One of the country’s biggest teachers unions is fighting right-to-work laws. The United Teachers of Dade (UTD) in Miami-Dade County, Florida, has failed to meet the 60 percent membership threshold required by a new right-to-work law, which could possibly lead to its decertification.
Legislation
Governor Ron DeSantis and state Republicans are in support of the law, which was also endorsed by the Freedom Foundation,
Which attempted to decertify UTD and create an alternative labor organization.
Teacher
Teacher Shawn Beightol said,
“We have a piece of paper that’s called a contract that’s really not worth much more than toilet paper.”
Audit
The Miami Herald wrote,
“In a statement sent exclusively to the Miami-Herald on Tuesday, UTD confirmed that an audit conducted by an independent auditor showed that the number of eligible employees who were union-paying members fell short of the threshold, despite UTD adding more than eligible 800 new members, ‘an unprecedented growth in the past five months.’”
Education Coalition
Teacher Shawn Beightol continued,
“When Miami-Dade Education Coalition succeeds at replacing the United Teachers of Dade, you’re going to see your dues drop.”
Interest Of Members
Director of labor relations at the Freedom Foundation, Allison Beattie, stated,
“If United Teachers of Dade spent half as much time paying attention to their members’ interests as they have been pushing a political agenda with Randi Weingarten and running for office with [failed Democratic gubernatorial candidate] Charlie Crist, they probably wouldn’t even be in this position.”
Members Lost
UTD has been grappling with trying to regain members, going so far as to offer incentives and collecting
“showing of interest cards” to meet the initial requirement.
Gift Cards
“The UTD also offered $100 gift cards to members who signed up more teachers, and kicked the substitute teaching population out of the bargaining unit altogether, thereby lowering the number to meet the 60 percent threshold.
In the final days before the report deadline, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) flew in dozens of staffers to boost sign-up efforts, to no avail.”
Scrambling
She said,
“Now, they’ve spent the last few months scrambling to get their unsatisfied customers back, and they couldn’t do it.”
Recognition
Freedom Foundation wrote,
“UTD quickly recognized the threat MDEC posed and immediately began attacking the Freedom Foundation for the high crime of sending information to teachers in the district informing them of their rights, while also spreading misinformation that MDEC would be run by the Freedom Foundation.”
Barley Five Months
UTD president Karla Hernández-Mats said,
“We barely have five months to move the entire bargaining unit and union over to a new form of dues membership collection.”
Members
“It is a heavy, heavy lift.
We’re talking about over 13,000 members.”
Future Of The Union
This situation could have the potential to impact the future of the union,
Possibly influencing the education environment in Miami-Dade County.
