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Irony: Florida Teacher Unions Are Preventing Teachers From Getting Increased Salaries · Conversations: Special Guests with Preston Scott

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: All right, five past the hour. It is the third hour,
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: eight o'clock in the Eastern time zone for those of
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: you listening in the Central seven o'clock in the morning
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  Speaker 1: on a Thursday, March fifth show five thy five hundred
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  Speaker 1: and fifty six of the Morning Show with Preston Scott
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  Speaker 1: and Preston. He is Jose and this is the Commissioner
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  Speaker 1: of Education for the Sunshine State. Noastasios kamutsis Commissioner. How
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  Speaker 1: are you today, doing.
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  Speaker 2: Well, Preston, thank you so much for having me on.
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  Speaker 1: I've been paying attention. As you know, we talk about
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  Speaker 1: what's going on in the legislature each and every week.
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  Speaker 1: There's not a lot moving, but one that is getting
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  Speaker 1: some attention and moving a little is House Bill nine
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  Speaker 1: ninety five and Senate Bill twelve ninety six. And these
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  Speaker 1: really revolve around the teachers union. Tell us a little
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  Speaker 1: bit about these and your view of them.
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  Speaker 2: Well, yes, sir. House Bill nine ninety five and Senate
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  Speaker 2: Bill twelve ninety six provide a solution to a real
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  Speaker 2: problem that is needed. Accountability and transparency are at the
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  Speaker 2: forefront of what we're trying to achieve. When a union
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  Speaker 2: gains bargaining authority. They have the exclusive right to negotiate pay, benefits,
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  Speaker 2: and days off for every single employee, including those who
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  Speaker 2: are not members of the union, and so this legislation
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  Speaker 2: will require unions to demonstrate support from the majority of
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  Speaker 2: teachers in the school district, before they can gain that
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  Speaker 2: exclusive bargaining authority, not just the majority of those who
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  Speaker 2: show up and decide to vote. If a union truly
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  Speaker 2: has strong backing from educators meeting that threshold, this should
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  Speaker 2: not be difficult, and quite frankly, teachers deserve organizations that
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  Speaker 2: clearly represent their interests, not systems where the loudest few
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  Speaker 2: speak for the silent majority. Critics of the bill have
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  Speaker 2: tried to compare it to voting elections when that are
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  Speaker 2: held for public office, but quite frankly, when has an
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  Speaker 2: elected official ever taken office with only three votes, which
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  Speaker 2: is what we saw take place at Fame You right
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  Speaker 2: here in Tallahassee with the Graduate Assistance Union for recertification.
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  Speaker 2: It's difficult to imagine any public officer claiming a position
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  Speaker 2: under those circumstances. But in the case that Fame You,
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  Speaker 2: the union gained exclusive authority to bargain on behalf of
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  Speaker 2: more than two hundred graduate assistants with only three votes,
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  Speaker 2: and let's not forget we deal with it. Year after
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  Speaker 2: a year with the teachers salary increase funding, it still
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  Speaker 2: has not been paid. Here in Leon County. There's still
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  Speaker 2: trying to get to an agreement to be able to
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  Speaker 2: get that pay increase for teachers because the union holds
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  Speaker 2: it up through collective bargaining negotiations. And so this bill
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  Speaker 2: would expedite that timeline to be able to get those
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  Speaker 2: teachers the money that they rightfully deserve in their pockets faster.
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  Speaker 2: And it would bring true accountability by making sure that
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  Speaker 2: the union is representing the interests of the whole. The
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  Speaker 2: union has really lost their way. I wrote an offed
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  Speaker 2: recently on how they're focused on political activism and that's
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  Speaker 2: truly been the driving force why this bill has received
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  Speaker 2: so much traction.
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  Speaker 1: Stasi, where is it right now in the House and
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  Speaker 1: Senate in terms of the numbers, because I'm seeing that
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  Speaker 1: the numbers needed is being whittled down, that it went
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  Speaker 1: from fifty percent plus to twenty five percent? Where are we?
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  Speaker 2: During the Senate there was an amendment that was made
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  Speaker 2: at the committee meeting this past week that dropped it
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  Speaker 2: from fifty percent to twenty five percent, but required a
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  Speaker 2: sixty percent majority in the House. It still has the
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  Speaker 2: language that would require a fifty percent majority, And so
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  Speaker 2: I know each this will work itself out through the process,
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  Speaker 2: but I am very hopeful that we are going to
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  Speaker 2: get something across the finish line. So many folks that
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  Speaker 2: I've talked to across the state, including legislators, parents, teachers,
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  Speaker 2: school board members, superintendents, have all clamored why there's this,
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  Speaker 2: this these this bill is so important to get done.
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  Speaker 2: You know again, I want to remind folks how we
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  Speaker 2: got here. Teacher unions were originally created to represent educators. However,
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  Speaker 2: too often they behave like political advocacy organizations as opposed
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  Speaker 2: to workplace representatives. So you know, I have a litany
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  Speaker 2: of reasons why these bills are so important to get
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  Speaker 2: done and why the people, the citizens here in Florida
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  Speaker 2: want to see you get through.
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  Speaker 1: I know, Florida is the right to work state. So
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  Speaker 1: how is it that a teachers union has any sway
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  Speaker 1: over the pay of a teacher who is not part
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  Speaker 1: of the union because they have.
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  Speaker 2: The exclusive bargaining authority. I mean, the way it's structured.
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  Speaker 2: If you have in law, if you have a bargaining union,
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  Speaker 2: they represent the whole. And so that is what we're
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  Speaker 2: trying to make sure that, particularly the non union members,
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  Speaker 2: we're trying to give them a voice by giving them
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  Speaker 2: in an ability to step up and truly be represented
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  Speaker 2: through these elections. On the back end, there was a
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  Speaker 2: law change back in twenty twenty three that said, in
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  Speaker 2: order for a union to maintain its certification and must
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  Speaker 2: have a reach of sixty percent threshold of membership. If
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  Speaker 2: it does not, it goes through this recertification process. And
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  Speaker 2: so that's what we're talking about here. When it goes
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  Speaker 2: through the recertification process and there's an election. On the
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  Speaker 2: back end, current law says, well, majority of whoever votes
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  Speaker 2: is how it will be dictated whether or not the
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  Speaker 2: union gets to be recertified. What we're saying is, no,
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  Speaker 2: you should have buy in from the majority. You should
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  Speaker 2: have folks saying we want you to be the exclusive
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  Speaker 2: bargaining agent for the collective whole in order for us
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  Speaker 2: to continue to have you representing us. And so look,
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  Speaker 2: I think it's very popular with teachers because imagine the
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  Speaker 2: ability to negotiate separately for themselves kind of how the
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  Speaker 2: private sector works, and even at the Department of Education.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, we have over two thousand employees and you know,
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  Speaker 2: a majority of which are not represented by the union.
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  Speaker 2: So you know, there are a lot of misconceptions out there,
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  Speaker 2: a lot of scare tactics that the union puts to
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  Speaker 2: to try to encourage the worker to think that this
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  Speaker 2: is somehow opposed to them. No, this is to benefit
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  Speaker 2: the worker and give them a voice. You know. The
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  Speaker 2: unions claiming that the bill somehow infringes on the constitutional
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  Speaker 2: right to collectively bargain, but that's not true. The legislation
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  Speaker 2: explicitly affirms the constitutional right to collectively bargain, but it
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  Speaker 2: ensures that the unions receive the majority support before being
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  Speaker 2: authorized as the sole bargaining entity. Well also made an
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  Speaker 2: accurate state Oh go ahead.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I mean one hundred percent agreement. I guess I'm
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  Speaker 1: still driving back to How has that not been challenged
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  Speaker 1: by just a teacher out there saying, you know what,
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  Speaker 1: I don't want to be part of the union and
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  Speaker 1: I don't want them dictating what happens to my how
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  Speaker 1: I get paid or don't get paid.
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  Speaker 2: Well, it's because it's allowable currently under the law. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: you know, if you are the union is entitled to
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  Speaker 2: serve as the exclusive bargaining agent if there is a
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  Speaker 2: union representing the entity.
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  Speaker 1: And so if it's a right to work state, then
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  Speaker 1: that makes a mockery of right to work laws. That
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  Speaker 1: we got to change that. But anyway, okay, so what
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  Speaker 1: has to happen to get this across the finish line.
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  Speaker 2: So it's on the floor in the Senate today. We're
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  Speaker 2: hopeful that it'll get out and you know, be sent
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  Speaker 2: over to the House and they would be able to
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  Speaker 2: ask the same legislation, get it to the governor's death
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  Speaker 2: to be able to get it signed, and and so
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  Speaker 2: we are very helpful from that. But but I really,
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  Speaker 2: you know, I want to emphasize again why we're here,
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  Speaker 2: like this is not just we woke up one day
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  Speaker 2: and decided that there needs to be a change. This
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  Speaker 2: is dated back for years. But I'll start with just COVID.
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  Speaker 2: This is the same union that we did their members'
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  Speaker 2: dues to fight us to keep schools closed. This is
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  Speaker 2: the same union that wasted the members dues to ensure
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  Speaker 2: that students would not have access to course materials through
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  Speaker 2: syllabi prior to registering for courses. This is the same
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  Speaker 2: union that platform a well known activist who encouraged student
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  Speaker 2: protests during school hours and and a student was struck
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  Speaker 2: by a vehicle while protesting during school hours in West
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  Speaker 2: Palmbich subsequent to that press conference. When organizations who are
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  Speaker 2: entrusted with representing educators shift their focus from serving teachers
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  Speaker 2: to advancing their political agendas, accountability becomes not just appropriate
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  Speaker 2: but necessary. And I haven't even gotten to the spending.
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  Speaker 2: Let's look at what the Teachers' Union has spent their
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  Speaker 2: dues of the hard working members Sectory alone. Yeah, one
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  Speaker 2: point three million for political consultants to assist the union
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  Speaker 2: with political activities, eight hundred and six thousand in competent
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  Speaker 2: station to its officers, two hundred and twenty one thousand
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  Speaker 2: to research and polling services. I mean, the list goes on.
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  Speaker 2: I think it's upwards of two point seven million dollars
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  Speaker 2: that was wasted of their members to du is purely
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  Speaker 2: on political activity. And again Leon County, they're holding the
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  Speaker 2: teacher pay hostage. Lee County. The superintendent tries to get
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  Speaker 2: pay incentives and encourage highly effective teachers to work in
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  Speaker 2: the lowest performing schools. She gets sued by who the
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  Speaker 2: union to try to block that move Duval County, two
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  Speaker 2: long serving union leaders led guilty just recently to defrauding
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  Speaker 2: their own union of about two point six million dollars. Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: a clear breach of trust. Like issue after issue, year
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  Speaker 2: after year, the union has proven why there is a
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  Speaker 2: need for transparency and accountability. And I'm hopeful we're going
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  Speaker 2: to get this done.
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  Speaker 1: I hope so as well. Commissioner, thanks for the time
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  Speaker 1: this morning.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you so much, Gott bless you all right.
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  Speaker 1: He's Agmitisure of Education for Florida. Anastasio's Commutz is our
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  Speaker 1: guest during the Morning You with Preston Scott M.