Florida Statutes 447.507 – Violation of strike prohibition; penalties
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(1) Circuit courts having jurisdiction of the parties are vested with the authority to hear and determine all actions alleging violations of s. 447.505. Suits to enjoin violations of s. 447.505 will have priority over all matters on the court’s docket except other emergency matters.
(2) If a public employee, a group of employees, an employee organization, or any officer, agent, or representative of any employee organization engages in a strike in violation of s. 447.505, either the commission or any public employer whose employees are involved or whose employees may be affected by the strike may file suit to enjoin the strike in the circuit court having proper jurisdiction and proper venue of such actions under the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure and Florida Statutes. The circuit court shall conduct a hearing, with notice to the commission and to all interested parties, at the earliest practicable time. If the plaintiff makes a prima facie showing that a violation of s. 447.505 is in progress or that there is a clear, real, and present danger that such a strike is about to commence, the circuit court shall issue a temporary injunction enjoining the strike. Upon final hearing, the circuit court shall either make the injunction permanent or dissolve it.
(3) If an injunction to enjoin a strike issued pursuant to this section is not promptly complied with, on the application of the plaintiff, the circuit court shall immediately initiate contempt proceedings against those who appear to be in violation. An employee organization found to be in contempt of court for violating an injunction against a strike shall be fined an amount deemed appropriate by the court. In determining the appropriate fine, the court shall objectively consider the extent of lost services and the particular nature and position of the employee group in violation. In no event shall the fine exceed $5,000. Each officer, agent, or representative of an employee organization found to be in contempt of court for violating an injunction against a strike shall be fined not less than $50 nor more than $100 for each calendar day that the violation is in progress.
(4) An employee organization shall be liable for any damages which might be suffered by a public employer as a result of a violation of the provisions of s. 447.505 by the employee organization or its representatives, officers, or agents. The circuit court having jurisdiction over such actions is empowered to enforce judgments against employee organizations, as defined in this part, by attachment or garnishment of union initiation fees or dues which are to be deducted or checked off by public employers. No action shall be maintained pursuant to this subsection until all proceedings which were pending before the commission at the time of the strike or which were initiated within 30 days of the strike have been finally adjudicated or otherwise disposed of. In determining the amount of damages, if any, to be awarded to the public employer, the trier of fact shall take into consideration any action or inaction by the public employer or its agents that provoked or tended to provoke the strike by the public employees. The trier of fact shall also take into consideration any damages that might have been recovered by the public employer under subparagraph (6)(a)4.
(5) If the commission, after a hearing on notice conducted according to rules promulgated by the commission, determines that an employee has violated s. 447.505, it may order the termination of his or her employment by the public employer. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a person knowingly violating the provision of said section may, subsequent to such violation, be appointed, reappointed, employed, or reemployed as a public employee, but only upon the following conditions:
(a) Such person shall be on probation for a period of 18 months following his or her appointment, reappointment, employment, or reemployment, during which period he or she shall serve without permanent status and at the pleasure of the agency head.
Terms Used In Florida Statutes 447.507
- Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
- Bargaining agent: means the employee organization which has been certified by the commission as representing the employees in the bargaining unit, as provided in…. See Florida Statutes 447.203
- Commission: means the Public Employees Relations Commission created by…. See Florida Statutes 447.203
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
- employer: means the state or any county, municipality, or special district or any subdivision or agency thereof which the commission determines has sufficient legal distinctiveness properly to carry out the functions of a public employer. See Florida Statutes 447.203
- Garnishment: Generally, garnishment is a court proceeding in which a creditor asks a court to order a third party who owes money to the debtor or otherwise holds assets belonging to the debtor to turn over to the creditor any of the debtor
- Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- organization: means any labor organization, union, association, fraternal order, occupational or professional society, or group, however organized or constituted, which represents, or seeks to represent, any public employee or group of public employees concerning any matters relating to their employment relationship with a public employer. See Florida Statutes 447.203
- person: includes individuals, children, firms, associations, joint adventures, partnerships, estates, trusts, business trusts, syndicates, fiduciaries, corporations, and all other groups or combinations. See Florida Statutes 1.01
- Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
- Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
- Public employee: means any person employed by a public employer except:(a) Those persons appointed by the Governor or elected by the people, agency heads, and members of boards and commissions. See Florida Statutes 447.203
- Strike: means the concerted failure of employees to report for duty; the concerted absence of employees from their positions; the concerted stoppage of work by employees; the concerted submission of resignations by employees; the concerted abstinence in whole or in part by any group of employees from the full and faithful performance of the duties of employment with a public employer for the purpose of inducing, influencing, condoning, or coercing a change in the terms and conditions of employment or the rights, privileges, or obligations of public employment, or participating in a deliberate and concerted course of conduct which adversely affects the services of the public employer; the concerted failure of employees to report for work after the expiration of a collective bargaining agreement; and picketing in furtherance of a work stoppage. See Florida Statutes 447.203
- Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
(b) His or her compensation may in no event exceed that received immediately prior to the time of the violation.(c) The compensation of the person may not be increased until after the expiration of 1 year from such appointment, reappointment, employment, or reemployment.
(6)(a) If the commission determines that an employee organization has violated s. 447.505, it may:
1. Issue cease and desist orders as necessary to ensure compliance with its order.
2. Suspend or revoke the certification of the employee organization as the bargaining agent of such employee unit.
3. Revoke the right of dues deduction and collection previously granted to said employee organization pursuant to s. 447.303.
4. Fine the organization up to $20,000 for each calendar day of such violation or determine the approximate cost to the public due to each calendar day of the strike and fine the organization an amount equal to such cost, notwithstanding the fact that the fine may exceed $20,000 for each such calendar day. The fines so collected shall immediately accrue to the public employer and shall be used by him or her to replace those services denied the public as a result of the strike. In determining the amount of damages, if any, to be awarded to the public employer, the commission shall take into consideration any action or inaction by the public employer or its agents that provoked, or tended to provoke, the strike by the public employees.
(b) An organization determined to be in violation of s. 447.505 shall not be certified until 1 year from the date of final payment of any fine against it.