Miami teachers will vote to decide their union’s future amid decertification push

PRISM |By Alexandra Martinez | August 20, 2024

The election has drawn intense scrutiny as another tactic to dismantle the union and further derail public education across the state

Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis-backed union-busting continues as the Public Employees Relations Commission (PERC) mails out ballots to Miami-Dade County Public School union members to determine the union’s future. Ballots were mailed out on Aug. 13 to United Teachers of Dade (UTD) members, and significant controversy and strategic maneuvering surrounds the process. The election has drawn intense scrutiny from political consultants, union leaders, and educators as another tactic to dismantle the local teachers’ union and further derail public education across the state.

Jeffrey Garcia, a political consultant working with the union, provided insight into the election and the broader implications of the voting process. According to Garcia, the ballot presents three options for teachers: to continue with the current United Teachers of Dade, to reject union representation altogether, or to switch to the Miami-Dade Education Coalition (MDEC), a newer group that has been aggressively campaigning against UTD and is directly funded by the Freedom Foundation, a conservative think tank behind anti-union policies and censorship in education, including Senate Bill 256.

“Their website says their goal is to eliminate public-sector unions,” Garcia said. “They spent probably a million dollars to collect those 2,000 signatures [to qualify for the election], and it took them almost six months.”

MDEC has not responded to a request by Prism for a statement. According to its website, its mission is to “provide a superior, lower cost, and transparent alternative to UTD by listening to the M-DCPS educators and their needs, advocating for better employee pay and benefits, and lower union dues.” But high school social studies teacher Johnny Burkowski, who has been a UTD member and teacher for 18 years, said MDEC is not the solution to problems within UTD leadership.

“[Union leadership] are the ones that have made it difficult to have confidence in the union. But that’s the distinction that needs to be made if MDEC really wanted to be legitimate … then they would use their resources that they have available to challenge the frontline caucus directly in elections … to expose what they want to call corrupt,” Burkowski said. “But don’t sacrifice the entire union to pursue this personal vendetta and this ideological agenda.”

MDEC has invested heavily in negative advertising and strategic lobbying to convince UTD members to distrust the union, with estimates suggesting expenditures close to $2 million since December 2023. Despite this financial onslaught, Garcia believes that the efforts by these groups have yet to achieve significant traction.

“They haven’t really accomplished anything except spending a ton of money,” Garcia stated. “Their goal is to tie us up, distract us, take up our time, and make us spend money.”

But the election’s outcome could have profound implications for teachers in Miami-Dade County. If MDEC were to win, it would upend the entire UTD contract and could disrupt established union benefits and protections, including increases in teacher salaries, health care, and protections around freedom of speech.

“You can’t go around saying that the union leadership is corrupt and partisan when [MDEC] themselves made a fundamental decision that to exist and to function, they are in league with a national, ideological, partisan organization,” Burkowski said.

Otto Zequeira, a long-time English and journalism high school teacher, the lead UTD steward at his school, and a seasoned advocate for teachers’ rights, expressed his concerns about the current threats facing public education and the role of unions amid these challenges. With more than a decade of experience as a union steward, Zequeira has been a vocal supporter of educators’ rights and the importance of union representation.

Zequeira emphasized unions’ critical role in protecting educators from arbitrary decisions and ensuring due process. He reflected on his tenure, noting that his involvement with the union began on his first day in the education system. Zequeira highlighted the significance of due process, contrasting it with his previous experiences in private corporations, where job security was often precarious.

“Teachers are no different from any other group of workers,” Zequeira said, addressing the broader context of union organizing and the necessity of unions pushing beyond negotiating salaries to ensure fair working environments and the ability to teach freely. “We need to strengthen our ability to organize and advocate for ourselves.”

Because of the union, Zequeira has been able to defend his students’ press rights at nearly every school he’s worked at, a battle that underscores the importance of union support. He credited the union’s clear contract terms with safeguarding his position as a journalism teacher and preventing arbitrary decisions by the administration. Despite occasional conflicts with school management, Zequeira noted that the union’s support often preempted the need for direct intervention due to the strong contractual protections in place. If UTD is decertified, it could not only affect teachers’ working conditions, but also jeopardize transparency and accountability within the education system—as public educators in the state already face retaliation and censorship for teaching LGBTQIA+, Black, and brown histories.

“Academic freedom is crucial for our students’ education,” Zequeira warned. “Censorship and arbitrary decisions only hurt the students.”

Garcia emphasized that while the union is prepared for a tough fight, there is strong support among teachers.

“The overwhelming majority of people in the bargaining unit are aware that this is a fraudulent front group. UTD has a strong base of support, and so they will win,” he explained. “My overall concern is that there are these anti-union groups that are working in concert with the governor and [Florida Commissioner of Education] Manny Diaz to dismantle worker rights … What concerns me is not what’s happening today, but what’s going to happen tomorrow and a year from now. When we talked about this three years ago, people thought that we were sounding alarm bells that weren’t real. They’re here now.”

The election process has been marred by controversy, with allegations of rule manipulation and a lack of transparency from PERC. Garcia noted that PERC’S actions have often seemed to align with the interests of the anti-union groups, further complicating the situation. Notably, SB 256 targeted the three state unions that did not support Desantis.

“They literally make up the rules as they go along,” Garcia said, expressing skepticism about the fairness of the process.

Legal recourse appears limited, as Garcia pointed out the challenges of finding impartial judicial review in Florida, given the state’s political climate.

“Every judge is controlled by DeSantis or previous Republican governors,” said Garcia. “There is no judicial avenue in Florida that will not simply serve as a rubber stamp to DeSantis.”

Ballots are due back by Sept. 24. Until then, UTD’s focus will remain on mobilizing and informing its members. Garcia emphasized the union’s commitment to direct engagement with teachers and maintaining strong communication channels.

The outcome of this election will affect Miami-Dade’s educators and could set a troubling precedent for labor rights nationwide. As the situation evolves, it remains to be seen how the union’s efforts and the opposition’s tactics will shape the future of labor relations in Florida and beyond.

“Anti-union people are afraid of people getting together to push for better life conditions in this country. This is as old as union history,” Zequeira said. “They always try to divide us, and they always try to limit what we try to negotiate in … [but] we’ve got the numbers.”