After negotiating a merger with the black teachers bargaining unit, Tornillo broadened the power and reach, forming the United Teachers of Dade. Since then, the union has become a formidable force in Miami-Dade County, where its roster of school board candidates with rare exception wins at the polls, and in the Florida Democratic Party, where the union's blessing helped a relatively unknown lawyer, Bill McBride, beat former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno for the gubernatorial nomination.
At the same time, Tornillo's shop charges the highest teacher union dues in Florida. The rates are needed to cover $4 million in annual payroll, with a dozen administrators earning six-figure salaries. Tornillo takes home $243,000.
Critics point out that Tornillo has used the UTD's clout to reach into nontraditional union ventures such as buying real estate, running charter schools and getting involved in big-money school district contracting.
Tornillo demanded that the board give a nine-figure contract to HIP HealthCare in 1996 and again in 2001 against a consultant's advice. The company's lobbyist, and Tornillo confidant, Ric Sisser, pocketed at least $4 million on the deal. The union also ensured, as part of its contract, that only one supplemental insurance broker could come to schools and sell products to the county's largest workforce: the Public Employee Services Company.
PESCO, whose office is in the ground floor of the UTD building, was founded by a Tornillo associate, Mike Sheridan. The union owns 19,000 shares of PESCO stock. Until recently, Tornillo also sat on the board of another Sheridan company, the Fringe Benefits Management Co., which has had the School Board contract to administer supplemental insurance plans -- or flex benefits -- since the mid-1980s. *** Source