It’s not quite by sea, land and air, as Winston Churchill famously declared in his “Blood, toil, tears and sweat” speech to the House of Commons in 1940, but the Freedom Foundation is on the ground in Miami, helping teachers wage war against the nation’s third largest teachers’ union, the United Teachers of Dade (UTD), in a fight for their workplace freedom.
And like Churchill, our aim in helping teachers rid themselves of UTD can be answered in one word – victory.
The effort comes on the heels of UTD’s failure in December to prove it could meet a 60 percent membership threshold, which triggered an automatic decertification vote — the largest in our nation’s history—thanks to a new Florida law advanced by the Freedom Foundation last year.
For weeks, the Freedom Foundation has been actively conducting a door-to-door campaign with dozens of canvassers to ensure teachers in the Miami-Dade school district are aware of their options and to help those seeking to elect an alternative to UTD.
Under the new law, the incumbent UTD must gather signed cards of interest from 30 percent of the district’s teachers to be placed on the upcoming union certification ballot, while any challenging teachers’ organization can appear on the ballot with a 10 percent showing of support.
Teachers in Miami have long objected to UTD’s lack of accountable representation, partisan political activity and history of scandal and corruption, so it wasn’t a surprise when, shortly after Florida’s new law was passed, a group of Miami teachers approached the Freedom Foundation asking for help forming the Miami-Dade Education Coalition (MDEC), an alternative, local-only, apolitical association that keeps their dues in their district.
Freedom Foundation staffers are now helping MDEC gather the necessary signatures to be placed on the ballot, traversing Miami neighborhoods and knocking on teachers’ doors to communicate — in English and Spanish — the benefits of having a choice.
With a deadline of Jan. 18, time is tight — but the support among teachers to rid themselves of UTD has been overwhelming.
Individuals of all backgrounds have graciously welcomed canvassers at their doors and have been immensely grateful for the opportunity to challenge UTD’s monopoly on their workplace representation. From memories of past UTD scandals to criticisms of the union’s expensive dues rate and political partisan activity steered by its national affiliates — NEA and AFT — teachers in Miami are all too happy to have their voices heard for once.
“The patriotism and pride we’ve seen from Miami residents has been special,” said Rusty Brown, the Freedom Foundation’s director of special projects, who is spearheading the effort. “The teachers we’ve spoken to truly value the principles of freedom and self-determination, and that clearly extends to their workplace where they’d like the choice to replace UTD or get rid of the union entirely.”
With so much at stake for both teachers and government union relations in Florida, the campaign has received considerable national attention. But for now, Freedom Foundation remains focused on the battle at hand — helping teachers get the alternative MDEC on the ballot.
And rest assured, we’ll be there through the finish line.
