Teacher’s Unions are sinister private entities whose only concern is how much money they can make and how best to use that to impact politics at every level of government. Sure, Janus v. AFSCME was a great decision, but the war against public employee unions continues, and Ron DeSantis is leading that fight.
He may not be your guy, and there’s plenty of room to debate campaign failures and whether he’s another Republican Governors Association stooge, but we give credit where due. Florida passed a law in May of 2023 that “requires at least 60% of workers in a bargaining unit to be dues-paying members.”
Janus v. AFSCME affirmed that unions cannot force members to pay dues. DeSantis and Florida Republicans passed a law that requires unions with fewer than 60% dues-paying members to hold an election to recertify the union. The recertification threshold isn’t high, but this new wrinkle could end the union, and it has also created an opportunity for a different sort of “union” to vie for teachers’ attention.
Another union, led by Miami teachers who are dissatisfied with UTD, is trying to get on the ballot too. The Miami-Dade Education Coalition (MDEC) needs a 10% showing of interest by mid-January to qualify. The new union’s pitch is that it will fight for teachers’ and students’ interests without the politicking and divided alliances of the UTD.
“We are going to be totally and completely nonpartisan,” says MDEC Vice President Renee Zayas, a district high school teacher and former UTD member. “We will not be endorsing candidates.”
Competition. We’re supposed to love that in America. Kudos to these teachers for trying to change the game, but a union is a union, and public employees should not have them. Period. Private sector, I get – and as a matter of disclosure, for those who do not know, I was a Teamster for close to a decade. Long enough to collect a very small pension (tiny) when I reach retirement age. That also means I’ve been inside a union, seen it work, and talked to union homers, stewards, union bosses, and rank-and-file for and against. Our union went on strike, so I’ve seen both sides of that, and I understand the deal.
Teachers should not be in unions. Government employees should not have unions unless you privatize local education or public safety. That might then open the subject to debate and to local government choosing to drop a union shop like a hot potato for one that was not.
I’m Drifting…
The Florida Law could be tighter, but it sets a standard for addressing some of the more common problems with unions. They are political, and plenty of members would prefer they not be. Forcing a vote of confidence, even with a threshold as low as 30%, is a start. And it has opened the business up to competition. DeSantis may not have run an outstanding national campaign, but he’s done some excellent work in Florida that other states could try or build on.
