Florida Sections of Teachers Unions to Merge

The Florida section of our parent union, the National Educational Association, and the Florida section of the American Federation of Teachers (an AFL-CIO affiliate) have decided to merge and form a ``unified education organization'' called Education Florida. The Florida Teaching Profession/ NEA and the Florida Education Association/ United met in their respective annual assemblies this summer and approved a new Constitution, Bylaws, and Transition Agreement. Education Florida will be affiliated with both the NEA and the AFT.

During the last two decades, as funding dried up and teachers (including university professors!) became targets of political opportunists, concerned activists in the NEA and AFT began discussing cooperation, and then merger. The idea is that as a larger organization, a merged union would have greater political clout than two smaller unions. A set of Principles of Unity for a National Organization was proposed last year, but failed to win the necessary support. Nevertheless, the discussions continued, especially here in Florida, where the environment for education is especially harsh. The FTP/NEA and the FEA/U have a history of cooperation, and some members of each presented the possibility of a merger of the two sections, to form a stronger organization that would have more clout in dealing with the State Government. This is important to us because the State not only provides much of the educational funding (and recent changes in the property tax will only increase the State share of educational funds), but also because the State micromanages much of the educational system.

And there is a certain feeling that, considering the political situation these days, it would be better to deal with the Governor, the Cabinet, and the Legislature from a position of strength.

For the United Faculty of Florida, which is a ``local'' of FTP/NEA, there is little difference. (UFF used to be a chapter of FEA/U long ago.) FEA/U has one (relatively new) higher education chapter at Miami/Dade Community College, which is currently engaged in teaching a rather Neanderthal administration the basic social niceties. The Tentative Agreement says that Miami/Dade will eventually join the UFF. But otherwise, the UFF and the Florida section of the American Association of University Professors (which is a sort of hybrid union & professional organization) will continue to assist and represent the interests of higher educators in Florida. The UFF and the AAUP have had friendly relations for years.