In response to a threat to withdraw funding as a result of a new union law that the White House disapproves of, several federal agencies under the Biden administration were struck with a sizable new lawsuit on Friday.
After threatening to withhold grant money, Florida officials filed a lawsuit against five members of the Biden administration, including Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, three federal organisations, and the United States of America. The Federal Transit Administration, the Departments of Labour and Transportation, as well as a number of individuals in charge of those organisations, were named defendants in the lawsuit, according to the Western Journal.
The bill, which Gov. Ron DeSantis signed earlier this year and which became effective on July 1st, “made the process for ‘decertifying’ unions easier and prohibits some state employers from collecting union dues by withholding them from employee paychecks,” the news source said.
According to Politico, Florida’s Public Employee Relations Commission, which is governed by political appointees of the governor, has the power to issue exceptions to the new rule. The U.S. Department of Labour has said that unless the commission permanently provides exceptions for the new regulations impacting mass transportation personnel, certain federal payments will be withheld.
The Florida Public Transportation Association warned that up to $800 million in federal grant money could be at risk in a letter to PERC in August. The federal Labour Department requested permanent waivers, but the agency had previously accepted conditional waivers with expiration dates.
In Florida’s case, the federal action is referred to as being “flagrantly unconstitutional.”
According to Politico, the lawsuit “asks a federal judge to declare the part of the federal law the Department of Labour is relying on to challenge Florida’s law unconstitutional and block the agencies from withholding federal grants.”
While the lawsuit acknowledges that workers have a right to establish unions, it claims that existing Biden administration actions are similar to forcing them.
According to the 18-page complaint, “public sector employees have a constitutional right to decide whether to participate in a union.” The political and financial interests of Florida’s public sector unions, however, are prioritised by the Biden administration over the right of Floridians from the working class to choose for themselves.
“Florida passed laws to protect workers from being strong-armed by unions,” state Attorney General Ashley Moody said in a statement. “Biden, intent on driving our country into the ground, continues to try to force states to implement his bad policies.”
The Western Journal reported further:
Politico noted that court challenges to Florida’s new law had been filed, but that at least one had already been thrown out.
Florida’s constitution guarantees collective bargaining rights, which the suit says the state has no intention of violating, despite cries of “union busting” by DeSantis’ critics.
An unnamed spokesperson for Buttigieg and the Department of Transportation would not comment when asked by Politico, citing the “ongoing litigation.”
In the meantime, President Joe Biden’s administration has faced opposition from the U.S. Supreme Court, which routinely rules against his agenda. However, Biden’s aspirations to swing the country to the far left seem to be in even more jeopardy thanks to the nation’s highest court.
For instance, since the Supreme Court declared earlier this year that Biden’s $430 billion or more in student loan forgiveness was unconstitutional, Biden’s proposals to tax ‘the rich’ may soon be scrapped.
Although the Supreme Court will hear cases this autumn addressing the right to bear arms, the jurisdiction of government agencies, and whether the phrase “Trump too small” can be trademarked, Moore v. United States, for instance, may have the largest impact on Biden.