The evidence keeps mounting. The UFT is more an agent of the employer than a union. Ie - See healthcare
A major difference between the UFT 60s-early 70s and now? The leadership and staff were battle hardened strike vets while the current crew have spent their time managing the membership to tamp down militancy. The role of the Unity machine is to manage the membership and lower expectations, not to defend their interests. The story of the re-vote on the OT/PT contract is a perfect example.
...since collectively bargaining away our healthcare is so important to UFT leadership, there’s a certain irony to AAA certification of the OT/PT revote...Nick@NACWednesday, Sept. 6
There were cheering crowds by Unity Caucus hacks in Mudville, as the mighty OT/PT chapter was struck out - for now, a Pyrrhic victory for Unity which will come back to bite them. The lesson for critics of Unity is to mock and boycott the bogus negotiating committees with their cone of silence in the future as the sham they am, and question the entire voting process on contracts and even on UFT elections. There will be much more scrutiny of ballots in the future - observers should camp out at the AAA offices.
When our UFT President communicated to membership that he wouldn’t be able to do the job of collectively ‘re-bargaining’ in a timely manner, Unity orchestrated a divisive and undemocratic re-vote campaign to avoid going back to the negotiating table...Nick@NAC
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| UFT Organizing Model |
High school teachers have voted against Unity for most of the past 4 decades, yet are saddled with the Unity HS VP since the 1990s and might start calling for going back to the old pre-1960 days of the militant High School Teachers Association, which with the recent death of a UFT founder George Altomare, reminds us of his role in bringing HSTA into the UFT fold through a merger in 1960. There would be no UFT if not for that merger. The history is interesting. Altomare was forced to retire when Shulman defeated him for HSVP in 1985, a cataclysmic event in Unity history and setting the pattern of "When we lose we re-do." (See Jonathan's dissection of the high school division.)
Highly paid 6 figure UFT staffers making double the pay of many therapists trolled and mocked the OT/PT leader and when challenged resorted to ghost twitter accounts.
Imagine if these highly paid staffers actually spent their time defending teacher rights.
Unions and strikes are so popular right now that in every labor dispute a clear and overwhelming percentage of the American people side with workers, not the bosses. And that’s just the beginning..... Internet comment
But our leaders live in the UFT/Unity universe, so the summer/fall of strikes is a myth to them.
After voting down the onerous 9th period the DOE so wanted, as a way to increase therapist work loads and save money in not hiring more people, the Unity machinations will leave them stuck with this provision. The OT/PT negotiating committee had categorically maintained they were opposed to the 9th period but were blindsided by the top leadership just an hour before having to vote, a major reason the chapter voted NO by 60% the first time.
So what was the UFT response? Attack the leadership of OT/PT and incite the membership to do the same and declare openly they will refuse to go back to the bargaining table.
Instead of giving therapist income equality to other UFT members, the UFT/Unity "solution" is to extend their work time. UAW - autoworkers demand a 4 day workweek without reducing pay. I love their leader Shawn Fain saying billionaires do not have a right to exist. Can you imagine Mulgrew or Randi saying they when they actually cultivate billionaires and help buck up a privatized neo-liberalist capitalism.
We know the Unity history over decades when they lose what they deem as important votes.
- Unity: Caucus of Knifing Membership in the Back - ...
- Is UFT a union or management? Media sides with OT/...
- Dissecting UFT/UNITY's Dirty War Against Therapist...
My Aug. 29th post pointing to the backward looking UFT/Unity machine in comparison to the enormously energetic current union movements, got some attention, with over 11 thousand views on the day after publication (it was linked by daily must read Naked Capitalism) and 2k daily views since then.
I concluded with:
Unity may be passive when it comes to dealing with the DOE and principals but when it comes to threats to its power from opposing forces, Unity becomes a tiger.
So what's the verdict? Is the UFT leadership saddled with a membership -- New York's meekest as my late friend used to lament?
Or is the rank and file saddled with a leadership that only shows militancy when its own members who challenge it?
The re-vote of the OT/PT contract was an apt enforcement of the points I made. Some reactions I've seen.
“The next step should have been to go back to the bargaining table. It was a fair and certified vote. It was not close. It was not compromised in any way.” - Alison Loebel Bertoni. ... Why Are School Therapists in NYC Revoting on a ‘Nothing’ Contract? - Work Bites -
Nick at NAC: The truth is that the UFT hasn’t seriously engaged in ‘collective bargaining’ for decades. Instead, they’ve engaged in ‘concessionary bargaining,’ accepting the bulk of what our employer demands .... UFT leadership claims to be in an existential fight for collective bargaining. But when they have the chance to bargain collectively, do they? A Farewell to Collective Bargaining? New Action
More Nick: 89% of just over 2k voted yes. Under the circumstance of being told
voting no was pointless by their own union president, I’m not surprised.
If your own bargaining agent conveys that all renegotiating will do is
make things take longer, leaving out the part that pattern bargaining
ensures retro pay, a lot of union members are understandably going to go
for the safe option (i.e. the City’s first offer).
MORE PERFECT UNION: Unions and strikes are so popular right now that in every labor dispute a clear and overwhelming percentage of the American people side with workers, not the bosses. And that’s just the beginning
TeeganBurke: Yet in NYC, thanks to the inability to strike because of the Taylor Law & the underhanded dealings of@UFTUnity, NYC teachers were presented with a contract that gave them a 3% raise. Far below cost of living. Not a word from @AFTunion or its self serving president@rweingarten
And for reference, from way back then when 60% voted NO:
The original whys for the NO vote still exist. What has changed is the success of the Unity spirit of hopelessness.
This bears repeating: in essence the UFT/Unity leadership has killed the battle for equal pay, while saddling the OT/PT with the "optional" 9th period which allows the city to save money by overworking the members. Think Amazon, railway workers and the neo-liberal 40 year war to reduce the work force. UFT leadership is a partner in that effort when it should be a resister. But we long-time Unity watchers expect nothing less.
We need a third vote for the rubber match
But, Oh the machinations behind the re-vote of the rejected contract. Below are the numbers for this version of the vote. In my book it is a tie. First vote had 60% NO and second vote had 60% Yes. We need a rubber match. And I noted that since the chapter has about 3,000 members, about one thousand didn't vote in either vote. One of the arguments used by Unity was to give the non-voters a chance to vote. How unfair. The non-voters need a third shot at the apple. Just do it again.
What next for OT/PT For a Fair Contract? Keep an eye on the upcoming chapter election.
Melissa Williams and other Ex Bd members' resignation has created a debate inside the general opposition movement. Some urged her to hang on. I stand with her decision to resign. The Unity machine battered her from the day she took over as CL two years ago. Here is a link to her resignation letter.
Melissa Williams, Uncensored: "The game is rigged. It was rigged for two years. We are only now seeing the full force of the abuse of power in a union with one-party rule."
I will highlight one section from Melissa to illustrate the level of leadership response:
After all the many months of work our OT/PT Executive Board did gathering data for the UFT Grievance Department, the UFT Grievance Department failed to pursue the Transfer List 2022 issue, the recovery pay arbitration, or substantively address the months of non-payment some therapists experience coming off of parental leave. The success we had addressing the SEED Payment issues this year is because we showed up at Panel of Educational Policy meetings, Citywide Council of Special Education meetings, and leveraged our relationships with parent leaders.
All of that was achieved outside of the union power structure.
Chapter leaders are often, unless with ties to Unity (and not even them in some cases), on their own.
Imagine if Retiree Advocate actually got more votes than Unity in this year's chapter election?
When we lose we re-do.
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Afterburn
Someone sent me a link to an Ed Notes post I wrote 3 years ago with some pertinent comments on what I saw then as a bogus strike talk by UFT leaders.
I have believed for 45 years the UFT will never strike. I still haven't been proven wrong. I have doubted there would be a strike due to
the political nature of the leadership which has been anti-strike for
45 years and has conditioned the membership to fear Taylor Law penalties
and is seemingly trying to switch horses in mid-stream -- mixed messages for
sure. James reported earlier at ICEUFT - DAILY NEWS REPORTS CITY AND UFT ARE TALKING which
has good, bad and ugly aspects since we don't know what kind of
backroom deals are being made. The strike talk is most likely only a
show as Mulgrew sends out mixed messages. Could they pull off a strike
or are the powers that be laughing themselves silly over the very idea?
I wrote this Nov. 2018- Memories of 1975 -
I firmly believe there can be no major gains without a credible strike threat. But I don't believe we will see that here in NYC unless there are catastrophic cuts -- like a severe depression and attempts to cut current salaries.... there are people in the UFT today who are saying the leadership should get the membership strike ready because the West Virginia and other red state strike are an example that UFT members might be ready to follow. The Taylor Law penalties is one reason why that won't happen here until NYC teachers are eating dog food like teachers in the red states.
August 31, 2020: The Great 2020 NYC Teacher Strike - Or Not - August 31 Edition - NO STRIKE RESO AT EB
In contrast to the UFT attempts to demoralize not only the OT/PT chapter, but to teach the entire membership a lesson. I've been pointing to the new militancy by major unions. Take these comments from new UAW leader Shawn Fein and how these leaders have emboldened
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The press seems to have been sympathetic to the OT/PT. Melissa did a great job in dealing with the press, which led to Unity hacks attacking her - how dare she talk to the press? Only UFT shills have that right.
The UFT/Unity machine doesn't care what the opposition says, but they do care when mainstream press covers. The word "undemocratic" even with quotes in the headline of this DN article? Agata at 52 Broadway.
Here is the full text without links.
A chapter of school therapists that was directed to revote on a tentative contract agreement has approved the deal amid criticism the process was anti-democratic.
The contract between the United Federation of Teachers and the city was ratified by 89% of the more than 2,000 occupational and physical therapists who cast ballots, according to the tally of the revote by the independent American Arbitration Association.
“I want to thank the [occupational and physical therapists] who participated in the union meetings this summer to discuss your contract,” UFT President Michael Mulgrew said in an email Wednesday to members. “The challenge we faced helped build a stronger union.”
Earlier this summer, the bargaining unit that included occupational and physical therapists as well as other professional groupings turned down the agreement. More than two-thirds of therapists who cast ballots rejected the deal, with many citing pay concerns. Others in the unit, including nurses and audiologists, voted it through, the initial tally showed.
Rather than go back to the negotiating table, the UFT split the therapists from the rest of their bargaining unit and directed them to revote. No other members had to vote again.
Mulgrew in announcing the revote cited an “outpouring of opinion” on all sides of the arguments. The UFT received just under 1,500 emails from members in the bargaining unit asking for a revote, according to a spokeswoman for the union.
But the directive was met with swift backlash from chapter leadership, prompting the resignation of three chapter executive board members, including chapter leader Melissa Williams.
Ballots were mailed on Tuesday, Aug. 8, and due on Tuesday, according to the UFT. They were counted on Wednesday.
Roughly 450 more ballots were returned in the second vote than during the initial round, according to figures reviewed by The News. The number of votes against the deal dwindled the second time around from 1,074 to 229, a memo from the UFT showed Thursday.
The initial vote to reject the contract was the second time in a row that therapists turned down the first offer from the city. In 2018, union reps went back into negotiations with city labor officials — a step that many therapists who voted no expected to happen again.Vice chair of physical therapists Aideen Kwan Dela Cruz told The News she was relieved to no longer be labeled as a “troublemaker,” but saddened to miss out on pay parity and respect.
“I understand why people ratified this contract as they do not see how they can change the union leadership’s stance on not supporting our chapter’s demands,” she said. “It is disheartening that we pay union dues to a union who sides with the employer and not the paying members.”
The new contract boosts pay 17.58% to 20.42% compounded over the five years of the agreement according to the UFT. It dates back retroactively to last September, and comes with retroactive payments and a $3,000 ratification bonus.
The union is a mess, the representation is comical, but not really as we rely upon this "organization" for our salaries.
ReplyDeleteWe have a new schedule at my school and the staff is walking around, unsure of when and what we're supposed to do. When does the day end, what is this parent outreach work from home (wow thanks Mikey) BS all about.