A Unity Caucus member, who is the Maternity/Child Care Leave Liaison for the Queens UFT office, spoke against our resolution. “I explain to those going out on maternity leave they need to be on payroll to get retro -- eventually they will be made whole. You decided to take your leave, you got to handle your own business, you have to consider things before taking leave”... MORE Report from the UFT Delegate AssemblyTranslation: You decided to have a baby. You know that is not allowed under the new order of ed deform, which we support, which punishes mothers with children. Fuck you!
James Eterno, who wrote the resolution for MORE, has a full report on the ICE blog: MULGREW'S UNITY MAJORITY TELLS PARENTS AND SICK MEMBERS ON UNPAID LEAVES TO FEND FOR THEMSELVES
NYC Educator lead his report with this:
DA Notes--UFT Unity Declines to Consider Helping Members On Leave
Here is an excerpt from a comment left on NYC Educator from Mary Ahern:
Like many of us, when I heard Greer(?) speaking against the motion I was outraged. At one point when she was lecturing on personal responsibility for planning I blurted out "How condescending!" to which Mulgrew pointed his finger at me and said "Stop it!"More from MORE
After the DA, I was so mad I didn't even bother talking to Mulgrew but he came up to me on the way out and said, "You're just like me." I then gave him an earful. I said, "Maybe people choose to have children but nobody chooses to get cancer or serious illnesses or injuries and those members as well as those on maternity leave need this money more than we do!"
I'm still disgusted by the way Greer spoke against this resolution and I let her know how I felt. These are the people that UFT puts in place to "help" our members? Really??
Jia Lee, Chapter Leader of The Earth School, raised a resolution (see below) at tonight's UFT Delegate Assembly calling for the city or UFT to provide a no-interest loan for those UFT members who are on unpaid maternity, family, or medical leave and did not receive their first lump sum payment this week. Because they are not on active payroll the members who most need this money will not get it until 2017 at the earliest. If they never return they may never see their own hard-earned money. UFT President Michael Mulgrew’s Unity Caucus which dominated the DA voted the motion down. They voted against our members who are mothers, caregivers, or who are sick and need to be out on leave.Ms. Lee said "in my school we have moms who are on leave to take care of their children and we, as a union, need to find a way to get them the money we all got. If you read the resolution we are asking for no interest loans to the members who need it the most.”“Medical distress should not be financial distress.” Mulgrew said earlier in the evening in regards to the skyrocketing costs of prescriptions for our members. Ms. Lee referred back to that sentiment and said “I feel the same and that should apply to retro for our members on leave."A Unity Caucus member, who is the Maternity/Child Care Leave Liaison for the Queens UFT office, spoke against our resolution. “I explain to those going out on maternity leave they need to be on payroll to get retro -- eventually they will be made whole. You decided to take your leave, you got to handle your own business, you have to consider things before taking leave”.
3 comments:
I understand Mulgrew stated the city didn't want anyone on leave to get retro, that the city wanted continuous employment. Wasn't it his job to tell the city, "no?" Did Mulgrew explain why he didn't fight when he learned the city wanted to withhold money from any member who already earned it? It could be argued that members on a childcare leave need that money the most while they are caring for a baby with no income. Perhaps Mulgrew has a good reason for not fighting for these members. I'd like to know what it is.
I desperately needed that money BECAUSE I am on a childcare leave.
The DOE doesn't allow staff to earn ANY part-time income while on a leave. At the same time they are withholding money we've earned when we need it the most, when our children need it the most. It makes no sense. That money is mine. I earned it and it could make a real difference for my family and my son.
To the Maternity Leave Liason Unity hack from Queens: How about those out with a serious illness? Should they have re"considered" that kidney transplant or cancerous tumor removal and post op care? Should they have "decided" to forgo medical treatment and opt for death? Death isn'tt even a viable option bc Unity negotiated a deal that gives our families NOTHING of the retro we already earned if we drop dead. We "got to handle our own business?" I assume you meant we "have to" not that we we "got to" or had the opportunity to. We didn't negotiate this piece of crap in our contract -- you and your Unity crew did. And "our business" includes OUR MONEY. So hand it over already. Shame on Unity for blaming people on approved leave for not "handling their business." Unity is eriously out of touch with the concerns of their membership. Roseanne McCosh PS 8x
Hi Norm. Appreciate that you quoted me here but there's a part of my comment that you left off concerning Mulgrew's response when I spoke to him after the DA ,along with some additional thoughts I have about this situation.
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"He said, "I told you I'm going to take care of it." (Which he did say when I went up to him after last month's chapter leader meeting and complained to him about this very issue.) followed with "I'm working on it."
I'm going to take a deep breath and give Mulgrew and the UFT the chance to right this wrong. But I'm still disgusted by the way Greer spoke against this resolution ....."
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Following the city-wide chapter leader meeting in September I shared with Mulgrew the personal story of one of the young teachers in my school who is going through an awful situation both financially and medically. I told him how wrong it was to deny her and members who are in situations similar to hers their retroactive payments when they need help now I said the staff in my school were more than willing to help her by donating days but most of us couldn't because of the policy that requires you to have more than 50 but less than 180 days in your bank. (Then the bastards take two days for every day donated!!) Mulgrew said "That goes way back" but I said, "It doesn't matter where it came from it's wrong and you need to try to change it." I added, "What better time than now when we have a progressive Mayor?" I said that not being able to donate days was bad enough and but how could I tell her she's not going to get the retroactive payment that the rest of us are getting. I asked, "What kind of union turns their back on their most vulnerable members in their time of greatest need?" He actually said several times that he agreed with me and that he would try to help. I got choked up when I was telling him about my coworkers situation and he got a little teary-eyed as well. I don't think it was an act. Mulgrew may have faults as the UFT President but I don't think he's a completely heartless person and I don't think he purposely created this terrible situation to hurt members. The bottom line is, it's a mess and it needs to be fixed.
I know I can be naive, but I honestly believe that Mulgrew will find a way to get the people on medical leave, including my dear coworker, their retro now. That might not be what some people want to hear because this situation makes Mulgrew and Unity look really bad and if it's not fixed it will definitely cost them some votes in next year's election. But right now I think we should all be more interested in having the UFT and DOE right this wrong and help our members who are hurting, than worrying about what it might mean in terms of votes.
Mary Ahern
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