Government workers will soon have to show up to vote to keep their union in the state.
The bill, SB1296, would require many unions that represent government workers in the state to get at least 50% of members to participate in any vote for recertification, then win with a majority of votes cast.
The latest bill follows 2023 legislation that triggered a decertification vote when less than 60% of the employees eligible for representation in a bargaining unit are paying membership dues. That legislation also ended the state’s power to deduct dues from public-employee paychecks.
Dozens of public union locals across the state have been decertified as a result, removing them as the representative for tens of thousands of public employees. But many teachers union locals managed to recertify by winning a majority of the small percentage of members who showed up for the votes. The new legislation will be a better test of union value.