tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33431390.post7496373411799876197..comments2024-03-26T11:07:03.496-04:00Comments on Ed Notes Online: From 25 Years Ago: The UFT After Shanker by Lois Weiner and Bruce Markensed notes onlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15018047869059226777noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33431390.post-8967486124423411142014-11-21T04:40:07.753-05:002014-11-21T04:40:07.753-05:00My version of that saying: Those who can, teach. ...My version of that saying: Those who can, teach. Those who cannot, write books or talk about teaching. <br />Roseanne McCoshAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33431390.post-20397247954144200882014-11-20T13:49:15.255-05:002014-11-20T13:49:15.255-05:00For some people it happened early on, for others a...For some people it happened early on, for others a year ago and for me just a few months ago. I'm talking about the time when we realized a group was not catering to its members, or at least the vast majority of UFT members (active and retired). So what does one do when one realizes the boat they are in is not steering where they want to go? They get on, or help build, a new boat. <br /><br />That's what we did back in September. We created Solidarity Caucus. Plain and simple it is a group looking to represent members of the UFT. Something wrong?.... Let's work together to fix it.<br /><br />Now you, and others, can use the scare tactics of "This is Randi Weingarten's plan. Francesco Portelos has been bought...blah blah blah" all you want. The truth is I am chock full of integrity. I didn't have to tell a soul I had lunch with Randi Weingarten on Lexington Ave. this past August. Who would have known? While we watched embers of activism get ignited and no group to pick up the pieces and create an all encompassing union group, we did it ourselves. Actually, we are doing pretty good for two months. http://solidaritycaucus.org/solidarity-in-action/<br /><br />While others may spend their lives using words like "opposition", we will use another word to build a stronger union....Solidarity. <br /><br />I speak for myself, as everything has to come from a democratic vote, but I know you won't ever see me voting or endorsing Mulgrew. I don't care if we were offered 100 seats at Exec Board. Francesco Porteloshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03249197982072281997noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33431390.post-53767202206812933182014-11-20T12:57:55.855-05:002014-11-20T12:57:55.855-05:00Apparently not much has changed in a couple of dec...Apparently not much has changed in a couple of decades. Unity still does the work and the opposition stands on the sidelines and flings mud. Anyone can volunteer to do the union's work - manning phone banks, getting on buses before dawn to attend Albany Lobby Day, presenting teachers' points of view at CEC and PEP meetings, volunteering for the negotiating committee when we're at the end of a contract, visiting State Assemblymen and Senators in their New York City offices, going door to door to get out the vote - but these things require a commitment of time and effort. It is the people who serve who are tapped for leadership positions. <br /><br /> When I first became a chapter leader I had no interest in joining a caucus; my loyalty was and is to the UFT as a whole. The literature from each caucus looks similar to the ordinary member. For years I had received those ballots listing hundreds of names of people I didn't know. It was only after I had become more personally involved in working to serve my chapter that I met the UFT's worker bees. The next time I received that ballot certain names popped out. They were the people who gave up their weekends and summers to train new CLs, to run workshops and teacher centers, to answer the phone whenever I needed support, and to work, work, work. For the most part, these turned out to be Unity members.<br /><br />The UFT's national delegates are not appointed but elected, as are chapter leaders and local delegates. Their presence at state and national conventions is not a bonus or reward but their job as unionists representing their colleagues. A Delegate Assembly does not take place unless there is a quorum. To say that there are too few people present at a DA for it to be democratically representative of the rank and file members is just plain innacurate. It may not be possible for every chapter leader and delegate to attend each and every DA, but those who care make most if not all of them. I notice that at Tuesday's DA a resolution brought forth by a MORE member was taken up and passed unanimously. When the Staff Director said that it needed to be vetted by the AFT, it was. I received the flier today from the UFT.<br /><br />Let's stop fighting one another; there's work to be done.Docwashhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08925857414402582836noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33431390.post-41935277862864651562014-11-20T10:37:10.941-05:002014-11-20T10:37:10.941-05:00It is and will always be Democratic to oppose, but...It is and will always be Democratic to oppose, but the gains over the years that the UFT has obtained for its members has been dramatic and substantial. Remember: our profession will never be recognized as equals in status or pay with the others. That said, what was fought for and won over time was remarkable considering the view the public has of teachers. I'm sure that you heard the following too many times, " People who teach do so because they cannot do anything else." Is that despicable? Of course it is, but it was true then and it is true now. The historic leadership at our union deserves their due because I have heard nothing that is better. Thank you, Dr. John Marvul.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33431390.post-14436307760868130092014-11-20T08:29:32.170-05:002014-11-20T08:29:32.170-05:00You have to be joking. New Action is only on the U...You have to be joking. New Action is only on the UFT Ex Bd due to the largesse of Mulgrew. It's like the Russian parliament under the communist party. Now if New Action actually won those seats on their own you could make a case and even then the case for putting energy into devil's advocacy in front of an entire room of Unity Caucus is pretty weak. I'll blog about this later.ed notes onlinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15018047869059226777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33431390.post-34053398233732155672014-11-20T08:20:37.247-05:002014-11-20T08:20:37.247-05:00Would a white background work better?Would a white background work better?ed notes onlinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15018047869059226777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33431390.post-30398105414610327972014-11-20T07:34:37.941-05:002014-11-20T07:34:37.941-05:00Norm. An aesthetic point of information. The contr...Norm. An aesthetic point of information. The contrast between print and background on your blog is not terrific. I find it hard to read especially on my smartphone. Its worth my effort, though!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33431390.post-82739771817315822322014-11-20T04:29:28.321-05:002014-11-20T04:29:28.321-05:00As you know New Action is represented on the UFT E...As you know New Action is represented on the UFT Executive Board and provides a consistent "devil's advocacy" on most of the issues that the body considers. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com