United Teachers of Dade avoids losing certification
MIAMI SPRINGS — Members of United Teachers of Dade or UTD, Florida's biggest teacher's union, are celebrating what they consider to be a victory, after being on the verge of losing their certification.
"We have Miami-Dade County public school employees that are saying enough," said Karla Hernandez-Mats, president of UTD.
This comes after Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law Senate Bill 256, which requires unions representing public employees — with the exception of first responders — to prove that at least 60% of its members are paying dues to be recertified every year.
Last month, UTD announced they didn't reach that number — leading them to scramble for signatures from 30% of their members.
"We blew that out of the water, not only did we pass the 30 percent mark, we were able to do that in just a few short weeks while we were on Christmas break," said Hernandez-Mats.
UTD says they received more than 11,000 signatures from employees showing their support for the union.
Though this is a step in the right direction for the union, many UTD members feel as though they're going through unnecessary hurdles.
"We're in the classrooms, we're the social workers, we're the psychologists, we're the ones who are doing the work with the children, supporting parents and families and yet, we're being treated as the enemy," said Dr. Ruth Doriscar.
As CBS News Miami's Jim Defede first exposed the Freedom Foundation — a conservative think tank — helped pass Senate Bill 256 and kickstart a new coalition, the Miami-Dade Education Coalition.
"I'm not making much more than a brand-new teacher, and I'm 22 years in, and I'm going to go down to 60% of that, in a time when inflation has gotten as bad as it has been? This is almost out of survival that we have to try and do this," said Brent Urbanik, founder of Miami-Dade Education Coalition.
UTD members argue the new coalition is an illegitimate organization that lacks knowledge and experience on what educators need and spreading false information.
"They are maliciously just saying fallacies they're making things up in order to gain attention," said Hernandez-Mats.
But those supporting the new founded coalitions say they're a good alternative option and believe they'll benefit educators more than UTD.
"If UTD's performance has been a mark of their experience, then I'm not too worried about our lack of experience," said Urbanik.
This isn't the end of the battle for UTD. Now, there will be a vote with school employees to determine the future of the union.
The date for the election has not been announced.
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