President's Message
By Kathleen L. Wilson
UFF-FIU Chapter President
December 15, 2011
In the last legislative session, we faced major cuts to our pensions and to our health insurance. But with the help of FEA and UFF, the pension cut was 3% rather than the 8% Governor Rick Scott initially proposed. Governor Rick Scott also vowed to do away with collective bargaining, and the legislature introduced bills to prevent payroll deductions (the "paycheck protection" bill) for UFF dues, even though over 300 other organizations would be allowed to continue to use payroll deductions. The legislature also introduced a bill to decertify any union that fell below 50%, even though collective bargaining is guaranteed in the Florida constitution. (Without collective bargaining, we would have no contract nor any of the rights or protections provided therein, including legally binding arbitration.) Both of those bills failed to pass at the final hour. A plan to do away with tenure in the State college system was also defeated. K-12 Public Schools, however, were dealt a serious blow to their ability to provide quality education to students in the public schools. And there are no longer any multi-year contracts (tenure of any sort) for teachers in the K-12 system.
This year the Governor has been talking about implementing the Texas "7-point plan" that would do away with tenure, would do away with our accrediting body, would measure teaching effectiveness solely by student evaluations, and would take a faculty member's salary and benefits and divide by the number of students they teach. We have also been assured by legislators that the "union gag" bills will be re-introduced, that the Governor would like more money from our pensions, and that our health benefits will be affected this year.
Perhaps educators have been impressed by the Governor's recent proposal, in his Dec. 7, 2011 proposed budget, to allocate a 1 billion dollar increase in state funding for K-12 education. And several articles gave kudos to Governor Scott for his "support of K-12 education." But let me caution you. I listened very closely to the Governor's speech in which he unveiled his proposed budget. At no time did Governor Scott say he was supporting public education. The Governor's exact words were "My recommendation is a billion-dollar increase in state funding of education." This "will require difficult choices." Since Governor Scott named Patricia Levesque—former Governor Jeb Bush's education policy advisor and Executive Director for the Foundation for Florida's Future—to his education team, it might beg the question of where exactly he plans to spend those billion dollars.
There have been some interesting articles in the Miami Herald this week focusing on charter schools and Florida's richest charter school management firm, Academica . You might ask what this has to do with higher education. Since taxpayer dollars are going to these charter schools, since these companies are exempt from property taxes, and since they are branching out into colleges proposed by the charter school network, public higher education will be affected. (links to the Miami Herald articles here 12/11, 12/14 and 12/16)
In that same speech, Governor Scott justified his plan to make further cuts in your pension. "We need to fix the pension plan long-term." "There is [sic] abuses out there." And "…we've got to come up with a way of seriously fixing that." The Florida pension plan is actually one of the best funded plans in the country.
So what is UFF-FIU doing in preparation for this legislative session? Our chapter's two major initiatives since September of 2011 have been to increase membership (our goal is 60-65%) to withstand attacks on collective bargaining, and a government relations campaign (to establish a relationship with state senators and ask for their support for public higher education).
I'm pleased to report that over 40 faculty have joined UFF in the past several months, bringing our membership to 52%. But we are not strong enough yet to withstand decertification. So we need your help. Please become a member this year if you have not already done so. And if you are a member, please encourage at least one colleague to join UFF. Membership forms are available on our website at www.uff-fiu.org.
Regarding our government relations campaign, we hosted an event in Tallahassee December 5 for key senators, which was a big success and which we could not have accomplished without your support. Thanks to you, we reached our goal! We also have been visiting our State Senators from Miami-Dade and Broward throughout the Fall. UFF members have had significant conversations with over one-third of the entire State Senate just in the past two months. Go to "Government Relations" on our website to see the talking points we've been sharing with Senators. And please contact your Senators and Representatives throughout the coming legislative session, asking them to:
- support Public Higher Education;
- not tax public workers by cutting our benefits; and
- protect our democratic freedom to bargain collectively.
UFF-FIU will be sending you regular updates throughout the legislative session to keep you informed.
Please stop by our office PC 111 in the spring, for any or all of our member open houses and brunches, and invite a non-member to come with you.
Have a wonderful Holiday Season and a well-deserved rest!
Sincerely and in solidarity,
Kathleen L. Wilson
UFF-FIU Chapter President