Campaign Update: April 2025
They Came for the Labor Pool Act. We Fought Back and Won.
Last week, we killed SB 1672, a bill that would have repealed the Labor Pool Act and stripped basic protections from Florida’s one million labor pool workers, including minimum wage, pay transparency, and the right to pursue full-time employment without interference.
At stake were the lives of our members who work some of the hardest and most dangerous jobs in our state. Shut out of full-time jobs, especially in the first few years after release, they find work through labor pools like Pacesetters, PeopleReady, and Labor Finders. They show up by 3:00 a.m., wait hours hoping for a ticket, and if they’re chosen, work 8 to 10 hours sweeping high-rise construction sites, hauling scrap metal and concrete, and clearing debris after natural disasters. After deductions, they take home just $70 or $80, far below Florida’s minimum wage.
That’s the reality we brought straight to the Capitol, and the noise we created stopped this bill in its tracks.
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SB 1672 / HB 6033 was pushed by Pacesetter Personnel Services, a Houston-based temp agency with a track record of exploiting formerly incarcerated workers across the country. They hired Florida’s most powerful lobbyist, Ron Book, who donated thousands of dollars to the bill sponsor’s campaign.
Their entire argument rested on a lie: that the law was “duplicative.” We exposed their argument for exactly what it was.
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After hearing our testimony on Thursday, a Republican-dominated committee unanimously moved to postpone the hearing on SB 1672. That procedural delay effectively killed the attempted repeal.
SB 1672 was a corporate grab, part of a broader campaign to make Florida the most hostile state in the country for working people. After manufacturing a labor shortage through anti-immigrant policies that pushed thousands of workers out of the state, lawmakers have tried to replace them by pushing bills to roll back child labor laws, gut unemployment insurance, and carve out exemptions to the minimum wage.
From the Foundation for Government Accountability and the National Federation of Independent Business, to temp agencies like Pacesetters and corporate front groups like the Florida Chamber of Commerce, the same corporate interests are behind every single one of these attacks.
These corporations are the shadow government that run Florida’s legislature. Their goal is clear: make it as easy and cheap as possible to exploit Florida’s working people.
In one of the most hostile legislative environments in our country, this is a major victory for working people. It is a win for every Floridian who has relied on labor pools to survive, for every worker trying to rebuild after incarceration, and for every person who demands dignity — no exceptions, no excuses.
We’re grateful to everyone who stood with us in this fight, with special thanks to the Florida AFL-CIO, Florida for All, the Florida Center for Fiscal and Economic Policy, Community Justice Project, the National Employment Law Project, and the Florida Policy Institute. Their staff poured energy, time, and resources into this mobilization, and we could not have succeeded without their support.
👉🏾 This emergency mobilization wasn’t in our budget and we need help covering the costs. It costs ~$500 to send one worker to Tally for four days, covering round-trip transportation, food, and basic expenses. These weren’t lobbyists. They were workers showing up to defend their rights. Please donate below.
👉🏾 To support the Florida People's Advocacy Center, a 501(c)(3) that owns and maintains the space we relied on to mobilize in Tally, donate below. They provide free lodging and meeting space to organizations like ours. Our trip wouldn’t have been possible without them.
This victory belongs to all of us. It shows what’s possible when we come together with urgency, clarity, and purpose. We’ll keep building alongside workers with records until dignity is the norm, not the exception.
Adelante,
Beyond the Bars
