NEWS
United Teachers of Dade takes elections seriously
UTD’s Response to the State of Florida Public Employees Relations Commission (PERC) Hearing Officer’s Recommended Order
On November 30, 2011, the hearing officer offered a split decision in two cases regarding Shawn Beightol vs. UTD -- Case Numbers: CB-2011-073 and CB-2011-076. He did not find any wrong doing or inaccuracies in the elections themselves, but still ordered the contract ratification votes to be redone because he took exception to some of the procedures that UTD used to secure the voting process. There has not been the least hint that votes were altered or that security was compromised for any vote.
We maintain the strictest security of the vote. However, the hearing officer recommended that UTD rerun previous ratification votes conducted June 3-7, 2011 and August 29 – 31, 2011.
Votenet Solutions has conducted more than 28,000 online elections for nearly 1,500 customers. Votenet Solutions maintains 128-bit SSL Security, which protects voter data and prevents votes from being intercepted or manipulated by rogue third parties.
The hearing officer ruled in UTD’s favor regarding proper notification to our bargaining unit. The bargaining unit voted overwhelmingly in favor of the contract issues put out for ratification, including our health insurance for the calendar year 2011 and the distribution of Race to the Top monies, which have already been distributed.
We feel confident that the Bargaining Unit would vote the same again.
We are filing exceptions within the next fifteen days with PERC. They do not have a required time frame to render a decision.
As always, we will keep you apprised of any decision.