Repost from ICE blog:
ICE met on a zoom and discussed current major trends in the UFT:
Three current elections pose a threat to Unity Caucus absolute control of the UFT (except for the 7 hs EB seats.)
TRS election
Ben Morgenroth,
who is running against the Unity candidate for one
of the 3 TRS pension positions, discussed the election process
(complicated), his petition campaign (going very well) and a campaign in
the schools, where elections take place on May 8. The attendees
endorsed Ben's campaign. There was some surprise at the response from so
many schools on the petition returns. Unity has been forced to engage
in an election for the first time in decades and put out a leaflet for
their candidate at the March 20 DA. Ben reports that their candidate
wants to come to his school to campaign and get signatures. She seems to
be a UFT employee and can go to schools to campaign.
Going back to the process involved in
the DOE running this election, with principals in charge in each school -
and process is law - there is a potential nightmare in this being run
correctly. There are supposed to be 3 tellers in each school and voting
must be on May 8. The Unity machine has a major advantage in the number
of chapter leaders that can "manage" to influence the process. Expect
some ramifications, with some schools violating the law by not even
holding a vote.
Retiree Chapter Election
RA
Chapter Leader candidate Bennett Fisher (Unity has not yet announced
his opponent) was present and reviewed the LOL RTC March 19 meeting
where it was clear that Unity was so worried about this election they
have a new initiative to organize the 7,000 retired paras as a way to
troll for votes. Bennett reports we have the full slate of 300
candidates for the DA which includes 10 officers and 15 Exec Bd.
Petitioning is easy and complete. One glitch came up was the Unity
demand we only use UFT ID numbers when we had been following the
tradition of giving people a choice of last 4 soc sec or file numbers.
That led to some anger at changing the rules at the last minute and a
scramble to touch base with the candidates who had not used the UFT ID
number. RA decided not to waste time in protest and just get as many
numbers as they can. They expect some flexibility if we miss a few due
to people traveling, etc. If Unity tries to knock people off the ballot
due to the number, then expect a big protest - possibly an election
complaint to PERB.
Para Chapter Election and petition for a fair wage
Daniel
Alicea, who has been working with a group of paras challenging the
Unity machine in the para election, was present to give a report. He
described the reso put in front of the Ex Bd on. March 18 and how Unity
"supported" it by gutting it by removing the final reso which called for
a plan for collective bargaining, with Unity arguing we don't bargain
in public (despite the success of other teacher unions that used public
bargaining to win big gains for paras).
See Nick Bacon's report on New Action blog:
And Ed Notes:
Daniel
reported on the DA two days later on how the Unity para chapter leader
actually raised the gutted reso, making it look like theirs. Daniel made
an amendment restoring most of the gutted portion but removed the call
for open bargaining. Unity voices muddled the debate and the reso was
defeated.
Nick reported on the meeting:
Daniel also reported on the potential para slate under the banner of UFT Paras For A Fair Contract - website: https://www.fixparapay.org/
Unity
changed the rules for the para election by making it slate voting and
requiring at least 7 to be a slate. In last year's special election 5
opposing Unity candidates ran as individuals and won 2 seats. Paras know
that if they run they may face pressure from Unity so putting together a
slate is going to be a process.
A petition has been circulating and the response has been excellent with hundreds of paras signing and some of them are offering to join the slate. Sign the petition.
A petition has been circulating and the response has been excellent with hundreds of paras signing and some of them are offering to join the slate. Sign the petition.
There are 25,000 paras and they garner almost 300 delegates to the DA, so if Unity lost in both the Retiree and Para elections, there would be major changes at the DA and Unity control of the union in the 2025 general election would be in danger.
You can read more on the issue:
The Next Step: UFT Paras for A Fair Contract launches campaign for A LIVING WAGE and FAIR CONTRACT; seeking paras to run on its election slate
The
next ICE meeting will be in person on Wednesday April 24 during the
break. Email normsco@gmail.com if interested in attending.
Submitted by Norm Scott
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