Dade County Classroom Teachers' Ass'n v. Ryan, 38407

Citation225 So.2d 903
Decision Date09 July 1969
Docket NumberNo. 38407,38407
Parties71 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2958 DADE COUNTY CLASSROOM TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION, INC., a Florida corporation not for profit, Appellant, v. Michael RYAN, individually; Freda Jones, individually; and Dade County Education Association, et al., Appellees.
CourtUnited States State Supreme Court of Florida

Tobias Simon, Miami, and William G. O'Neill, Ocala, for appellant.

Fred C. Davant, of Wicker, Smith, Pyszka, Blomqvist & Davant and Paul B. Steinberg, Miami, for Michael Ryan, Freda Jones and Dade County Education Ass'n.

Bernard S. Mandler, of Smith & Mandler, Miami Beach, for Local 1875 of the American Federation of Teachers.

William H. Maness, Jacksonville, for Duval Teachers Ass'n, Inc.

Joseph J. Gersten, Miami, for Dade County Employees Local 1363 of the AFLCIO.

Robert E. Gunn, of Shutts & Bowen, Miami, for The Florida Nurses Ass'n.

Lawrence D. Black, Clearwater, for Pinellas Classroom Teachers' Ass'n.

Richard H. Frank, of Frank & Grand-off, Tampa, for amici curiae.

ERVIN, Chief Justice.

The Circuit Court of Dade County in injunction and declaratory judgment suits brought by plaintiffs Michael Ryan, Freda Jones, and Dade County Education Association, a nonprofit organization, and Local 1875 of the American Federation of Teachers, and others, against the Board of Public Instruction of Date County, defendant, and Dade County Classroom Teachers' Association, Inc., a Florida corporation not for profit, intervenor, in its final decree found:

(a) That negotiations between the Board of Public Instruction (school board) and Dade County Classroom Teachers' Association, Inc. (intervenor), led to the passage of personnel policies by the School Board which constituted collective bargaining in the labor relations sense.

(b) That said personnel policies provide the intervenor will be the sole collective bargaining agent for all teachers in the Dade County school system.

(c) That these personnel policies give to intervenor privileges that are denied to other organizations representing or seeking to represent some of the teachers in the Dade County school system, such as dues check-off, use of inter-school mail facilities, bulletin board space, furnishing of teacher lists, and the right to hold meetings on school property.

(d) That a grievance procedure provided by the personnel policies is to be run by the majority group (intervenor) rather than a uniform procedure applicable to all teachers in the Dade County school system.

Following the foregoing findings the Circuit Court made conclusions of law as follows:

(1) That collective bargaining in the labor relations sense as used as related in the foregoing findings in dealing with employees of public bodies such as said teachers employed in the Dade County school system is an activity which is not permitted by the public policy of the State of Florida.

(2) That collective bargaining in the labor relations sense implies not only negotiations with employers but it implies the right to strike and the right of a majority organization to bargain on behalf of the entire employee group.

(3) That the process of collective bargaining contravenes the laws and statutes of the State of Florida, citing Miami Water Works Local No. 654 v. City of Miami, 157 Fla. 445, 26 So.2d 194, 165 A.L.R. 967, and Dade County v. Amalgamated Association of Street Electric Railway and Motor Coach Employees (Fla.App.), 157 So.2d 176, and that the revised Constitution of 1968 does not change the rule of the above cited cases.

(4) That the action of the School Board in granting privileges to certain organizations representing thirty per cent or more of the teachers in the Dade County school system and the granting of additional privileges to certain organizations representing a majority of the teachers employed by the School Board is discriminatory and violates the Florida and United States constitutions.

(5) That the establishment of a grievance procedure run by a majority group is discriminatory and violates the Florida and United States constitutions.

Pursuant to these findings and conclusions of law, a permanent injunction was issued by the Circuit Court enjoining the School Board and the Intervenor from pursuing any of said personnel policies or actions contrary to said findings and conclusions of law.

The Intervenor appealed the final decree to this Court. We find our jurisdiction to review the final decree is invoked pursuant to Section 4(2) of Article V of the State Constitution, F.S.A. because the effect of the decree is to construe controlling provisions of the State Constitution. Specifically, the final decree in the conclusions of law portion thereof (see paragraph (3) above) construes Section 6, Declaration of Rights, Article I, Florida Constitution as revised in 1968.

It is our opinion the construction given Section 6, Declaration of Rights of the Revised Constitution by the Circuit Court is erroneous in that it rules out any type of limited collective bargaining for and on behalf of public employees through a labor organization. The Circuit Judge paints with too broad a brush in eliminating all collective bargaining by public employees through their bargaining organization.

Section 6 of the Declaration of Rights reads as follows:

'Right to work.--The right of persons to work shall not be denied or abridged on account of membership or nonmembership in any labor union or labor organization. The right of Employees, by and through a labor organization, to bargain collectively shall not be denied or abridged. Public Employees shall not have the right to strike.' (Emphasis supplied.)

We hold that with the exception of the right to strike, public employees have the same rights of collective bargaining as are granted private employees by Section 6. 1

The cases of Miami Water Works Local No. 654 v. City of Miami, supra, and Dade County v. Almagamated Association of Street Electric Railway and Motor Coach Employees, supra, were decided prior to the Constitutional Revision of 1968. In the 1885 Constitution, Section 12 of the Declaration of Rights therein provided:

'* * * The right of persons to work shall not be denied or abridged on account of membership or nonmembership in any labor union, or labor organization; provided, that this clause shall not be construed to deny or abridge the right of employees by and through a labor organization or labor union to bargain collectively with their employer.'

The holdings in the two cited cases only went so far as to construe the law then existing and did not pass upon later modifications in the law relating to collective bargaining rights of public employees. 2

We turn now to other facets of this case, i.e., the remainder of the conclusions of law of the trial judge.

It is noted that Section 6 of the Declaration of Rights of the Revised Constitution was submitted by the Legislature in the knowledge and light of the statutory policy enunciated in F.S. Section 839.221, F.S.A. (Ch. 59--223). Subsection (2) of Section 839.221 reads as follows:

(2) All employees who comply with the provisions of this section are assured the right and freedom of association, self-organization, and the right to join or to continue as members of any employee or labor organization which complies with this section, and shall have the right to present proposals...

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33 cases
  • City of Miami v. F.O.P. Miami Lodge 20
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • January 31, 1989
    ...have the same rights of collective bargaining as are granted private employees by Section 6." Dade County Classroom Teachers' Association, Inc. v. Ryan, 225 So.2d 903, 905 (Fla.1969); City of Tallahassee v. Public Employees Relations Commission, 410 So.2d 487 (Fla.1981), affirming 393 So.2d......
  • Schrank v. Bliss
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    • April 9, 1976
    ...1186, 1189 (1974). 3 Fla.Constit., art. I, Sec. 6 (1968) and Fla.Stat. Sec. 447.201 et seq. (Supp.1974). See Dade County Classroom Teachers' Ass'n v. Ryan, 225 So.2d 903 (Fla.1969). See generally, Craver & LaPeer, The Legal Obligations of Governmental Employers and Labor Organizations Under......
  • Barton v. City of Eustis, Fla.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Middle District of Florida
    • July 13, 1976
    ...fundamental under Florida law, guaranteed by the state constitution. Fla.Const., art. I, § 6 (1968); Dade County Classroom Teachers' Ass'n v. Ryan, 225 So.2d 903, 905, and n. 1 (Fla.1969). It is a possible and permissible interpretation of Fla.Stat. § 447.17(2), therefore, that it creates j......
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    ...employees have the same rights of collective bargaining as are granted private employees by Section 6." Dade County Classroom Teachers Ass'n. v. Ryan, supra, 225 So.2d at 905. The hearing examiner's recommended order did not take into consideration the above factors. It relied instead, in r......
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3 books & journal articles
  • Public Meeting Statutes and Public Sector Collective Bargaining
    • United States
    • Colorado Bar Association Colorado Lawyer No. 6-2, February 1977
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    ...Cases disapproving public bodies granting exclusive recognition include: Dade County Classroom Teachers' Association, Inc. v. Ryan, 225 So.2d 903 (Fla. 1969) (Florida statute prohibits exclusive recognition, at least without vote of employees); State Bd. of Regents v. Utd. Packing House, 17......
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    • Florida Bar Journal Vol. 74 No. 6, June 2000
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    ...to collectively bargain under FLA. CONST. art. 1, [sections] 6 as construed in Dade County Classroom Teachers' Ass'n Inc. v. Ryan, 225 So. 2d 903 (Fla. 1969). FLA. CONST. art. 1, [sections] 6 provides as follows: "[sections] 6. Right to work. The right of persons to work shall not be denied......
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    ...Satisfying the demands of the employee. Labor Law Journal, 31, 495-497.Dade County Classroom Teachers Association v. Ryan. (1968). 225 So. 2d 903.Decker, K. H. (1994). Public sector grievance arbitration procedures. In J. Rabin et al. (Eds.), Handbook of public sector labor relations (pp. 1......

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