Incomplete Exclusivity and Fair Representation: Inevitable Tensions in Florida's Public Sector Labor Law

An amendment to Florida's Public Employee Relations Act (PERA) allows a union to refuse to process a nonmember's grievance to arbitraion. If a certified union elects this option, the nonmember may proceed with the representative of his choice, including a rival union, thereby undermining the certified union's exclusive representative status. If the certified union refuses on grounds other than the employee's nonmembership, the individual has no statutory right to proceed unless the union breached its duty of fair representation. The author explores Florida's Public Employee Relations Commission's (PERC)decisions illustrating the balance between individual and collective rights under the concepts of exclusive representation, fair representation, and due process.

The author concludes that PERC needs to implement procedures to reflect more fairly individual employees' interests.