The climate in Florida is getting worse – and it’s not just because of hurricane season. In a state where the “Stop WOKE” law prevents teaching about diversity, equity and inclusion and teachers lose their jobs for raising the Black Lives Matter flag, far-right politicians are also attacking the academic freedom made possible by tenure.
Of course, the unions are fighting back. On August 7, the AFT announced that three of its affiliates – the United Faculty of Florida and the UFF’s branches at Florida State University and the University of Florida – have filed suit to prevent university presidents from making decisions on their own about firing tenured professors. Such a practice runs counter to the neutral arbitration guaranteed by law and is especially dangerous because many of these presidents are political appointees of a governor known for attacking higher education as we know it.
Uncovering the threat
One of the benefits that unions have brought to the workplace is a fair trial: if the boss fires you, you can ask why. Were you fired for good reason? Or simply because the boss disagrees with your political views?
This question is particularly relevant on college campuses, where professors are expected to conduct cutting-edge research, explore new ideas, and present all sides of an issue to their students, who deserve to have the greatest possible learning space. But academic research is notoriously tricky.
That’s why tenure exists. Tenured faculty members are protected from arbitrary dismissal, so they can research and teach without trustees and administrators breathing down their necks. Are you teaching about climate change? Even if an oil magnate sits on the board of trustees, your job should be secure.
Florida’s Senate Bill 266 changes all that. It requires a review of all tenured professors every five years, calling into question the entire basis of tenure. And it allows faculty to be fired without the usual mediation by neutral parties – mediation intended to protect academic freedom and workers’ rights. The bill leaves the final decision on faculty firing to politically appointed university presidents.
So if you belong to a different political party, accidentally offend a major donor or, as one former faculty member did in Washington Times, For example, if you have a minor accident with the President’s wife, you could be fired and have little chance of doing anything about it.
“Instead of following the instructions of an impartial arbitrator, (this) law allows employers to make unilateral decisions that affect the livelihoods of thousands of workers in the state of Florida,” said AFT President Randi Weingarten. “We must stand up for the rule of law and for freedom of contract and speech, not just for those we agree with, but for everyone. Governor Ron DeSantis and Secretary of Education Manny Diaz Jr. want to do the opposite – and that’s why we’re suing them.”
This is the UFF’s second lawsuit challenging SB 266’s arbitration ban. In its first lawsuit, the UFF calls the ban a violation of collective bargaining rights and claims it violates UFF’s collective bargaining agreements. At the center of this lawsuit is New College of Florida, where DeSantis has appointed political allies who have upended a campus known for its diversity and inclusion. New College faculty also filed suit on August 6.
“It’s a special kind of circular reasoning to tout higher education as the reason for the success of the state’s education system while in the same breath actively disenfranchising the very employees who make Florida’s university system one of the most respected in the country,” said Andrew Spar, president of the Florida Education Association. “But that’s exactly what employees have come to expect from Governor DeSantis and Commissioner Diaz Jr. They pretend to care about teachers, professors, students and staff, and then in return make policies and decisions that run counter to their interests and usually benefit their own political ideology.”
“We must ask ourselves who such a law really serves. It is not the faculty members, not the research assistants, not our students, and not our state,” said UFF President Teresa M. Hodge. “At the United Faculty of Florida, we remain firmly committed to ensuring that Florida’s college faculty, research assistants, DRS schools (Developmental Research Schools at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University) and students are represented and promoted at all levels of our state. Every worker in Florida has the constitutional right to join a union and collectively bargain for better working conditions. UFF will never stop fighting for these protections.”
(Virginia Myers)
