Florida news.
Dear Colleagues, I am afraid this email may be a little lengthy, as it has been a while, and a million things have changed, and it’s the end of the semester and more things are changing, and I’m not exactly sure how many actual functioning brain cells are left in my head. I do want to say Congratulations on making it through day 389 of March 2020! It has been a long semester, a long year, and I know… Continue reading
Please remember that the recommended postmark date to return your ballot for this year’s UFF Statewide Election is Tuesday, March 23rd. The election formally ends on Wednesday, March 31st. Statewide elections are very important, as the outcome determines our statewide union leadership for the next two years. If you have not yet voted, please fill out your ballot and return it as soon as possible. Your ballot should have arrived at your home address within… Continue reading
Thousands of United Faculty of Florida members from across the state have already taken action to stop SB 78, but we need everyone to make their voices heard before Thursday morning’s Senate Rules committee meeting! How to take action: 1) Go to the FEA website 2) Enter your street address 3) Click on the email button 4) Compose an email using the talking points listed 5) Click “send email” to email all the members of… Continue reading
Members of UFF-FIU and and FIU community, we ask you to stand in solidarity and take action to support our colleagues at Saint Leo University and Pensacola State College: In October 2020, Saint Leo University’s Board of trustees unilaterally disbanded the union that had existed for forty years. Sign the petition against the actions to erase their contractual rights! Pensacola State College re-opened in January 2021 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, and faculty have protested unsafe… Continue reading
What is SB 264: Higher Education? SB 264 would require Florida’s public colleges and universities to administer an “intellectual diversity” survey every year with results to be published by the State Board of Education. It also has a “companion bill” in the House, HB 233. Why are FEA and UFF opposed to SB 264? For the third straight year, the text of this bill has been introduced. SB 264 is another bill in search of a… Continue reading
Update: HB 6001 has been redesignated as HB 123 UFF-FIU Legislative Affairs Committee Legislative Alert On Monday, November 30, State Representative Anthony Sabatini (R) prefiled HB 123 for consideration by the State Legislature during the 2021 legislative session, which begins in March. HB 123 would remove an existing legal provision that prohibits concealed carry licensees from openly carrying a handgun or carrying a concealed weapon or firearm onto a college or university facility in the… Continue reading
Full-time faculty at Saint Leo University have been unionized for over forty years and, with a single vote and without any notice, the Board of Trustees unilaterally erased their contractual guarantees on Friday, October 23rd. To have made this momentous decision with no faculty consultation in the middle of a pandemic makes it clear the administration has failed to meet their own call to “cultivate servant leadership that respects and upholds the dignity of faculty,… Continue reading
#StopTheDeSanity As of October 9th, 213,000 American lives have been lost to Covid-19 and the numbers are projected to double by the end of the year. With no approved vaccine in sight, fully reopening campuses is irresponsible, dangerous, and puts our students, faculty, and communities at risk. While UFF-FIU has fought hard to protect faculty at our campuses with our MOUs, political pressure is pushing leadership at institutions throughout the state to force their faculty,… Continue reading
Yesterday, the Florida Education Association (FEA) along with Florida educators and parents sued Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, State Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran, the Florida Department of Education, The Florida State Board of Education, and Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez to halt the reopening of public K-12 schools amidst a surge in COVID cases in the state. UFF-FIU has been working diligently since the outbreak of the COVID pandemic to ensure that no FIU faculty… Continue reading
