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, potentially leading to its decertification.
The law, supported by Governor Ron DeSantis and state Republicans, was backed by the Freedom Foundation, which aimed to decertify UTD and create an alternative labor organization.
“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,’” the Miami Herald wrote.
“We have a piece of paper that’s called a contract that’s really not worth much more than toilet paper,” teacher Shawn Beightol said.
“When Miami-Dade Education Coalition succeeds at replacing the United Teachers of Dade, you’re going to see your dues drop,” teacher Shawn Beightol continued.
UTD has been scrambling to regain lost members, offering incentives and collecting “showing of interest cards” to meet the initial requirement.
“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,” Allison Beattie, director of labor relations at the Freedom Foundation stated.
“Now, they’ve spent the last few months scrambling to get their unsatisfied customers back, and they couldn’t do it,” she said.
“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,” Freedom Foundation wrote.
“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.”
“We barely have five months to move the entire bargaining unit and union over to a new form of dues membership collection,” UTD president Karla Hernández-Mats said.
“It is a heavy, heavy lift. We’re talking about over 13,000 members.”
