Ed Notes Online: UFT/Unity Threatens Opposition with Legal Action for Using UFT Logo Using Stroock, their million dollar a year firm

Thursday, March 2, 2023

UFT/Unity Threatens Opposition with Legal Action for Using UFT Logo Using Stroock, their million dollar a year firm - So Sue Me

The bosses of the UFT are out of control... James Eterno, at ICEUFT Blog: UFT SPENDING OUR MONEY ON FRIVOLOUS CEASE AND DESIST LETTER WHILE THE RULING UNITY CAUCUS USES THE LOGO

Message to UFT/Unity/Stroock - so sue me

Maybe I'm not so union proud today. Did you know I can be sued by my own union's high priced law firm, Stroock (Randy's old firm before she became a "teacher") for posting the logo above on this blog? You know, a logo paid for with my union dues which I have been paying since 1967. So go ahead and sue me - I'd love a case of the UFT suing its own members for promoting the union. Authoritarianism run amuck -- is DeSantis running the UFT?

They act like little mice when it comes to fighting the city or abusive principals, so like any bully they pick on teachers. We've said it often over the years -- the UFT/Unity leadership is more aligned with the bosses than its own members.

A bunch of us in the opposition had an LOL moment when we heard about the threats from the UFT/Unity leadership have made against the MORE Caucus for using the UFT - get this - trademarked logo - during the recent contract campaign - a campaign the union urged people to bring to their chapters. Note the footnoted reference to Ed Notes on the bottom of page 1.

If this was an issue why not just mention it to MORE people at an ex bd meeting or DA and ask for it to be removed, which as far as I'm concerned they don't have to do. This is just another example of an attempt to intimidate and suppress opposition voices to Unity -which we've seen at Ex Bd meetings at times this year - a classic act of authoritarians. How much did getting Stroock involved cost us in union dues?

See below for the account of the over a million bucks paid to Stroock in the 2019-20 year from the LM-2 form

The point is that when the leadership proudly announced their contract prep events to engage the rank and file, the oppo people totally supported it. I did my share.

UFT Contract Teach-Ins Raise Profile with Members ...

One of these is cited in the footnote of the Stroock letter, along with EONYC and New Action blogs.

The union clearly urged people to use their info and even modify it for their schools.

Now here's the rub -- Unity Caucus and its members used the very same logo --- let's see the Stroock letter to them.

Unity altering Fair Contract logo then using it to promote new members to the caucus. Unrelated to contract fight.

[UPDATE - Upon reading this blog, the Unity clones have scrubbed these sites].

More examples of Unity Caucus using the logo.

We are going to have our own law firm - Schmuck and Schmuck send this to Unity since I own part of that logo through my union dues.

6 comments:

Unknown said...: 😂 Schmuck & Schmuck. I LOVE it!; Thursday, March 2, 2023 at 9:08:00 AM EST
Anonymous said...: I’ll tell every obnoxious, aggressive writing retiree I know to start using the UFT logo. I got an acquaintance that reviews gay porn movies, he’ll love it.; Thursday, March 2, 2023 at 11:27:00 AM EST
Anonymous said...: I have a photo of the flyer my former district rep placed in my mailbox last year for their reelection. It reads "Unity/UFT" all over. The Unity logo also has UFT embedded in one of the letters.; Saturday, March 4, 2023 at 5:37:00 AM EST
Anonymous said...: You need to hold your union heads responsible for these actions. They allow this to happen using the union dues you provide them; Thursday, March 9, 2023 at 7:12:00 AM EST
Anonymous said...: Did you know it's a violation of the New York State Taylor law to say you represent retirees when you're a union everybody needs to file a complaint with the state saying that Murphy and head clowned constantly saying this and they need to be held accountable
I hope he can still teach cuz I know he doesn't have enough time to retire and if he gets defeated which he will and the next thing that's going to happen after this is active teachers and active city workers are going to stop paying for the healthcare I looked it this way if I have to pay for my health care and I was a worker of the city of New York they're going to have to pay for their health care and as a city resident I'm going to demand that for that fiscal responsibility every other municipality State organization all the employees pay for their health benefits it's time for New York City to make all members active or retired pay for their health benefits just like everywhere else in the world the head clown in Murphy are telling active people that's not going to happen it's going to happen and he can thank himself for it; Thursday, March 9, 2023 at 3:30:00 PM EST
Anonymous said...: Urgently seeking a list of all schools under custodial review for the last 25 years in the City of New York.; Thursday, May 18, 2023 at 4:37:00 PM EDT

"A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford

What media call "philanthropy" for the public schools are actually seed monies to establish a private "market" in publicly-financed education - an enterprise worth trillions if successfully penetrated by corporate America. Cory Booker, one of the "New Black Leaders" financed by the filthy rich, is key to creating a "nationwide corporate-managed schools network paid for by public funds but run by private managers.

"Ed Reformers" want to cash in on public education and to control its content and outcome, not improve it. Provide great education? Baby boomers had as close as this country has ever gotten to it when we were growing up. The Ed Reform Movement has no interest in seeing such a well-educated, democratically astute population ever again.

http://blackagendareport.com/content/cory-booker-clear-and-present-threat-public-education

History of the UFT Pre-Weingarten Years

This award-winning series of articles by Jack Schierenbeck originally appeared in the New York Teacher in 1996 and 1997.

Naturally, from a certain point of view. But, despite certain biases, Schierenbeck, a great guy, was one of the best NY Teacher reporters so this is worth reading. Jack suffered a debilitating stroke many years ago (I used to get secret donations to ed notes from him through a 3rd source.)

This chapter looks interesting:

Class struggles: The UFT story, part 3

“The schism in the union over radical politics [is] a major reason for stalling the growth of a teacher union for decades.” Revolutionary politics and ideology take center stage, as the original Teachers Union becomes a battlefield, pitting leftist against leftist and splitting the union.

Clarence Taylor's "Reds at the Blackboard" focused on the old Teachers Union which disbanded in 1964 after suffering from anti-left attacks.

Of course for another view, check out the review at New Politics of the Kahlenberg Bio on Shanker by Vera Pavone and me: Albert Shanker: Ruthless Neocon

Effective Union Organizing

A video series put together by Jason Mann from the British Columbia Federation of Teachers about social media and how to use it for effective union organizing.

The first series was called New Media For Union Activists Roadmap and it's still available on-line at:
http://www.newmediabootcamp.ca/welcome/
I watched some of them and need to rewatch as they are loaded with information.

The second series started last week and it's called "Online Campaigning for Union Activists"

You can sign up for this free series at :
http://act.bcfed.ca/online-campaigning-for-union-activists/

You Don't Have A Choice - Join the Revolt

Ex-Harlem Success Teacher Comments on Eva the Diva

Ex-HSA Teacher has left a new comment on your post "Fear and Loathing at Evil's Harlem Success Empire ...":

I am a former Harlem Success teacher. Not many people who work/worked for her like her very much. I once made the comment that she is very nice when I first was hired. Two of her closest colleague responded immediately almost in unison, "Eve is not nice!" Over time I realized that there was a lot of political games going on. Another colleague once said to me that he was tired of "being part of a political campaign." Sending out 15,000 applications for only 400 seats in a school is reprehensible. The money that paid for those mass mailings could have paid the yearly salary of another teacher not to mention the heartache of all those parents who applied but did not get a spot. She does good work trying to give disadvantaged students a quality public school education but at a great cost to staff AND the school's educational budget! school budget.

Davis Guggenheim Compared to Riefenstahl

“Waiting for Superman" is the second most intellectually dishonest piece of documentary work I have seen. It is surpassed only by Leni Riefenstahl's "Triumph of the Will," the pro-Hitler propaganda classic, in that regard. Uses personal narratives of adorable children to create narrative suspense that overrides public policy discussion with pure emotion in unscrupulous attack on teachers and their unions, among others

Timothy Tyson
Professor of African American Studies and History
Duke University

How Teaching Experience Makes a Difference

Even as New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Michelle Rhee and others around the nation are arguing for experienced teachers to be laid off regardless of seniority, every single study shows teaching experience matters. In fact, the only two observable factors that have been found consistently to lead to higher student achievement are class size and teacher experience, so that it’s ironic that these same individuals are trying to undermine both.
- Leonie Haimson on Parents Across America web site

Full article with charts here.

Weingarten/Gates Foundation announce drone-driven teacher evaluation

According to a press release issued by the Gates Foundation, the AFT and the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, these three have entered a ground-breaking partnership to evaluate teachers utilizing the drone technology that has revolutionized warfare in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. A bird-size device floats up to 400 feet above a classroom and instantly beams live video of teachers in action to agents at desks at Teacher Quality Inspection Stations established by the AFT and the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.

When asked if the drones were authorized to drop bombs on teachers who exhibit inadequacy, Chester E. Finn, Jr., president of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, replied, "Don't be ridiculous. Gates money puts other methods at our disposal."

Randi Weingarten, president of the 1.5-million-member American Federation of Teachers said the powerful union has signed on to the drone project...

More at Substance

The Real Reason Behind Push for Standardized Tests: It's All About the Adults

On standardized testing in our schools

A must read article about the standardized test industry.
Written by an insider who has worked as a test scorer, the article outlines a multinational industry based on an army of temporary workers paid by the piece at $0.30 to $0.70 per test, translated in the need to grade 40 tests per hour to make a $12 salary. The article goes on to show how the companies gauge the grading "results" based on the need to ensure new contracts to continue profiting off of our youth. The original article is from Monthly Review. Here it is on Schools Matter blog.

http://www.schoolsmatter.info/2010/12/on-growing-use-of-corporate-test.html

Parallels between America today and Germany in the 1920's and early 30's

"Resentment and obstruction are all the right wing in America have to peddle. Their policies are utterly discredited. Their ideology - even by its own standards - is a sham. They are so bereft of leaders, their de facto leader is a former drug addicted, thrice-divorced radio talk show host. That is literally the best they can muster. But they have built a national franchise inciting the downwardly mobile to blame the government, not the right, for their problems, exactly as Hitler did in the 1920s."

The US Is Facing a Weimar Moment

Published on Sunday, March 15, 2009 by CommonDreams.org

Chicago View of Unity/UFT on Charters

After many meetings and debates, the Chicago delegation succeeded in working with the New York United Federation of Teachers, Local 2 (UFT) to push the AFT to take stronger stands on charter school accountability and school closings — though many delegates from Chicago would have liked the language to have been even stronger.

Generally speaking, the New York delegation represented organizing charters as the best model for handling their role in reshaping unions, despite the fact that according to many reports few charter schools in New York have been organized as is the case in Chicago. This logic is the same touted by the Progressive Caucus of the AFT. The few that have been organized are a part of the UFT local though they have separate contracts negotiated with the help of UFT. The Chicago delegation reflection the mindset that allowing new charters to continue to proliferate while attempting to organize existing charters is an end game in which public schools and the union lose.

Jen Johnson, CTU, Local 1 in Substance

Ed Notes Greatest Hits: HSA Rally and Founding of GEM

SEE MY VIDEO ON HARLEM SUCCESS RALLY 2009:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEp7rg_L5JI

Angel Gonzalez and I attended that rally and used the footage to promote our conference on Mar. 28, 2009, which is where the concept of a group like GEM emerged. Until then we had basically been a committee of ICE working with the NYCORE high stakes testing group. The actions of Eva and crew helped spawn GEM. Mommie Dearest!!

I have more video somewhere. I was hoping to get Leni Riefenstahl to edit it but she died. We would have called it "Triumph of the Hedge Fund Operators."

Ed Notes Extended

Thursday, March 2, 2023

UFT/Unity Threatens Opposition with Legal Action for Using UFT Logo Using Stroock, their million dollar a year firm - So Sue Me

6 comments: