And Leo Casey was actually going to be the one to motivate it.
WOW! Unity Caucus is actually going to pass a resolution to democratize the UFT by allowing:
UFT members to have free and unfettered access to the membership so a free exchange of ideas can occur.
To allow free and open discussion at UFT delegate assemblies – maybe even allo
w Obama supporters to make their case.To allow people in high schools and middle schools and elementary schools to elect their own Vice Presidents.
Then I read on. It was China they are talking about, not the UFT's Unity Caucus.
Unity Caucus tanks confront protester before recent Delegate Assembly
Reports out of Beijing are that the ruling party recently passed a similar resolution:
Whereas the Unity Caucus regime has suppressed efforts to move the UFT toward democratic rule and respect for the rights of free exchange of ideas,
Whereas the ruling junta in the UFT recently rejected attempts to collect funds for the 17 Puerto Rican teachers who were fired for striking and defying the PR version of the Taylor Law.
Whereas that same ruling junta of the UFT has continued to shunt aside any attempt to raise a resolution at the Delegate Assembly calling for opposition to the GHI/HIP privatization plan.
Whereas the Unity Caucus rejected attempts by members of the opposition caucus ICE to hire independent investigators for teachers assigned to the DOE's gulag rubber rooms.
etc. etc. etc. (the list is too numerous to fit.)
Resolved that the government of the People's Republic of China will support all efforts to force the Unity Caucus ruling junta to establish glimmers of democracy.
It's heartening that the UFT supports democracy in China. I remember feeling that same jolt of optimism when President Bush announced a new health care system. For Iraq.
ReplyDeleteIt's great we have these folks looking out for us.
I don't get what's going on at the union. I have to call it the Weingarten Paradox.
ReplyDeleteShe's not a good speaker: she's afraid of the mic or never figured out in over a decade that you actually have to speak into it to be heard. She has neither dignitas or presence, and more often than not, her clauses end nowhere as she goes off on tangents, so much so that you can barely take notes on what she says. When she tries to go dramatic or angry, it comes out squawky and shrill.
But, she's got a grip on this union that won't quit. Through manipulation, favors, clever wheeling and dealing, RW/Unity owns us and they're not going to democratize any time soon.
On the other hand: Weingarten may be climbing her own personal ladder, but she's a flat loser when it comes to negotiating for us against Klein. He continues to outwit her, and she's given back more hard-earned gains than we ever thought possible. Can a union go backwards? Apparently, yes. We don't much believe this woman or trust her.
Thus the paradox: a hard-working, but non-charismatic, awkward, and somewhat dissembling spokesperson heading up an apathetic, uninvolved membership and consistently losing ground against an immoral ideologue with no educational background for his job.
Yet, she holds that presidency and won't be unseated soon.
I just don't get it.
Mike Mulgrew for president!
ReplyDeleteSeconded.
ReplyDelete