A constitutional amendment to guarantee secret-ballot elections when workers vote to unionize was approved this afternoon in a partisan vote by the Florida House. If the Senate approves the measure, the question would be place on the 2010 ballot.

In the House, the 74-44 vote narrowly exceeded the 72-vote threshold needed for a constitutional amendment to pass the chamber. Republicans argued the proposal would prevent worker intimidation and business lobbyists say its largely to block a pro-union change in federal labor law.

After the vote, Democrats requested that the debate be printed in the House journal, the official record of the chamber. Republicans voted the measure down.

Rep. Adam Hasner, a Boca Raton Republican sponsoring the measure (HJR 1013), said it was “no secret that our state and our nation face unprecedented economic challenges.”

“Protecting workers’ rights is essential if we want to create and protect jobs and get Florida’s economy moving again,” Hasner said in a press release.

From left: U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton; state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, R-Boca Raton

After not initially signing on and setting off a flurry of speculation on the left and right, U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, has decided to be a cosponsor of the labor-backed Employee Free Choice Act. He cosponsored the legislation in the last Congress.

The legislation would allow unions to bypass secret-ballot elections and organize by collecting authorization cards from a majority of employees. Supporters say the measure allows labor to counter intimidation by employers. Foes say it will allow labor organizers to coerce and pressure workers to support unionization.

In Florida, state House Majority Leader — and potential Klein challenger — Adam Hasner, R-Boca Raton, is leading the drive for a state constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right of Floridians to cast secret ballots in all elections, including votes on whether to unionize.

The national fight over ensuring secret ballots for union votes erupted Wednesday in an emotional quarrel between two Palm Beach County lawmakers that included one calling the other a “jerk” in a Florida House committee meeting.

Rep. Mary Brandenburg, D-West Palm Beach, called Rep. Adam Hasner, R-Boca Raton, a “jerk” from her seat in the House Policy Committee. Her microphone was turned off, but her comment was audible from at least the third row in the meeting room.

Listen to their dialogue during the committee here. Then read the rest of the story here.

Florida labor leaders said at a press conference today that a constitutional amendment (HJR 1013) from House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, R-Boca Raton, “targets working people.”

“The proposed constitutional amendment is not about the protection of secret ballot. It’s all about political gamesmanship in an effort to launch an anti-worker campaign in Florida, a campaign being disguised as a pro-worker effort,” said Mike Williams, president of the Florida Building & Construction Trades Council.

(more…)

As Congress gears up for a debate over the labor-backed Employee Free Choice Act, unions are touting a a new Gallup poll that finds 53 percent of Americans favor a law “that would make it easier for labor unions to organize workers.”

Beyond that fuzzy concept, however, it appears voters in Florida are uncomfortable with a key aspect of the proposed legislation.

The bill would make it easier for unions to form by allowing them to bypass current requirements that employee votes on whether to unionize be conducted by secret ballot. Instead, a union could form if a majority of workers sign authorization forms.

A new Florida poll commissioned by foes of the congressional bill finds that 86 percent of the state’s voters favor a proposed state constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to cast a secret ballot in all elections, including employee votes on whether to unionize.

To read the polling memo, click here.

House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, R-Boca Raton, is heading efforts to get the constitutional question on the Florida ballot in 2010. If Congress passes the Employee Free Choice Act and Florida voters approve the secret-ballot amendment, courts would likely decide which measure would take precedence in Florida.

On today’s Palm Beach Post letters page, state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, R-Boca Raton, rips the labor-backed Employee Free Choice Act while local AFL-CIO President Pat Emmert rips Hasner.

Hasner (left) and Klein

In what some Republicans would like to be a preview of a 2010 congressional race, state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, R-Boca Raton, is calling out U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, over the labor-backed Employee Free Choice Act.

(more…)

Renewing his campaign to protect secret ballots in union votes, House Republican Leader Adam Hasner of Boca Raton today accused his Democratic counterparts of hypocrisy on the issue.

Democrats largely oppose the change, but Hasner points out the House Democratic caucus on Tuesday held a secret ballot election to pick their leader for 2010-11.

“House Democrats picked their leader in the workplace by secret ballot; now let’s see if House Democrats will allow Floridians in every workplace the same secret ballot right,” Hasner said in a press release from the Republican Party of Florida today.

“Otherwise, House Democrats will once again be saying through their actions: do as we say, not as we do.”