A week late - First UFT Exec Bd Meeting Echos Labor Day Parade Lovefest - UFT Endorses Candidate Supporting Retirees on Healthcare

Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023

I'm reporting on last week's ex bd (Sept. 11) and other events around that weekend. 

I didn't go to yesterday's meeting because my wife offered me a better meal. But given my reporting on UAW and other strikes

• [It's a Militant Union World - Except for a Certain Teacher Union]

here is Nick@NAC reporting on the Sept. 18 meeting re UAW:

There was a resolution on the UAW Strike. I didn’t speak on it, as I of course support my fellow unionists and had already spoken enough. But, there was a certain irony to voting to endorse another union’s strike for 40% wage increases over 4 years when Unity Caucus spoke out against gaining our own right to strike, and later mercilessly heckled opposition members for suggesting we ourselves should be strike ready. The DC37 pattern that UFT conceded to without a fight, remember was just 16.37% over 5.5 years. To put this in perspective UAW was offered 21% initially over 4 years – that’s more than we got in our final deal. We heckled our own members for asking for a strike over a smaller wage increase than the offer UAW is rightly striking over. I support the UAW, and also support the UFT being able to strike. UFT leadership supports the UAW, but not our own right to strike. The contradiction should speak for itself.

Nick's full report is here.

And then Nick raised the issue of the required 50-minute parental engagement in the new and rushed to a vote with misleading info by the leadership contract. I won't get into the weeds of that but it seems to me if a 100 people complain, they can demand a revote on the contract as the leadership demonstrated in the OT/PT situation. [How UFT/Unity is More Management than Union as it Succeeds in Changing NO to YES on OT/PT Contract Vote].

Apparently the love-fest I describe re last week's meeting didn't last. Love is fleeting.

In this week old report, let's visit my Sept. 9-11 weekend:

It began on Friday afternoon at an event sponsored by NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees for the city council campaign for Susan  Zhuang who won her Dem primary with 60% of the vote. She is supporting the 1099 bill - which is interesting because at the Sept. 11 Ex bd the UFT also endorsed her. Verrrrry interesting. (More on the debate at the EB later.) A few pics I shot:

This was a basement in Bensonhurst and it was packed with over 100 people from many unions and from all over the city. That's the skill of Marianne Pizzitola. As one UFT retiree in Florida emailed me: "Marianne seems to be making some headway for support of our bill.   She certainly has Mulgrew on the run." She certainly does.

Watch her must-see video on the faux collective bargaining argument by UFT leaders on bill 1099 where she punches massive holes in their position --https://youtu.be/4aGwRbxJtnI?si=X3dYOCVAIvX9txee - people are sending this video to city council reps who haven't signed on to 1099 claiming it takes away collective bargaining - are you listening Lincoln Restler?

I ran into some people who worked in my old district 14 - Unity people. They are moving to Florida permanently and offered to help out in the RTC election campaign this spring. We need Unity deserters to win.

On Saturday, I went to the Labor Day parade and hung out with Retiree Advocates

as we marched with the UFT. Others marched with Marianne's group who left earlier with DC 37 and made their own noise uptown. We decided to stick with the UFT for the day. And lookee at this photo with Daniel and his girls with Randi and NYSUT pres with Shulman and Arthur.

Michael Shulman, Daniel Alicea, Randi, NYSUT Pres Melissa Person, Arthur Goldstein

I got some pats and hugs even from some Unity people on Saturday. Lucky they don't read Ed Notes. I spent Saturday hanging out with Arthur and Daniel, who came with his two little girls in a stroller. Arthur and Daniel, 2 giants in the UFT, were meeting in person for the first time. Unity people seemed happy to see Arthur. No real blow back over his recent castigation of the leadership. Read his latest, which reinforces my contention that our own union leaders are anti-union. [Regressive and Passive UFT Pales Behind Aggressive and Progressive Unions: Is it the Leadership or Membership?]

Our anti-Union Leadership

It needs changing.

Arthur Goldstein

Arthur's conclusion: 

We can no longer afford a leadership that works for our adversary. We can lead or follow. The first step, if we’re going to lead, is to elect leaders willing to do so. 

Maybe Arthur's turning on the leadership has made them antsy for yesterday's EB. But at least for one week there was a great spirit of unity by Unity and UFC at the Ex Bd meeting on Sept. 11. 

Nick@NAC had the skinny

• Budget Cuts, Migrants, and Air Conditioners – UFT Executive Board Meeting , 9/11/2023

There were even some friendly looks at Nick by Unity. And independent former MORE Mike Schirtzer even sat at the same table with MORE Ex Bd reps, a promising sign that peace may be coming to Ukraine. 

Even I got a few smiles. I guess they didn't notice my tee-shirt supporting the OT/PT crew. No mention at all by either side about the recent re-vote on the formerly rejected contract. For now, the entire mess looks like a dead issue, though I would have raised the issue of re-voting when leadership doesn't like the result as a dangerous precedent.

Even the chef was generous, allowing us to to mix our general tso chicken with a bit of beef. And oh, the carrot cake.

I sat at the increasingly crowded New Action table with a few ICEers. (With James Eterno's illness, ICE is in sort of limbo.)

Everyone seemed happy. Compare and contrast Nick's reports from Sept. 11 and Sept. 18. A definite change in the atmosphere.

So here was the interesting angle in Nick's report on the endorsement Susan Zhuang for City Council

Liz Perez (UFT Bklyn Boro Rep) – Resolution: to Endorse Susan Zhuang.Liz Perez: motivates, will advocate for labor and education – act in the best interest of members – City Council District 43.

Ronnie Almonte: Rises against. I live in this district, Sunset Park. Spoke to need to stand with asylum speakers. I live 2 blocks from the rec center hosting over 100 asylum speakers. There were two protests there – one a republican, and one Susan Zhuang, and I think she pitted against asylum speakers ‘we don’t know who they are, may be a risk to the student.’ I expect people may say no litmus test, but this is a disgusting. Rise against. (See here for an example).

Liz Perez: Susan Zhuang is herself an immigrant, services a community of immigrant. I still think we should endorse her, and I’ll definitely follow up about this comment.

Passes with some nays from the High School Executive Board.

I agree with Ronnie - I heard Zhuang make some iffy comments about immigrants on Sept. 9 to the point I raised the issue with her - and she didn't respond. She complained that she waited in line to come here, like these people are illegal - actually they are legal asylum seekers -- like 40% from Venezuela and 30% from Cuba --both nation's under severe US sanctions. Like that doesn't have an impact? And her husband is a doctor - I wonder on what line they waited on. But I still back her because she backs us on healthcare.

Following up on the immigrant issue, read Nick's report to get the full picture as on Sept. 11 he made a reso on immigrants which Mike Sill amended to remove the criticisms of Mayor Adams. https://newaction.org/2023/09/11/budget-cuts-migrants-and-air-conditioners-uft-executive-board-meeting-9-11-2023/

 There was also a reso on air conditioning, which was tabled by Unity to work on the language - again removing crit of Adams, the UFT's pal on screwing us on healthcare.

Not surprising. The real lovefest is between Unity and the Mayor.

 

After burn: Some comments from readers on my post: Regressive and Passive UFT Pales Behind Aggressive and Progressive Unions: Is it the Leadership or Membership? ":

Bronx ATR said...

I believe the indifference is actively cultivated by the Uft. This seems to be a pervasive mindset that it’s not anyone’s job to do anything involving union activities - other than those directly work for the union. I’ve heard that phrase like this more than once - you guys have enough to do teach your classes and dealing with kids. Let us deal with the union stuff; that’s what you pay us for.’ A lot of folks eagerly embrace that mindset; those who want to get involved may be initially ignored and then if they don’t go away, they run for office. If they are too outspoken and too involved, they often take on the animus of management and often have been left out to dry by the Uft. It directly benefits the Uft to have an indifferent and blissfully ignorant membership. Other than retirees, that’s what they have.

Michael Fiorillo said...

Unity is the last of the urban political machines, and its patronage apparatus is one of many barriers to an effective opposition. With the stick of its loyalty oath enforcing caucus discipline, and the carrot of union jobs (and double pensions for officers!) for compliant and ambitious Chapter Leaders, the incentives for passivity and conformity are formidable, and they continue to work.

Albert Shanker, whose organizational genius is behind much of Unity's power, was a fundamentalist Cold Warrior, who cut his political teeth opposing Communists (who had an organic presence in the schools at the time) in the teacher's union and elsewhere. The irony is that Unity Caucus, with its CP-like democratic centralism, has become just as sclerotic and brittle (and subject to rapid collapse?) as the old Soviet Union Al Shanker spent his life fighting.

Wednesday, August 30, 2023 at 9:59:00 AM EDT

It's a Militant Union World - Except for a Certain Teacher Union

Continuing my series on How UFT/Unity is More Like Management than Union 

Today's assignment:

Compare and Contrast: UAW Shawn Fein and UFT Michael Mulgrew as union leaders.

Key point: Fain pushes back against tenets of crony capitalism while Mulgrew supports shifting public money into the hands of corporate giants. And you will never hear Mulgrew talk about where the real money is in this city by attacking real estate interests and calling for them to pay their fair share. Why is a subject for future analysis. Hint: Militancy is no longer in the Unity DNA - except when it comes to attacking the opposition.

Friday, Sept. 15, 2023

I got off the ferry shuttle bus near my house yesterday with another guy who was wearing a union tee-shirt. I asked him if he was coming from the rally I had attended and he said hell yes. I asked what union and he is a Teamster out to support other workers. He lives a block from me. Nice to see union spirit in a 75% Republican neighborhood. 

I woke up today to a chill in the air. And a UAW strike. Today we are heading up to Westchester to meet up with Harris Lirtzman for a tour of Untermeyer Gardens. But I needed to get these points out before I go.

I'm postponing my blog post on the first UFT Ex Bd meeting of the year on Monday and last Saturday's Labor Day parade due to the breaking stories of the UAW and ongoing SAG/AFTRA and Writers strikes. 

A bunch of Retiree Advocates attended the big rally and picket lines on East 19 St and Broadway yesterday. 

The militant union movement in the nation is intense - and how this makes UFTers who just voted up a contract with a 3% raise and little else, feel - well not having access to schools - I wonder if anyone is even thinking about the comparisons. We saw no one from the UFT staff there - 52 is just a short subway ride away -- but if they did show it would be only for a photo op.

My thoughts go to how our UFT leadership lines up with the Mayor on healthcare issues while Republicans and Democrats come together to protect us from being forced into Medicare Advantage schemes. And note that the Teamsters and UAW fight to reverse givebacks, including ending multi-tier systems while the UFT seems fine with a 6-Tier pension system. In fact they gave a report at Monday's Ex Bd that the largest group working is in Tier 6 (only 7 Tier 1 left working). 

Tier 6 - another UFT death panel.

Note this breaking news --- Right and left unite to protect Medicare in Congress and Adams (and probably Mulgrew) go ballistic.

How UFT/Unity is More Management than Union as it Succeeds in Changing NO to YES on OT/PT Contract Vote

When we lose we re-do... Unity Caucus mantra

The evidence keeps mounting. The UFT is more an agent of the employer than a union. Ie - See healthcare

A major difference between the UFT 60s-early 70s and now? The leadership and staff were battle hardened strike vets while the current crew have spent their time managing the membership to tamp down militancy. The role of the Unity machine is to manage the membership and lower expectations, not to defend their interests. The story of the re-vote on the OT/PT contract is a perfect example.

...since collectively bargaining away our healthcare is so important to UFT leadership, there’s a certain irony to AAA certification of the OT/PT revote...Nick@NAC

Wednesday, Sept. 6

There were cheering crowds by Unity Caucus hacks in Mudville, as the mighty OT/PT chapter was struck out - for now, a Pyrrhic victory for Unity which will come back to bite them. The lesson for critics of Unity is to mock and boycott the bogus negotiating committees with their cone of silence in the future as the sham they am, and question the entire voting process on contracts and even on UFT elections. There will be much more scrutiny of ballots in the future - observers should camp out at the AAA offices.

When our UFT President communicated to membership that he wouldn’t be able to do the job of collectively ‘re-bargaining’ in a timely manner, Unity orchestrated a divisive and undemocratic re-vote campaign to avoid going back to the negotiating table...Nick@NAC

UFT Organizing Model

High school teachers have voted against Unity for most of the past 4 decades, yet are saddled with the Unity HS VP since the 1990s and might start calling for going back to the old pre-1960 days of the militant High School Teachers Association, which with the recent death of a UFT founder George Altomare, reminds us of his role in bringing HSTA into the UFT fold through a merger in 1960. There would be  no UFT if not for that merger. The history is interesting. Altomare was forced to retire when Shulman defeated him for HSVP in 1985, a cataclysmic event in Unity history and setting the pattern of "When we lose we re-do." (See Jonathan's dissection of the high school division.)

Highly paid 6 figure UFT staffers making double the pay of many therapists trolled and mocked the OT/PT leader and when challenged resorted to ghost twitter accounts. 

Imagine if these highly paid staffers actually spent their time defending teacher rights.

Unions and strikes are so popular right now that in every labor dispute a clear and overwhelming percentage of the American people side with workers, not the bosses. And that’s just the beginning..... Internet comment

But our leaders live in the UFT/Unity universe, so the summer/fall of strikes is a myth to them.

Regressive and Passive UFT Pales Behind Aggressive and Progressive Unions: Is it the Leadership or Membership?

It's the UFT/Unity Leadership, stupid.

This is basic premise of this post and was stimulated by attending the SAG/AFTRA/AWG picket line with thousands from a variety of unions that make the UFT/Unity leadership look like ghosts.

Tuesday, August 29, 2023

In the midst of thousands from active unions, seeing the sparse turnout from the UFT - they looked mostly like staffers - got me to thinking, a very dangerous thing.

The sense of militancy on that picket line was inspiring.

I started thinking of the strike fever around the nation and the contracts being won and realize there's no way our UFT leadership wanted our rank and file to witness this strike militancy.

I heard a UAW worker on a podcast recently talking about how demoralized workers were under the old leadership which bargained away their rights -- asking them to vote for bad contracts and how the new leadership has invigorated the rank and file.

United Auto Workers members voted overwhelmingly to approve a strike for their 150,000 members. If the CEOs of the Big Three auto companies―Ford, GM, and Stellantis―don’t offer fair terms, the workers will have no choice but to turn this Hot Labor Summer into a Crisp Labor Autumn.....More Perfect Union interviewed UAW workers―find out what they’re striking for, then send a message of solidarity to the CEOs of the Big Three!

The same thing in the Teamsters which voted in a new and aggressive leadership.The membership had voted down a recent contract but the leadership over ruled them. Sound familiar? Think of the overturning of the OT/PT NO vote. I wrote:

• Is UFT a union or management? Media sides with OT/PT NO voters, Upcoming Repercussions, OT/PT Chapter Leader Resigns as do some Ex Bd members. 

 Leadership counts:

From Detroit to Hollywood, New Union Leaders Take a Harder Line Pushed by angry members, unions representing actors, autoworkers and UPS employees are becoming increasingly assertive under new leadership.

• New Leaders: Several prominent unions, representing groups from automobile workers to actors, are now in the hands of outspoken leaders who have taken their membership to the brink of high-stakes labor stoppages — or beyond.
• United Auto Workers: Shawn Fain, the new U.A.W. president, has vowed to be tougher than his predecessors in contract talks with the Detroit automakers. His initial demands attach big numbers to that promise.

The UFT outspoken leader focuses on attacking our health plan, critical voices in the union, and to sell an inferior contract. 

Then I read articles about how in a little over a decade the newly elected leadership in the Chicago Teachers Union has turned what was a moribund union into the most progressive and dynamic political force in Chicago. The same with the UTLA. And then fought down nausea thinking of the 60+ year reign of our own Unity Caucus in the UFT. You know what Unity shills say to this? We still have it better. It we do it is because of the militant strikes and contracts won over 50 years ago.

LEVER WEEKLY: What’s Behind Chicago’s Great Upsurge?

 ...an insurgent socialist-led caucus, the Caucus of Rank and File Educators, had taken over the union in 2010. By 2012, the teachers’ union — then under the leadership of the late visionary Karen Lewis — had launched a strike in response to the state legislature passing a bill that curtailed teachers’ bargaining power and right to strike.

100 Days In, Brandon Johnson Is Steadily Shifting Chicago’s Political Terrain - In These Times

I followed the Chicago story since I connected with the late George Schmidt in 1999 and that union was dead in the water in 2009. Look at how things changed with the new leadership elected in 2010? In over a decade they've made up a hell of a lot of ground, and in times when teacher unions have come under massive attack.

So I make the case that only new, progressive leadership will change the UFT from a passive to an aggressive union. 

 

The big issue is whether such a nascent potential leadership currently exists like it did in LA and Chicago? So far I haven't seen anything comparable to CORE or the coalition in UTLA here in NYC with similar outreach. After all, this is a much bigger enchilada with 1800 schools. (George Schmidt used to tell me Chicago is roughly equivalent to Brooklyn -- in the 2010 election there were about 675 schools). Also neither city had a Unity-like machine or anything like a lock on the union that Unity has had. (In the 2010 Chicago election, there were 5 caucuses running and a runoff). Unity has set up an undemocratic fire wall that other unions don't have.

There will be no change in UFT leadership until there is a powerful counter-force to the Unity machine with deep outreach into the schools, especially elementary and middle schools. 

So far building such a force is a work in progress and progress has been very sketchy with too many caucuses doing their own organizing. The founding of the coalition, United for Change for last year's UFT election was a step forward. I don't believe any one caucus can win power in the UFT. So the UFC coalition is the only way forward and Unity will do anything to disrupt its progress, including divide and conquer. 

Unity may be passive when it comes to dealing with the DOE and principals but when it comes to threats to its power from opposing forces, Unity becomes a tiger.

So what's the verdict? Is the UFT leadership saddled with a membership -- New York's meekest as my late friend used to lament? 

Or is the rank and file saddled with a leadership that only shows militancy when its own members who challenge it?

Mulgrew/Weingarten/Unity Healthcare Lies and misinformation exposed by Daily News Op Ed and Marianne

The MLC has never bargained for or represented retirees, and surely not for me as a non-union City Council employee.... Gary Altman, lawyer for City Council for 38 years.

Monday, August 21, 2023

This Altman piece is a dagger Mulgrew's heart. But just like Trumpies back him no matter what the crimes, watch the Unity Caucus hacks stay on the gravy train and shill away for whatever crap Mulgrew makes up. What's coming next is an assault on working member healthcare to make up the money not being saved by screwing retirees. He will try to put working members against retirees -- it's the rich boomers, not UFT leadership that's screwing you.

Here's the quick skinny before you watch the videos. Mulgrew, Garrido are lying openly about the retiree healthcare issue and are exposed in this op ed by Gary Altman, who was a legal Council on the City Council for 38 years and goes back through the history of how the UFT testified more than once to the very opposite of what they are claiming now. Marianne reads the op ed below with emphasis. 

Mulgrew has been claiming the City Council can't pass bill 1099 which would offer retirees a choice of healthcare options.

Altman points to previous legislation to protect healthcare via City Council and not once was there a claim that it hurts collective bargaining. Somehow Mulgrew has been dragging the Taylor Law into this issue, claiming that by passing 1099 they violate the law. Utter bullshit.

Gary Altman

 Marianne reads the entire op ed.

https://youtu.be/jrl2BPZWhOk

Here's the link to the article, which is behind a paywall.

And here she exposes DC 37 Henry Garrido.

 

https://youtu.be/EFD47wGGr18

EONYC chimes in

Educators of NYC

@educatorsofnyc

This is not a drill. @dc37 and

@uft

leadership is making their threat to the rank and file PLAIN. Now that their BIG LIES are being dismantled concerning any amendments hurting collective bargaining, the talking points are more honest and bare in their threat to active city workers. And even as their actions are ruled illegal in court… There is another nuclear campaign afoot to scare members to act on lobbying city council members to not protect retiree choice of healthcare. Translation: They are saying if we can’t screw retirees … we will need to screw you, active city workers. And yet the choice is not binary for our city unions. It’s not force retirees into MAP or we will need to agree with the city to charge healthcare premiums on city workers. Henry, Michael, and Alan know this. They want to path of least resistance. And the one that preserves their welfare fund patronage system. There are various paths and solutions that help all workers and keep costs manageable. And QUALITY, PREMIUM-FREE.

Unity: Caucus of Knifing Membership in the Back - A parody of the Unity Caucus blog

Did you see this twisted, deceitful, ad hominem attack on the Unity website? It deserves an exposé showing what fucking liars and manipulators they are.  ... UFT retiree Sheila

It is such a mess Norm! I've been thinking a lot about your posts over the years since this all went down. Mulgrew refused to do anything for us and proposed the revote himself! The whole thing felt like begging for a plea deal .... Rank and file therapist no associated with opposition

Melissa Williams, Uncensored: "The game is rigged. It was rigged for two years. We are only now seeing the full force of the abuse of power in a union with one-party rule."

Melissa Williams, shares her experience as chapter leader for occupational and physical therapists under Michael Mulgrew's Unity - the partisan patronage caucus machine that controls UFT leadership.

Friday, August 11, 2023

Unity Caucus is the gift that just keeps giving. It has used its blog to engage in an assault of OT/PT Chapter leader Melissa Williams. Her is her eloquent response explaining the rational for resigning from a chapter that has been divided and undemined by the Unity leadership is below the parody.

The above comment from someone I've known since she was in high school and has never expressed political views on the UFT shows how their assault is backfiring.

Their recent post was exactly as Sheila characterized it: twisted, deceitful, fucking liars and manipulators.

Their attacks remind me of how the actions of Trump help energize the base of the Dems to vote against him. Sheila's reaction is an example. I predict that the Unity attacks on the opposition will have the same effect in future elections because the overwhelming majority of members either don't give a crap about them because they have not led and in fact have allowed working conditions to deteriorate. So their bombast calls for this type of parody - and is so easy to do. I may start a blog just to parody Unity. I will do a deep dive on Melissa's response soon. Note she is visiting family in Korea. I suggested she visit North Korea to get advice on bringing democracy to the One party Unity control of the UFT.

 

Unity, Caucus of Knifing OT/PT Chapter in the Back

When Unity caucus members were elected to ‘lead’ the UFT they promised to organize with an eye on the 2023 contract.

In the year that has followed the only “organizing” they’ve done is a “vote yes” campaign, with little foresight or strategy. They told people to vote yes and will turn their back on their members when the actual repercussions and consequences of the contract became apparent. Makes one wonder if these so called "leaders" were amplifying the voices of their members or driving their own Unity Caucus agenda regardless of their union members needs. 

Case in point:

60% of the OT/PT chapter voted NO on the 2023 contract, as they did in the 2018 contract, rejecting their Unity Chapter Leader's urging them to vote yes. Makes you wonder. Those who cannot lead, don't.

In the 2021 chapter election, the OT/PT voted down this misleadership and elected new leadership.

Nurses, Audiologists, and Supervisors of Nurses and Therapists demanded to be separated from the OT/PT chapter in 2018 and were promised that would be done at an Executive Board meeting in late 2018 but that was not done. They voted yes for the contract but their votes were drowned out by the no votes of the OT/PT chapter. Why were they part of the bargaining unit with the much larger OT/PT chapter in the first place and why was their request to be separated ignored then? Where was democracy for them? 

For the 2023 contract, the demands of nurses, audiologists, and supervisors of nurses and therapists found themselves still in the same bargaining unit and facing the same undemocratic process as they did in 2018. Where is the democracy and who is at fault? Clearly, those in Unity Caucus, who claim to lead but cannot do so.

In 2018, there was not a revote but a proper renegotiation of the contract with the DOE which was voted up by the OT/PT chapter in February 2019.

Yet, in 2023, the UFT leadership found an excuse not to renegotiate but instead to overturn the democratic vote of the OT/PT chapter, an unprecedented action. Where was the democracy in that?

What is the difference between 2018 and 2023? The loss of control by Unity of the chapter leadership and a two year assault on the leadership of the chapter by the Unity machine with the goal of using this revote to recapture control of the OT/PT chapter by unprecedented attacks on the current chapter leader.

Unity claims they have received over 1,500 emails from rank and file members of the OT/PT Chapter and other UFT liaisons expressing that they were sold a fake bill of goods from their chapter ‘leadership’. They claim the members of the Chapter, have asked for a revote. Unity has offered no proof other than some expressions of disgruntlement from the minority of YES voters and non-voters. Their virulent campaign will probably result in may of those who voted NO originally to refuse to honor the revote campaign by voting again, thus giving the disgruntled minority their opportunity to reverse a landslide democratic vote.

At the first sign of rough waters Mulgrew abandoned the OT/PT members and is asking them to vote again for the same contract 60% rejected just a month ago.

Seeing that their agenda was not the will of the chapter, UFT President Michael Mulgrew has thrown a tantrum and blamed chapter leader Melissa Williams, taken their renegotiation ball, and gone home by asking for a revote.

Case in point 2:

When Unity led an assault on retiree health care, with thousands of complaints from retirees being forced out of Medicare and into a privatized Medicare, first Emblem and then Aetna, Advantage plan, those pleas were not only ignored, but mocked as fake news. Yet so far a judge has supported the retirees and these nefarious plans to reduce retiree healthcare as a way to save the city money, have come to naught.

Makes one wonder – what’s more important to those in these in the leadership: the members or undermining or the interests of the leadership of our union in kowtowing to the DOE and Mayor Adams? 

Makes one wonder – is this how the leadership will handle dealing with management and the membership of our union should they be entrusted with leading it in the future? What will they do when the stakes are higher? Surely they don’t believe that it’s their way or the highway? What kind of democracy is that?

Those who can, lead.

Leadership isn’t for the fragile. 

VOTE UNITY OUT IN FUTURE ELECTIONS

 =====

See below the break for the Unity twisted, deceitful, ad hominem attack. I hope I exposed what fucking liars and  manipulators they are.