National teachers union relieves Orange County union president of duties

The American Federation of Teachers decided to take over the Orange County Classroom Teachers Association Wednesday, relieving its president Diane Moore, union officers and board of directors of their duties.

The move comes after AFT says it and the Florida Education Association exhausted efforts to help the union with its issues. AFT President Randi Weingarten said the action, permitted under AFT’s constitution, was “rarely exercised.”

“The current president, Diana Moore, has refused to comply, believing she is above the union's governing documents,” Weingarten said in a statement. “This has led to members' rights being denied, their voices not being heard, member services being diminished, and an increasingly dysfunctional union...It's intended as a temporary measure to restore credibility and order and to return democratic rights to members."

Moore told WFTV-9 in a statement that she was not given representation through the matter.

“I’m shocked that the national union does not honor a paying union member’s rights to due process. Our members in Orange County are quite happy with their union,” she said. “This is all about members and money. They’re losing members and money in the national organization. It’s politics at its worst.”