'Very scared' state workers threatened with demotions for complaining about Ron DeSantis' COVID poli

[csziggy]

8. Florida used to have very strict rules about demoting or firing state employees

As soon as Jeb Bush got into office, those rules were weakened - to the point where Democrats working for the state began keeping political bumper stickers off their cars because it made them targets for Republican appointed supervisors.

Here how hard it used to be to fire a state worker: My husband used to work for the Department of Motor Vehicles, in the office that made sure tickets got put on people's driver records. One guy was caught "fixing" tickets, taking points off his buddies' records. He was given two weeks to put the points back on. If he'd done that, he would have kept his job. He didn't so was fired and criminally charged.

Now if a worker says something their supervisor doesn't like, especially if it is politically oriented, they can be fired at will. Before workers had a sort of tenure after their starting probationary period and after that they were very safe. This was one reason many people went for state jobs - they didn't pay quite as much as private sector, but once you were in they were safe and the benefits were great.

Over the last twenty years with Republicans in charge, the benefits have been eroded, pay has been stagnate, and now even the job is not secure. I'm surprised people still consider working for the state anymore. With the lack of info about Covid cases, I would run out of a state job!