83 percent of Miami-Dade’s union teachers vote to recertify UTD

Karla Hernandez-Mats, President of the United Teachers of Dade, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to discuss their overwhelming union certification vote held in October. She also discussed the policy changes that established the need for yearly recertification votes for public unions.

The employees from the Miami-Dade public school district have spoken, and 83 percent of the more than 27,000 members voted to keep their union during their recertification vote. Hernandez-Mats discussed the opposition they faced from an opposition “union.” The group known as the Miami Dade Education Coalition is funded by the Freedom Foundation, and ran as the alternative union. Only 14 percent of union members voted in favor of the Coalition and 3 percent voted for no union.

This election vote came about due to Florida policy changes that require public unions in the state to hold a certification election each year. All public unions in Florida, except police and firefighters unions, are included in the policy changes and must receive 60 percent of the bargaining units' vote to recertify. Hernandez-Mats said these votes are another piece of the state's attacks on public unions, which she previously discussed on AWF along with Florida Education Association President Andrew Spar.

Finally, Hernandez-Mats discussed recent victories for members of the UTD. In October, the union came to a tentative agreement with Miami-Dade schools. Among the potential contract improvements are a wage increase, benefit approvals and potential home purchasing assistance. She talked about the county referendums passed in 2018 and 2022 that assisted this contract in establishing the highest teacher pay for any Florida city school district. 

For more from Hernandez-Mats and the United Teachers of Dade, listen to the show above.