Our grievance was never about the few coins we might see in interest if we won the grievance.... This was about demanding that UFT leadership demand that respect for
us---all of us---a few of us. Mulgrew and Unity have failed us all…yet
again.... PS 8X Grievants
Nothing surprising about UFT refusal to take this grievance - what is good is that at least one group of rank and file teachers took a stand.
Dear Mr. Mulgrew:
The purpose of asking our union leaders to file a grievance, regarding the delay in retro payment, was an effort to get UFT leadership to demonstrate they prioritize the concerns of the membership at large by holding NYC accountable for the delay. First retro payment on October 1st should have meant just that---October 1st not October 15th. Filing individual grievances on behalf of a handful of individual members accomplishes nothing.
By failing to file a union initiated grievance, the UFT has once again shown their true colors. You are not backing the membership with this issue. It was a political move to allow you to say, “Hey you wanted to file a grievance, so we filed your grievance.” This political maneuver also allows you to say to NYC, “Hey it’s not us. It’s these school level malcontents that are causing the trouble.”
We predicted this would happen but we hoped we would be proven wrong. Unfortunately for the entire membership we were correct in assuming that you and your Unity Caucus would rather ignore the fact that the entire working membership was disrespected, when we were not paid on the date we were promised we’d be paid, than upset Mayor DeBlasio and the powers-that-be at the NYC DOE.
Our grievance was never about the few coins we might see in interest if we won the grievance. We knew the financial win wouldn’t even cover the cost of metro cards to and from lower Manhattan where the grievance is heard. This was about demanding the respect we deserve. This was about demanding that UFT leadership demand that respect for us---all of us---a few of us. Mulgrew and Unity have failed us all…yet again. We expect more from a union leadership that represents 140,000 working members. Filing individual grievances for a handful of us is a slap in the face to all 140,000 working UFT members. We are not fooled by your action. We have not been appeased by individual grievances. You have only provided further evidence that our outrage at your lackluster leadership is indeed justified.
PS 8x Grievants
With this being memorialized and now evident of the blatant abuse that UNITY does to its members, this comment simply provides the backdrop for everything that this caucus represents. Moreover, for your statement, "We are not fooled by your acton." we need to rethink this statement and apply it as such, because WE ARE "FOOLED". We are always pointing out these "memorial episodes", yet Unity continues their practices that are unjustified, immoral, and clearly unwarranted. Keeping this mind, filing grievances are like "woof tickets"; they are filed just for the sake of argument, and not for the purpose that is justifiable. So, if we are "bloggers" and followers of these platitudes don't start getting after these "lackluster leaders" then we, as UFT members, will be kept in this vicious cycle of "disrespect and separatism"!!
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