But the union in my district (which is in Florida, whose right-to-earn-less status doesn't help) is ridiculous. At one point after the Great Recession the district had pay freezes (this after years of no raises prior to the recession); my county was hit especially hard as it lives/dies on real estate. Supposedly some current local teachers were "upset" that teachers coming into the district could be paid more than them since they had been "frozen" on the same step for years. The Union's "solution"? Subtract 5 years worth of experience from all incoming teachers. Not only does it not help (financially) the current teachers, these nincompoop's "solution" was to punish experienced teachers moving into the district. I quit the union last year and held my nose while I signed up with the Professional Educator's Network of Florida for my "teacher's insurance." Not my ideological solution (it's a "free market" competitor to unions), but I have zero faith in the local union. (To sort of both ease the pain while also rubbing salt in the wound, this saved me nearly $200.)
Edit:
My disgust over the situation made me lose my train of thought. The point of my post was originally to be that, as others mentioned, my union is in bed with the district. 
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