Christina Gavin, who has produced a 71 page list of election complaints which we are sending in to the UFT today, has by her activity inspired the enmity of the UFT leadership, which has made her a focus of retaliation as I reported:
You can read the letter here with a description of the incidents in question: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1A318fT0dmLCJPw_bbn1iOk_zc1Av-1SDTsmyKr_8yD8/edit?usp=sharing
Also printed below:
http://bit.ly/openuft
Dear UFT Leadership,
We, the undersigned UFT members, are writing to share our deep concern, frustration, and disappointment with the UFT’s leadership in regard to the election complaints targeting Christina Gavin, a committed school librarian and UFT member, as well as your refusal to allow many of Ms. Gavin’s supporters access to the UFT Executive Board meeting on May 23rd that should have been open to all UFT members, according to the 2015 UFT Constitution.
Ms. Gavin has been a dedicated school librarian, special education teacher, and UFT member for the past 10 years. As part of the recent UFT election, Ms. Gavin has also been diligently documenting and submitting election violations on behalf of the United for Change caucus. It is not a coincidence that Ms. Gavin is being accused of 2 acts of misconduct in light of her work for the opposition coalition that attempted to unseat current union leadership. Singling out a UFT member over the course of several Executive Board meetings is unprecedented, wildly inappropriate, retaliatory, and unreasonably petty – not to mention a waste of our union’s time and resources when there are other far greater concerns to attend to that affect all UFT members.
The complaint relating to the Google group that Ms. Gavin created does not violate any LMRDA directives about electioneering. Similarly, Ms. Gavin’s actions on March 25 at Bar 47 did not violate any LMRDA laws; Mr. William (“Bill”) Woodruff’s actions however are in violation of LMRDA as Ms. Gavin submitted to the UFT on March 28. Mr. Woodruff had repeatedly apologized and taken ownership of his actions, a recording and transcript of which statements exist. Nevertheless, Mr. Woodruff, Ms. Maria Lopez, Ms. Sheila Romero, and Ms. Mary Perez — all UFT members, including a UFT District Representative and UFT Chapter Leaders — subsequently worked together to file a false complaint against Ms. Gavin, despite a witness to the contrary of all the falsehoods they reported.
Surely since both incidents do not violate any electioneering laws on the part of Ms. Gavin, they could have been resolved through private peer mediation through the UFT and not in a public forum wherein elected union officials have slandered the character of a union member that they have been elected to represent and protect.
Additionally, many supporters of Ms. Gavin – approximately 70 in total – were planning to attend the Executive Board meeting on May 23rd. Ms. Gavin & Mr. Daniel Leviatin, who submitted the names of all UFT members who wished to attend, complied with Mr. LeRoy Barr’s requests to submit names in advance. This denial of numerous UFT members was a result of either intentional gatekeeping to bar Ms. Gavin’s supporters from entering or gross ineptitude. In any case, many UFT members waited for over 30 minutes to be allowed entry to the meeting; many members were not allowed into the meeting in time to hear the complaints targeting Ms. Gavin, if at all. This is inexcusable – and the exact opposite of the kind of transparent and democratic leadership one-third of the electorate were calling for during the election.
At the May 23rd Executive Board meeting, Secretary LeRoy Barr claimed that we are a union of one. Though Mr. Barr is the UFT’s Director of Staff, instead of holding a staff member, Mr. Woodruff accountable, Mr. Barr effectively minimized and refused to acknowledge this employee’s unacceptable behavior. Mr. Barr also went on to comment about the importance of setting the record straight and honestly facing history in relation to Mr. Marcus Garvey, a long-dead individual who was never a member of the UFT, but refused to do the same for Ms. Gavin. These actions by UFT representatives do not convey a message of unity or demonstrate the solidarity that is the spirit of unionism.
To that end, we are asking UFT leadership to address these issues with the following actions:
We ask that you dismiss the complaints against Ms. Gavin and issue a formal apology for targeting Ms. Gavin.
The video recording of the open mic portion of the Executive Board should be made available to all UFT members who requested to attend but were not allowed in time to enter the meeting.
To avoid any further issues with admitting UFT members into Executive Board meetings, we are requesting that the Executive Board set up a pre-registration process for Executive Board meetings, so that members can be verified in advance. No UFT member should be denied entry.
We are committed to building a stronger union, and we believe that UFT leadership must take these next steps to make that happen.
Signed,
Kit Wainer, Retired
Martina Meijer
Jon Mermelstein, PS 161 - Don Pedro Albizu Campos
Sarah Hill
Olivia Swisher
Kate Connors, John Bowne High School
Tori Leventhal, Hunter's Point Community Middle School
Clare Nolan, Bard High School Early College
Michael Cunningham, Boys and Girls High School Campus
Rosie Frascella
Alla Umanskaya, PS/IS 30 Mary White Ovington
Jessica Dickson
Daniel Leviatin, PS59x
Marian Swerdlow, Retiree
Michael Mahrer, 02M615
Chantaya Greene
Judi Cheng
Eleftheria Sabella, Queens School of Inquiry
Michele Ascione, Abraham Lincoln HS
Kate O'Connell, Hillcrest HS
Alex Cuff, 19K404
Gabriel Fontes, Leaders High School
Gloria Brandman, Retiree
Jalil Bey
Patricia Dobosz, Retiree
Marilena Marchetti. 13K492
Taiyo Ebato
Alison Loebel, 29Q195
Niketa Hyder
Judith Loebl, Retiree
Alex Jallot
Bobby Greenberg, Retiree
Ellen Schweitzer, Stuyvesant High School
Ilona Clara Nanay, 12X242, Mott Hall V
Matt Driscoll, M260
Sid Kivanoski, Retiree
Travis Malekpour, Benjamin N. Cardozo High School
Denise Rickles, Retiree
Rachel Gorman, Gregorio Luperon High School
Christina Theodoro, 15K448
James Cole
Sheila Zukowsky, Retiree
Ronnie Almonte, Bard High School Early College (Manhattan)
Prudence Hill
Jamie Powell
Amanda Aschettino-Ramirez, Teachers College Community School
Jennifer Clavin
Martha Bordman
Juan Córdova
David Levin, Retiree
Jessica Fenster-Sparber
Maureen McDermott, Bronx Regional High School
David Gilbert, P10X
Norm Scott. Retiree
Mary Damour, M505
Nick Bacon
Mimi Bluestone, Retiree
Sam Coleman, PS 15K
Carol Widom, PS 219, Retiree
Francis Cook, PS 261
Lillie Gatewood
Ms. R. Pikser
Ilan Desai-Geller
Joy Ferguson, Brooklyn Technical High School
Herm Jerome, M282
Daniel Alicea
Jay Werner , 09X227
Jonathan Halabi, HS of American Studies at Lehman College
Dan Leopold, P186X
Sally Beane, BSGE
Danielle Aronow
Mark Zink, CSE 07
Odalis Santana, PS 109x
Megan Moskop-Toler, Community Action School
Nira Psaltos, Thomas A. Edison CTE High School
Kate Phillips, PS 449X
Pierce McCaffrey, Clara Barton HS
Beverly Powell, Retiree
Rebecca Mayfield
Ashley Hawkins
Gerri Calandro, NYCDOE
Peter Zucker, PS/MS 29
Joanne Millar
Rob Roszkowski
Melinda Moreis
Erica Rhine, Retiree
Caroline Sykora, Claremont International High School
Lydia Howrilka, Clara Barton HS
Yasmin Colón
Aimee Tabrizi, HS for Media and Communications
Lena Chou, Central Park East High School
Nikki Camera
Steve Quester, P.S. 244Q
Emily Welsh
Rick Bonacorsi
Kara Youngs, 15K136
Miriam Markes, PS 160K
John "Jack" Ganley, 15K038
Christina Fraioli, 24Q530
Peter Allen-Lamphere, M552
Jennifer Plassman, Franklin D Roosevelt High School
Helen Leshinsky, Jill Chaifetz Transfer High School
Thomas Diaz
Noah Teachey
Bennett Fischer, Retiree
Joseph Diodato, Substitute Teacher
Oli Occelli
Claudia Aybar, 04M083Elaine Tang, TAG Young Scholars
1 comment:
Mulgrew still needs to be thrown into a wall.
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