Friday, May 19, 2017

MORE, Featuring Marilyn Martinez, Meets Saturday, ICE, Featuring Rice Pudding, Meets Friday

Just heading out of Rockaway to attend the 4PM ICE meeting at the diner where I can gobble some rice pudding -- well it is hot out and what a way to cool off than at an ICE meeting. If anything worth reporting I will do so tonight or tomorrow. Not sure if I can make it back to city for MORE meeting as I have a lot of yard/gardening work to do but with Marilyn Martinez there it should be quite an event.

The CPE people are having a celebration with Catlin Prestin at 5 this afternoon uptown -

An open agenda at the ICE meeting - some topics so far:
Ed Notes/ICE summer series -- possibly study group, discussions, etc.
Janus and the UFT. Are there alternatives to urging people to stay in the union?
Dissecting the Central park east story in depth -- what do we learn and can it be applied to other schools or is this an outlier?
Chicago and social justice unionism -- we see a dearth of info on Chicago after years of "lessons we can learn". Are the CTU and CORE morphing into the UFT and Unity? Tales of democracy and not democracy -- is the SJ model people are using failing or are there other considerations?
LA confidential -- the loss to charters in school board elections -- is that a good model as an alt to mayoral control? Union leadership in LA -- Alex' grand plan and was it disrupted by the election?

TheMORE meeting/conference on Saturday

Victory at CPE1! Hear exonerated Chapter Leader at MORE forum this weekend…

May 17, 2017 — 1 Comment

Abusive administrator Monika Garg has been removed as Principal of progressive Harlem elementary school CPE1 and UFT Chapter Leader Marylin Martinez and Delegate Caitlin Preston have both been fully exonerated of the retaliatory charges that Garg initiated to remove them to the school!
This victory is the product of an eighteen-month struggle led by parents who occupied the school, took their children out of school in a family strike, and hounded Mayor DiBlasio at events. CPE1 teachers, supported by MORE representatives, repeatedly pressed the leadership at the UFT executive board for action.

Read coverage in on the blog of MORE Executive Board representative Arthur Goldstein, the New York Times, and EducationNotes Online.

Chapter Leader Marilyn Martinez will be speaking at MORE’s forum this Saturday at 3:30 PM – See details below… Please print this flyer to distribute to your staff today!

The Demise of Unions?
A bottom-up vision for reviving the labor movement
Location: CUNY Graduate Center (5th and 34th) Room 5414 (Bring ID)
Date: Saturday, May 20
Time: 3:30 to 6:00, with socializing to follow.
President Trump, Congress, and the US Supreme Court are prepared to continue and escalate the attacks on the American labor movement, and national “right-to-work” laws will severely weaken public sector unions.
How can workers organize in this environment, which is a result not just of recent events, but also of decades of anti-labor policy in the United States? How can public sector workers defend their unions from outside threats, but also hold them accountable and force them to stand up to Trump?
Join MORE (the Movement of Rank & File Educators) at our forum on the future of public sector unionism; hear grassroots organizers from groups across the city share stories of their organizing work and their thoughts on how to prepare for the challenges of the future.
SPEAKERS*:
 
Mary Fitzgerald, RN: Montefiore Hospital, NYSNA organizer
[Mary Fitzgerald is head of the bargaining unit at Montefiore Hospital for the New York State Nurses Association. She helped to organize the dissociation of NYSNA from the American Nurses Association and has been instrumental in advocating for safe staffing in New York hospitals.]
Marilyn Martinez: UFT Chapter Leader at Central Park East 1
[As the United Federation of Teachers Chapter Leader at CPE 1, Marilyn Martinez has worked with families and other teachers to protect the school’s tradition of progressive education. A veteran kindergarten/first-grade teacher, she has been a leader in the school community in the fight against abusive administration.]
*Speakers’ affiliations listed for identification purposes only.

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