at the Reagan Library 3/5/23]
¶ DeSantis Signed Legislation Which Would End Paycheck Deductions From Public Employees
DeSantis Signed Anti-Union Legislation Which Would End Automatic Paycheck Deductions From Public Employees To Unions. According to the Associated Press, “Teachers and other government employees will have to write monthly checks if they want to stay in their union after Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill Tuesday banning automatic dues deductions from public employees’ paychecks, The anti-union bill also gives employees the right to immediately quit a union for no reason and requires unions to recertify if the number of dues-paying members drops below 60% of those eligible to join. ‘If you want to join, you can, but you write a check and you hand it over. That is gonna lead to more take-home pay for teachers,’ DeSantis said at the bill-signing ceremony.” [Associated Press, 5/9/23]
¶ Florida Teachers Unions Filed A Lawsuit Against DeSantis Over Anti-Union Legislation
Florida Teachers Unions To Sue DeSantis Over Anti-Teachers Union Legislation, Alleging The Governor Violated The First Amendment, Equal-Protection And Contract Rights. According to the Tampa Bay Times, “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. DeSantis signed the law (SB 256) during an event Tuesday in Miami. The Republican governor and teachers unions have repeatedly clashed about education policies, and the unions were key supporters last year of DeSantis’ election opponent, Democrat Charlie Crist.” [Tampa Bay Times, 5/10/23]
The Lawsuit Pointed To Law Enforcement Unions, Which Had Supported DeSantis And Were Unaffected By The Legislation. According to the Tampa Bay Times, “The lawsuit pointed to unions that represent law enforcement officers, correctional officers and firefighters — which have backed DeSantis and other Republicans — being exempted from the restrictions. ‘In a bid to punish the ‘school unions’ and other public employee unions who have opposed him, Gov. DeSantis pushed for ‘unprecedented’ changes to Florida’s collective bargaining law to harm disfavored unions while exempting those unions representing law enforcement, corrections, and firefighter employees who have supported him,’ the lawsuit said.” [Tampa Bay Times, 5/10/23]
¶ DeSantis Called To End Paycheck Deductions For Florida Teachers’ Union Dues
DeSantis Called To End Paycheck Deductions For Florida Teachers’ Union Dues, Which He Called As A “Paycheck Protection Legislation.” According to the Miami Herald, “Gov. Ron DeSantis has signaled that he will make a priority of passing a long-debated proposal that would prevent teachers from having union dues deducted from their paychecks. DeSantis supported the proposal Monday during a speech in Orlando, describing it as ‘paycheck protection legislation.’” [Miami Herald, 12/20/22]
DeSantis Said His Proposal Would Impact How Teachers Join Unions, Said Union Membership Fees Should Come Out Of Teachers Pockets And Not Deducted From Their Paychecks. According to the Tampa Bay Times, “The governor said his proposal will also impact how teachers join unions. He said they are welcome to join if they want, but he suggested they should write their own checks and not have their union dues automatically deducted from their paychecks. ‘We want more transparency into how that is done,’ he said. ‘We also believe that you should not have the school be a focus of school union politics and politicking and handing out literature and doing all this. You do that on your own time, not on the public’s time.’” [Tampa Bay Times, 1/23/23]
¶ DeSantis Said He Wanted To Make Sure Unions Did Not Receive State Education Money
DeSantis On Education Funding: “We're Going To Make Sure The School Unions Are Not Getting Any Of That Money.” According to DeSantis on Mornings with Maria, “BARTIROMO: And Governor, you're in the middle of the Florida legislature right now. What can you tell us in terms of your priorities? Where will the bulk of the spending be in your new budget? DESANTIS: Well, we're going to be strong on education and infrastructure because we're a growing state, so we're going to increase teacher salaries yet again. But Maria, we're going to make sure the school unions are not getting any of that money and we're going to do paycheck protection so that they can't do automatic union deductions for dues for the teachers. That's their choice. And if they want to write a check, that's fine.” [Fox Business Network: Mornings with Maria, 3/12/23]
DeSantis On Education Funding: “No Money To The Unions.” According to DeSantis in Iowa, “DESANTIS: The school unions get in there. They get their hands on it. It ends up going to administration bureaucracy. So we do that and every year we say the only thing this pot of money can be used for is increasing teacher salaries. And so we did [$]800 million last year. We're going to do [$]1 billion this year. No money to the unions, though.” [Ron DeSantis The Freedom Blueprint-Davenport 3/10/23]
¶ DeSantis Claimed Union Dues Were Being “Frittered Away By Interest Groups” And Used Irresponsibly
DeSantis Slammed Union Dues As Money That Was “Frittered Away By Interest Groups Who Get Involved In The School System.” According to the Miami Herald, “DeSantis also has battled unions in recent years about issues such as reopening schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. During what was described as a ‘Freedom Blueprint’ speech Monday, he tied the union-dues idea to raising pay for teachers during the 2023 legislative session. ‘It’s more of a guarantee that that money is going to actually go to those teachers,’ DeSantis said in the speech, posted online by the NTD television network. ‘It’s not going to be frittered away by interest groups who get involved in the school system. And so I think those will be really, really positive reforms, and we’re looking forward to doing that. And I think we’re going to get big, big support in the Legislature.’” [Miami Herald, 12/20/22]
DeSantis Accused Unions Of “Playing Games” With Teacher Pay. According to DeSantis at an education press, “DESANTIS: We passed our most recent teacher pay increase, the legislature passed it last March. I signed it into law sometime in May. And even to this day, not every school district has raised the teacher salaries like they’re required to do. Some waited until after the election. Some have just now done it. And a lot of this is with school unions playing games with a lot of this stuff.” [Ron DeSantis Education Presser, 1/23/23]
¶ DeSantis Pledged To Protect Schools From Unions
DeSantis Said His Legislation Would Make “Sure That School Unions Are Not Exerting Influence.” According to DeSantis at an education presser, “DESANTIS: So all told, I think this is a huge, huge package for increasing pay for teachers, for supporting teacher empowerment in the classroom, and to protect their paychecks and making sure that school unions are not exerting excessive influence.” [Ron DeSantis Education Presser, 1/23/23]
¶ DeSantis Suggested Teachers Were Coerced Into Signing Forms And Paying Union Fees
DeSantis Said Union Dues Are “Coercion.” According to DeSantis on the Brian Kilmeade Show, “DESANTIS: If you look at what we're doing in terms of the teachers, yes, we're increasing teacher salaries. We're also protecting them against union coercion. So no more automatic deductions for teacher union dues.” [Brian Kilmeade Show, 3/13/23]
DeSantis Claimed Teachers Pressured Into Signing Union Forms. According to DeSantis at a Florida Blueprint event, “DESANTIS: We're going to do the biggest pay increase for teachers we've ever done. But we do not want that money going to school unions. We want it going to the teachers in the classroom. How is it that a teacher in Miami-Dade, you know, may make [$]55,000 and the people running the union are making almost [$]200,000? How is that fair? That's politics. That's not education. So, we're going to do the biggest increase for salaries ever. But we're also going to make sure teachers unions don't get automatic dues deduction. We're doing paycheck protection. So, if they want to join, they write out a check and hand it. That's your decision. But, you know, a lot of these people, they get pressured to do this and sign these forms. They don't even know how much money is being taken out. You're just signing a blanket authorization. And that's not fair and that's not right.” [Ron DeSantis The Florida Blueprint- Miami, Livestream, Miami, FL, 3/1/23]
¶ DeSantis Claimed Unions Held Up Increasing Pay For Teachers
DeSantis Claimed Unions “Were Holding […] Up” Teacher Pay Increases. According to DeSantis on Fox & Friends, “DESANTIS: But I'll tell you, one of the things that we saw this year, there was massive money for teacher increases. Some of the school unions were holding it up. And we had six, nine months after the budget was signed, the teachers still didn't get a pay increase. So what we may do this year is put a time limit to say once we approve this in the budget, get it into the pockets of the teachers. So you're going to definitely see increased salaries and money for the school districts to raise teacher pay.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 2/28/23]
¶ DeSantis Praised Charter Schools For Not Being Influenced By Unions
DeSantis Praised Charter Schools For Not Being Influenced By Unions. According to DeSantis at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, “DESANTIS: We also have 363,000 students in Florida in charter schools, which are public schools, but they're not controlled by the school districts and hence not influenced by the teachers’ unions.” [Ron DeSantis Speaking at the Reagan Library 3/5/23]
¶ DeSantis Bragged About Being Sued By Teachers Unions
DeSantis Bragged About Being Sued By Union. According to DeSantis at a Florida Blueprint town hall, “DESANTIS: And so we were able to stand and fight for the kids. Now, nobody will admit that they opposed us on the schools, even though the teachers’ union sued me to get, to close, they wanted to close the schools, even though I had all the media that was against.” [Ron DeSantis, North Venice The Florida Blueprint Town Hall, 2/28/23]
DeSantis Complained About Being Sued By The Teachers’ Union. According to DeSantis at CPAC, “DESANTIS: The teachers’ unions, they would put coffins outside the Department of Education building in Tallahassee. They sued me to close the school, but we stood strong. And part of the reason we stood strong, because we understand what it means to be a leader, not just be a politician that twists in the wind, but be willing to make the tough decisions.” [CPAC, 2/24/22]
¶ DeSantis Called To “Reign In” Teachers’ Unions
DeSantis Said The State Needed To “Reign In The School Unions.” According to DeSantis at a book signing Q&A, “DESANTIS: We are going to reign in the school unions. They take these dues automatically from that, a lot of the teachers. And what we’re going to say is no automatic deductions. If people want to write a check, they're free to do that. We're not going to have the government involved taking these dues automatically. And I think that that's going to be a very, very positive reform.” [Ron DeSantis Book Signing Q&A 2/27/23]
¶ DeSantis Claimed Unions And Democrats Put Their Interests Over Students
DeSantis Claimed Unions And Democrats “Chose Ideology Over What Was Right” When Pushing Or School Closures. According to DeSantis on Laura Ingraham, “ANCHOR: You took a lot of criticism for reopening those schools early in Florida. What is your message tonight for those trying to blame you and Trump for these educational setbacks? DESANTIS: Well, first of all, the pandemic didn't cause those setbacks lockdown policies of Democrat governors, Anthony Fauci, national teachers unions who wanted schools closed, they are the ones that caused that in Florida.” [Fox News, Laura Ingraham, 9/2/22]
DeSantis Claimed Democrats “Put The Interests Of Teachers’ Unions” Over The Interest Of Kids. According to DeSantis on Hannity, “DESANTIS: And if you have a political party that puts the interests of teachers’ unions over the interests of kids being able to just access an education at all, that tells you all you need to know about the modern Democrat Party. [Fox News, Hannity, 5/26/21]
¶ DeSantis Threatened To Decertify Teachers Unions
DeSantis Threatened To Decertify Unions In Florida. According “DESANTIS: And then what we're doing is saying, you know, you should not be pressured to join the school union. What they do, they make them sign these authorization forms for the automatic deduction and they don't even say how much money is being taken out. So what we're doing is paycheck protection, no automatic deduction for teacher union dues. You can write out exactly what you want to do it, that’s fine. […] And if the union doesn't have 60% in the given county of the available membership, they get decertified in the state of Florida.” [Ron DeSantis The Freedom Blueprint-Davenport 3/10/23]
¶ DeSantis Touted Keeping Schools Open Despite “The Opposition From The Media, Unions, And Liberal Politicians”
[Video] DeSantis Touted Keeping Schools Open Despite “The Opposition From The Media, Unions, And Liberal Politicians.” According to DeSantis’ twitter, “In 2020, we made it a priority to get our kids into classrooms while many other states locked kids out of school. We kept schools open despite the opposition from media, unions, and liberal politicians, and Florida families are better for it.” [Twitter, @RonDeSantisFL, 1/13/22]
¶ DeSantis Said The Biden Administration, NSBA, And The Unions Characterize Parents As Domestic Terrorists
DeSantis Said The Biden Administration, NSBA, And The Unions Characterize Parents As Domestic Terrorists. According to DeSantis at a curriculum transparency press, “DESANTIS: The Biden administration, working with the National School Board Association, didn't like parents having a voice. In fact, they did a letter from the National School Board Association, which we now know was engineered by people in the Biden administration and in these unions. But they were basically trying to characterize parents going these school board meetings as akin to domestic terrorists.” [Ron DeSantis Presser in Daytona Beach, Live Stream, Daytona Beach, FL 3/25/22]
¶ DeSantis Spoke Favorably About An The Janus Anti-Union Court Decision
¶ DeSantis Supported The Supreme Court’s Decision On Janus V. AFSCME
DeSantis Praised The Supreme Court’s Janus Decision. According to the Sarasota Herald Tribune, “U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, a GOP candidate for governor, also praised the ruling. ‘The Supreme Court’s Janus decision represents a huge win for the First Amendment freedoms of public employees,’ DeSantis tweeted. ‘Unions shouldn’t be able to coerce members into paying union dues to fund political campaigns. This decision is long overdue!’” [Sarasota Herald Tribune, 6/28/18]
DeSantis Said The Janus V. AFSCME Decision Was Long Overdue And A Win For First Amendment Freedoms.
[Twitter, 6/27/18]
¶ DeSantis Tied Democrats And Unions Together To Slander Them Both
¶ DeSantis Attacked His Opponent Andrew Gillum For Standing With Union Bosses, Bureaucrats, And Special Interest Groups
DeSantis Attacked His Opponent Andrew Gillum For Standing With Union Bosses, Bureaucrats, And Special Interest Groups, Said Gillum Was Refusing To Take On “The Status Quo” On Education. According to DeSantis’ twitter, “.@AndrewGillum stands with union bosses, bureaucrats, and special interest groups in refusing to take on the status quo which denies parents, students, and teachers the world-class education they deserve. [Twitter, @RonDeSantisFL, 9/21/18]