Responding to threats posed to their control of the UFT by the Ed Notes blog, the Unity Caucus war room has responded by putting together a task force to monitor Ed Notes Online full-time.
An entire team of printers will be ready to put out Unity Caucus leaflets to be distributed to the schools within minutes of any posting on the Ed Notes blog that threatens the pillar of democracy established by Unity and Ed Notes repeated violations of democracy, Unity style will be monitored and responded to.
A post in the Ed Notes blog regarding the Manhattan high school chapter leaders forced the task force to rush out a an extra special ( in addition to the regular leaflet) to the DA on May 9th to counter it. The Unity leaflet stated "the author of Ed. Notes, a retired teacher and one of the leaders of ICE/TJC (you remember the guys who always complain) was at it again." (Check the May 8th post on this blog to see what Unity is complaining about this time.)
The hundreds of retiree Unity delegates, joined by the hundreds of full and part time UFT staffers, joined by the hundreds of Unity chapter chair people who get to attend conventions on union dues – all of whom make up an overwhelming majority of the people who attend Delegate Assemblies, surrounded the Ed Notes editor during the meeting shouting lines from Randi Weingarten's hour and a half speech at the April special DA. (see Randi self-destruct in the April 24th post on this blog- Another Day of Surreality at the UFT).
Not being able to take it anymore, Ed Notes' editor broke down, screaming in agony, "YES, I am not democratic like you guys are. Next time Weingarten can talk for 3 hours and I won't complain." He was led away sobbing to the Friday's across the street where Unity spies released roaches near his table as he tried to recuperate with some sizzling fajitas. (Roaches sizzle too.)
When questioned by some Manhattan high school chapter leaders at a follow-up meeting on May 10, Weingarten said "the Unity leaflet was a response to Norm." Hearing that, Ed Notes' editor became so distraught at the trees he was responsible for killing, he went back to Fridays.
Weingarten had originally put UFT roaches - er - staffers - Leo Casey and Jeff Zahler in charge of the task force but the threat posed by the Ed Notes blog is so great, she will be running the task force herself. The UFT has added instant time internet monitoring equipment tuned solely to the blog to her 24/7 chauffeur driven car. In an extreme demonstration of dedication, she will not give up this position even when she takes on the AFT presidency. "This undemocratic stuff must be stopped at the source," said a UFT spokesperson.
Postscript: Yes, there was a special leaflet put out at the May 9th DA and yes Weingarten did say it was a response to Norm. The rest… Truth is stanger than fiction.
I'm proud to see my union taking a stand for their brand of democracy, the one in which no one is permitted to question the status quo.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.uft.org/news/teacher/president/voice_parents_teachers/
ReplyDeleteWhen people are not paying attention, sometimes the only way to be heard is to raise your voice. It may not be considered good pedagogy, but it is an integral part of collective action, and the truth is, it often works.
UFT President Randi Weingarten
Poor Norm,
ReplyDeleteI feel bad for him. Unity is trying to help him by letting him know his flaws: he always wants, more, more and more. He's never satisfied with what he has. Complainer, plain and simple.
Randi leveraged the threat of a march to ge "us" a seat at the table with the "assholes," The fact that she actually got the seat is something impressive. Poor Norm, can't you acknowledge that gain? Or do you need her to spell out the value of that. May be she just needs a little praise for getting that seat, and she needs some positive encouragement to get down to business on our behalf.
If someone called me an "asshole" I wouldn'tt want to sit next to that person. But, perhaps, there really is some seriously dysfunctional stuff gong on behind closed doors at 52 Broadway.
Now, let's get down to business: what about seniority transfers, the ATR problem, how will the 50K Child Care workers change the nature of the union, and a host of other problems. Will the Randi and UFT leadership deal with them in the membeship's best interests? That is the real question.
Seems that Ednotes' editor's criticisms were really the first order of business at the DA. And, you know, that's really pretty pathetic. But it does provide a certain amount of entertaining drama, or perhaps, comic relief.
Nevertheless, let's not let it distract us from solving the real problems. Dealing with the problems, and creating better working conditions for the membership: that's what we really need to stay in the forefront.