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Local News

Santa Rosa EA bargaining now and soon to come
In the past two weeks, Santa Rosa EA has been conducting informational meetings around the county to train employees about the bargaining process and how they can help our new bargaining unit for Ed Support employees move forward. At these meetings many new employees attended who hadn’t been involved previously and some joined Santa Rosa EA immediately afterward. This is only the beginning.

Currently, Santa Rosa EA and representatives from SRCSD have been in preliminary discussions concerning how the parties could move forward in light of recent bargaining by the previous bargaining agent for Ed Support.  Santa Rosa EA is very interested in getting recently negotiated agreements in place and implemented, including the increases that the District agreed to provide Ed Support employees during bargaining with SRPE before its certification was revoked by the Public Employees Relations Commission earlier this month.  Also, Santa Rosa EA is exploring a way to conduct a ratification vote as soon as possible so that there are no delays in processing increases and retroactive payments.  PLEASE STAY TUNED FOR MORE INFORMATION!

State News

House deception towards decertification
Rep. Scott Plakon has again filed HB 25 – the union decertification bill that we have seen in previous years. This year, the House speaker is showing how desperate he is to get this bill to the floor since he’s given it just one committee of reference. HB 25 was heard Tuesday in the Government Accountability Committee. As is typical for the speaker, the House is neither transparent nor playing by its own rules by giving this bill a single committee of reference.  But they didn’t play by the rules last year with HB 7069, so why start now? But we digress … back to the terrible bill at hand.

HB 25 is unnecessary because there is already a process in place for how a union certifies and decertifies. Further, Florida is a “right to work” state. No one is required to join a union. They do so because they want the right, like other Americans, to have their collective voices heard. But this bill is more than just an attack on labor, it is deliberately designed to impose a set of rules on a female-dominated public service profession that are much different than the rules placed on those dominated by men.

As FEA President Joanne McCall stated: “HB 25 would rob teachers and other school employees in many Florida counties of professional representation by implementing arbitrary rules for the unions that primarily represent women, but exempt those that largely represent men.” HB 25 exempts decertification for police, firefighters and correctional workers, predominantly male dominated unions, but would decertify unions representing teachers, school professional employees, nurses and public workers, which are predominantly female and people of color, and who need equal pay and equal protections under the law most.

If you haven’t already called your representative and senator to tell them to OPPOSE HB 25 and SB 1036 please take a moment today and make that call! We expect these bills to be fast-tracked and session begins January 9.

National News

Not Your Grandfather’s School Library

School libraries used to be the place for quiet study, but today there is no more shushing.

How Schools Can Help Students Manage and Mitigate Anxiety

By focusing on coping strategies and schoolwide supports, school counselors are helping students manage and mitigate their anxiety.

 

Until Next Week,

Santa Rosa Education Association