{"id":2141535,"date":"2024-01-05T16:04:02","date_gmt":"2024-01-05T21:04:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-a-new-florida-law-is-shaking-up-the-states-largest-teachers-union\/"},"modified":"2024-01-05T16:04:47","modified_gmt":"2024-01-05T21:04:47","slug":"how-a-new-florida-law-is-shaking-up-the-states-largest-teachers-union","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-a-new-florida-law-is-shaking-up-the-states-largest-teachers-union\/","title":{"rendered":"New Florida law disrupts biggest teachers&#8217; union in the state"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhow-a-new-florida-law-is-shaking-up-the-states-largest-teachers-union%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2141535&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>The United Teachers of Dade (UTD) Faces a \u2062Battle for Support<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The old\u200d arguments won\u2019t\u2062 work this time for United \u2062Teachers of Dade\u2062 (UTD).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">For a change, it isn\u2019t the amen chorus in the mainstream media\u2064 or the politicians\u200d bought and paid for with decades of union money UTD\u2019s leaders have to convince. It\u2019s the educators whose legitimate workplace concerns have consistently been\u2064 ignored\u200c while the union \u200cused \u2062millions of their\u2062 hard-earned dues dollars to line\u2062 their own pockets and fund a diverse collection of failed liberal candidates and causes \u2064at \u200bthe local\u200d and national\u2062 level.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Even before conceding\u2064 in mid-December what an independent\u2064 audit had already confirmed <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u2212<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  that \u2064less than 60% of those being represented by UTD thought enough \u2064of its\u2063 services to actually \u200cpay for them <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u2212<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  union president <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Karla Hernandez-Mats was in full clich\u00e9 mode.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3>\u201cOur collective strength will \u200cbe the defense against these attacks,\u201d she thundered. \u201cAnd through our solidarity, we shall emerge victorious. \u2064The careers of our dedicated education workforce and \u2063the future of public education \u2064depend \u2062on our\u200b resilience and our unity.\u201d<\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The perceived attack, of course, takes the form\u2064 of a\u200c new law, Senate \u2063Bill 256, passed by the Florida legislature last summer that, among its other provisions, \u2063requires public employee unions\u2063 to petition the state for a recertification \u2064election when \u2064their paid \u200dmembership drops below 60% of the bargaining unit they claim to \u200drepresent. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Freedom\u200b Foundation has joined forces with a\u200d group of local\u200c teachers to create \u200dthe United Teachers of \u2062Dade, an alternative to the\u2063 national\u200c teachers\u2019 union\u00a0that\u00a0exists exclusively to \u200bserve teachers, and not politics. \u200cFor months the \u2063group has been driving down UTD\u2019s membership by offering an alternative option.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">While\u00a0simultaneously, after a solid year of arm-twisting, the UTD \u200chas been purging the union\u2019s membership rolls of inactive members and even bribing potential \u200brecruits with <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.freedomfoundation.com\/florida\/miami-dade-teachers-union-increasingly-desperate-offering-gift-cards-to-boost-membership\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Amazon gift cards<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, she claimed to have bumped the number up\u200d to 58.4%. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">But when UTD filed its annual registration with\u200b the state last month, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">it revealed UTD\u2019s membership rate to\u2063 be only 56%, indicating either that\u200c <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">she<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  \u200dwas exaggerating UTD\u2019s support or that the\u2064 exodus has already begun in anticipation of the likely recertification\u2062 election \u2063next year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The only commodity less \u2064credible than the union\u2019s \u200bnumbers is its\u2063 lamentations about having to justify its existence at all. Since its creation in 1974, \u2064UTD has been \u2062re-certified\u2063 exactly \u200bnever. Like\u2063 a pope or Supreme Court justice, union officials \u200bbelieve\u200b they were appointed for life regardless of their standing with the\u200c rank and file.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">They\u2019re in for a revelation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Predictably, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hernandez-Mats and other apologists for Big Labor\u2064 characterize \u200bthe current struggle \u200bas an invasion by out-of-state aggressors<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. But in reality, it is\u2064 a civil war between the union and its own members,\u200d justifiably dissatisfied with the union\u2019s misplaced \u200cpriorities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">And with good reason. Last year alone, UTD <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u2212<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  \u200b which is affiliated with both of the nation\u2019s two large teachers\u2019 unions, the National Education Association and \u2064American \u2063Federation of Teachers, and the AFL-CIO <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u2212<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">spent 46% of\u200b its gross dues revenue on affiliation fees.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Based on annual \u2064dues \u200cof $984.60 per\u200b full-time teacher, UTD\u200c diverts \u200balmost half <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u2212<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">an estimated $453 per year <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u2212<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  to organizations that have no \u2062direct connection with their unique concerns.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Of the remaining balance, once you account for what UTD itself \u2062spends on\u200d local politics, the six or\u2063 eight union\u2063 officers earning in excess of \u2063$200,000 \u2064a year, lavish\u2064 office space and \u200doverhead, plus first-class \u200dtravel and other incidentals, the union is left \u2062with only \u2063a \u200bpittance to spend on its own members.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">And it isn\u2019t just guilt by association. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hernandez-Mats herself was Democrat Charlie \u200cChrist\u2019s running mate in his failed\u200d 2020 run for governor against DeSantis, effectively eroding her\u200d claims to prioritize union business over partisan politics.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Indignant media projections about the looming\u200d certification election assume \u200dthat even if UTD\u2019s paid\u2064 membership stands at 56%, it still has a \u2063comfortable margin because it only takes a simple majority to be reinstated. But that\u2019s an apples-and-oranges comparison.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This week\u2019s audit tabulated the soft support of thousands of teachers who\u200c believed there was nothing they could do to prevent \u200ctheir paychecks from being\u2062 preemptively lightened by nearly $1,000 a year. The\u200b certification election, however, will gauge how many actually want that\u2062 relationship to continue and how many would rather \u200bsee UTD disqualified and replaced with a newer, cheaper, less-political, more-accountable alternative.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The election won\u2019t be about outside forces, faceless corporate interests or the usual \u2063labor boogeymen. It will be a referendum on UTD\u2019s 50-year\u2063 record of corruption, incompetence\u200c and indifference.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><br \/> <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><br \/> <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If that\u2019s\u2064 what you had to\u2062 stake your\u200b future\u2064 on, you\u2019d\u2062 be desperate,\u200d too.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>* * *<\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Aaron Withe is CEO of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.freedomfoundation.com\/\">Freedom \u2063Foundation<\/a>.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The views \u2063expressed\u2063 in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Daily Wire.<\/em><\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> To\u2063 what extent can the increases in teacher pay and benefits be attributed to the efforts of the union?<\/h2>\n<p><span>  \u2064Other expenses, it\u2019s a safe bet that less than 20% of a teacher\u2019s dues \u2062actually \u2063go towards addressing \u200dtheir workplace concerns and improving their working conditions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">And while the union has long \u2063crowed \u200cabout its prowess in negotiating\u200b\u200d \u200bsalaries\u200b and benefits\u200b \u200bon behalf\u2063 of its members, the reality is that the increases in teacher pay and benefits\u200b\u200b over the last several \u2064decades can be attributed more to changing economic conditions and advances\u200c in technology than to the union\u2019s efforts.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">So, it\u2019s little wonder that teachers are seeking alternatives. The United Teachers\u200b of Dade is\u200d offering a new model\u2064 \u2063that puts\u200c teachers first and focuses \u2061solely on the needs and concerns of educators. And with the threat of the recertification election looming, many teachers are seriously considering making the switch.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">UTD\u2063 can try to\u200b paint this \u200bstruggle as an attack on teachers and public \u200ceducation, but the truth is that \u2062it is an attack on their own mismanagement and misplaced priorities. The union\u2064 leadership has lost touch with its \u2064members and has failed to effectively represent their interests. The battle for support is a battle for\u200c accountability, transparency, and a union that truly serves the needs of its\u2064 members.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">With the United Teachers of Dade growing in popularity among local educators, it\u2019s clear\u2064 that the old arguments won\u2019t work this time. Teachers \u2062are demanding change and\u2062 they\u2019re finding it in an alternative that truly puts their interests first. The struggle for support is just \u200cthe beginning\u2064 of a larger movement to reshape the education landscape and prioritize the needs of teachers and students.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The future of the United Teachers of Dade \u2064hangs in the balance. Will they adapt, listen to their members, and truly work to improve the lives of educators? Or will they continue down the same path, protecting their own\u2063 interests instead of serving the\u2063 teachers they claim to represent? The battle for support \u200cwill determine the fate of the union and the future of \u200ceducation in Dade County.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>UTD faces a new challenge: persuading educators. The usual tactics won&#8217;t suffice. Media and politicians, influenced by union funds, are not the target. UTD must address the genuine workplace issues that teachers have long been neglected<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1980,"featured_media":2141536,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[541],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2141535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-daily-wire"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2141535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1980"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2141535"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2141535\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2141536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2141535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2141535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2141535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}