Ed Notes Extended

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Thursday, March 18, 2010

Elfrank-Dana Letter to Bergtraum Staff

It’s that time again- the UFT elections. You should get your ballot in the mail.

Only about one quarter of us will vote if trends continue. It’s a problem I brought up to the union leadership (including Mulgrew); this lack of participation. They were at a loss as to why or what could be done about it.

It’s one of the reasons why I joined the ICE/TJC opposition. We need strong democratic unionism to move us forward. The Unity Caucus (Randi Weingarten and Michael Mulgrew’s political machine) may have gotten us more money from contracts, but have given so much away in terms of rights that sticking around long enough to enjoy the benefits seems impossible.

The days of accommodation, we want to be on your team, approach must end. We can’t rely on the strategy of the benevolent mayor (dictator) to save us; which has been Unity’s approach. We need to stand on the fundamentals of democratic unionism. We must organize for confrontation. However, we must be smart, patient and brave about it.

I think the ICE/TJC slate, with James Eterno for President, is our best hope. I know James personally. He’s been a valuable source of information for me. He’s an experienced chapter leader and man with principles. He gets it.

You can see James and what the ICE/TJC ticket stands for at: http://uftelections2010.blogspot.com/2010/02/james-eterno-ice-tjcs-candidate-for.html

Please feel free to pass this message along to any other UFT members you know.

In solidarity,

John

John Elfrank-Dana
UFT Chapter Leader
Murry Bergtraum High School
www.Elfrank.com/UFT


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3 comments:

  1. UnknownThursday, March 18, 2010 at 5:54:00 PM EDT

    I applaud you for getting involved. Keep up the good work. Democratic unionism is one way of promoting progressive leadership. Keeping people updated and in-the-know is challenging, but necessary to ensure they are stay represented and have their votes count.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousFriday, March 19, 2010 at 10:51:00 AM EDT

    Man, seriously, you sound like a Republican with all of these conspiracy theories about charter schools.

    ReplyDelete
  3. John Elfrank-DanaSaturday, March 27, 2010 at 11:11:00 AM EDT

    >>Man, seriously, you sound like a Republican with all of these conspiracy theories about charter schools.<<

    Dear Anonymous,

    Don't blame you for posting as Anonymous given your unsubstantiated brain-belch.

    ReplyDelete

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