A union representing Duval County government workers has dropped a challenge to the constitutionality of a new law that places additional restrictions on public employee unions.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Corrigan on Tuesday issued an order dismissing the case, which was filed in July by Laborers International Union of North America, Local 630, and three individual plaintiffs against members of the Florida Public Employees Relations Commission, the city of Jacksonville, the municipal utility JEA and the Duval County School Board.
Corrigan’s order came after two documents were filed last week that said the union had agreed to drop the case.
The documents did not explain the reasons, though Corrigan’s dismissal was “without prejudice,” leaving open the possibility the case could be filed again.
The Duval case was one of a series of legal challenges to the law, which took effect July 1 and includes changes such as preventing union dues from being deducted from workers’ paychecks and requiring union members to fill out government-worded membership forms.
Among other things, the Duval lawsuit contended that the membership-form requirement violates First Amendment rights.
Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Republican-controlled Legislature passed the law this spring.
