A union affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers in Miami-Dade County, Florida, has received a pair of complaints accusing officials of forcing educators to join in an attempt to boost lagging membership numbers.
United Teachers of Dade (UTD) allegedly sent organizers to the county’s public schools last month to pressure two teachers to pay their membership dues, according to copies of the complaints obtained exclusively by The Post.
The first filing claims the union violated Florida law by directing the plaintiff to the school staff room during work hours and then requiring her to join the labor group even though she had left it in July.
An assistant principal at the school called the teacher and asked her to come to the classroom, where an organizer was waiting to ask the educator about her union membership, according to the complaint.
“The UTD organizer would not have had the ability to locate and speak with [redacted] at that time without the help of the school administration,” the file states.
UTD sought to bolster lagging membership numbers and force educators to pay dues last month amid a certification push. TNS United Teachers of Dade (UTD) sent organizers to the county’s public schools in November, allegedly using facilities and some staff to pressure two teachers to pay their membership dues. United Dade Teachers
“I was a building administrator at UTD and I was so upset with the union that I left,” the teacher responded, according to the complaint. “Why would I want to pay dues?”
The second complaint alleges that a Miami-Dade public school organizer made “loud and embarrassing comments” about a teacher “in the presence of her colleagues” in an attempt to “verbally pressure” her into paying union dues.
The teacher was approached while trying to use the teacher’s lounge bathroom and made “repeated statements that she was not[id] “I do not want to pay dues or be a member” of the UTD, the document states.
UTD is a union affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, whose president, Randi Weingarten, testified earlier this year before Congress about efforts to keep schools closed. REUTERS
However, the organizer “intimidated and belittled” the teacher by raising her own voice and commenting on the situation to at least five other people in the room.
Days later, the woman alleges, another organizer approached her in a hallway and asked her to fill out a form that would authorize payment of union dues, which the teacher declined because she was no longer a member.
Teachers’ attorney Allison Beattie has asked the Florida Public Employee Relations Commission to require UTD to stop “coercing” educators to pay union dues, notify its members about violations of workers’ rights employees and “apologize in writing” to the plaintiffs “for their actions.”
The second complaint alleges that a Miami-Dade public school organizer made “loud and embarrassing comments” about a teacher “in the presence of her colleagues” in an attempt to “verbally pressure” her into paying union dues.
United Teachers of Dade President Karla Hernandez-Mats did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The union had been trying to bolster its membership ahead of a vote that would determine its state certification.
Under Florida Senate Bill 256, all public sector unions must have at least 60% active membership to qualify for certification. The bill also ended automatic dues payments to teachers unions.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the union certification bill into law on May 9, in what was seen as another blow to teachers unions. AP
UTD failed to meet the 60% threshold on Nov. 17, leaving its certification in the hands of the state’s Public Employee Relations Commission.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed SB 256 into law on May 9 after it passed through the state legislature.
The governor, now a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, has waged ongoing battles with labor groups over issues ranging from COVID policies to school curricula.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn