TODAY - Final RTC Meeting under Unity control, Randi is guest, RA Press Release, NY Post article

Tuesday, June 18, 2024

It's been an absolute pleasure working with decades old Retiree Advocate/UFT group since I joined them around 2016. We've had success by working as a consensus group with the understanding that if we disagree with a general consensus we will be willing to give in the interests of staying united. We have kept our eye on the prize -- I think due to the many years of experience and learning the ropes of working with others. 

So today at 1 RA and many of its supporters (growing since Friday) will be at 52 at noon handing out a leaflet and attending the 1PM meeting, the final one run by Tom Murphy. It should be quite an experience, unlike anything we've experienced in the UFT. We expect the formal announcement of the results of the election. 

Following that there will be a celebration from 3-5 at a local joint.

 

 

 

RTC Membership Meeting - Tomorrow, 1 p.m. at the UFT

Tomorrow is the last RTC meeting of the year. Registration info is below, so please sign up for virtual or in-person attendance. UFT President Michael Mulgrew will be there, as well as special guest, AFT President Randi Weingarten. There will be presentations on the AFT's political priorities for the 2024 U.S. election. And there will be information on the latest retiree progams. Finally, there will be a short play written by a late UFT retiree. (There may even be an official announcement of the RTC election results!)

Date: Tuesday, June 18th Time: 1 to 3 p.m. EDT Where: Online or in-person at Shanker Hall, 52 Broadway, New York, NY

Click here to register for the June RTC Meeting

Join us after the meeting for some celebration and refreshment. London & Martin Co., 6 Stone St, between Whitehall & Broad Streets. 2 1/2 blocks from the UFT.

RA Facebook Page

RA Website

Retiree Advocate UFT · NY 11201, United States

 

The NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees shares the following press statement from UFT Retiree Advocate and will make a statement separately. 

Retiree Advocate Caucus Wins Leadership Election in the UFT Retired Teachers Chapter Over Michael Mulgrew's Unity Caucus

Friday’s Election Proves Actions Have Consequences

NEW YORK, June 17, 2024 — Friday's election in the Retired Teachers Chapter of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT RTC) was historic. In its over 40 years of existence, no caucus other than the Unity caucus has led this organization. The RTC is over 70,000 members strong and is the largest functional chapter within the UFT. 

Retiree Advocate's win proves that good, old-fashioned, grassroots organizing can move a mountain. Unity's efforts to privatize the retirees’ Medicare benefits and diminish their healthcare had consequences. UFT leadership cannot claw back retiree benefits and expect to get re-elected!

In the 2021 chapter election, 23,024 total votes were cast. The incumbent Unity caucus won with 70% of the vote. On Friday, June 14, 2024, the equation flipped. 28,346 votes were cast - an increase of 5,322 voters - and the Unity caucus was taken to the woodshed with a yet unofficial tally of 17,226 to 10,114 votes. A Retiree Advocate victory of 63%-37%!!

Bennett Fischer, the Chapter Leader-elect of the Retiree Advocate Chapter whose team won this historic election states, “For three years we have been fighting for our lives. Fighting for the promises made to us and the benefits we earned; fighting to preserve the public Medicare and supplemental benefits that keep us well, without networks and gatekeepers. This is an absolute win for our members and our union."

Bobby Greenberg, the Treasurer-elect of the Retiree Chapter states, “This is a new day for our union. Task one, NO PRIVATIZATION of our health coverage!”

Gloria Brandman, the Secretary-elect of the RTC states, “We deserve this victory and we will fight like heck to keep the healthcare that we have and work hard to bring democracy back to our chapter and our union! Power to the People!”

Michele Rayvid, the Assistant Treasurer-elect states, “This is a bright new beginning for our Retiree Chapter, and I am so proud to be part of a change toward a more democratic and transparent chapter that promises to listen to its members.

###

 

Media Contact

Bennett Fischer 646-591-7598

Tremblychap@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

• UFT Retiree Chapter Election Vote Count 11 AM Update - Over 28k ballot returns, Count Won't actually start until 1 PM - Why I left

  12 PM Sampling UPDATE: It's going to be close. Looks like they started counting already so discount my complaints below. Counting ballot...
• 

  Norm Handicaps the 2024 Retiree Chapter Election - 35% is bad, 45% and above is a winning formula going forward

  Unity Caucus - The Real Enemy Within I went to the DA Wednesday with a leaflet I wrote under the Ed Notes banner with the headline above wh...
• 

  Earthquake in the UFT/Unity Machine as regular Unity voters desert the mother ship for RA in 30 point vote swing

  There is no joy in Mudville. Mighty Unity has struck out. Unofficial totals rough numbers: RA 17,000+, Unity 10,000+ What exactly did RA wi...

 

 

UFT Retirees Unseat the Incumbent and Founding Caucus 

New York, June 17, 2024 - The NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees congratulates the Retiree Advocate Caucus of the UFT!  Retired Labor is standing up locally and nationally against privatizing Medicare and reducing benefits for current retirees that they earned while working. This was a historic election.

The Retiree Advocate has been attacked by the UFT Unity Caucus for being 'uncivil' but what can be more uncivil than clawing back Medicare benefits from seniors and the disabled?  In the words of Charles Cogen the first UFT union president in 1959, Defending himself and teacher militancy, he said in a 1959 interview, ''Students will have more respect for teachers who stand up and fight for their rights.'' (NY Times 1998) Retired teachers are standing up for their rights!

Continuous privatization of the Federal Public Health Benefit of Medicare by Labor will have a national impact on the government being able to provide Medicare because these companies overcharge the government as has been identified not only by the Department of Justice, the Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General, and by Centers for Medicare itself. This scheme is happening from NY to Fresno, California.  Retirees nationwide are trying to fight back and sadly many cannot afford to litigate like we did.

Ill-advised union leaders who no longer represent retirees, like the UFT under the leadership of Michael Mulgrew, are forcing retirees into Medicare Advantage (MA) to secure raises for inservice workers.   MA plans are saddled with prior authorization which wrongly delays and denies care, has a narrow network of providers, and which many doctors and hospitals do not accept is criminal.  

The NYC Healthcare program was founded in choice and the UFT historically passed resolutions to protect Medicare from privatization.  No union should ever reduce a benefit, never mind the healthcare of a retired unionist, and surely never privatize a Federal Public Health Benefit.

Aetna, the latest vendor of the City's choice of MA provider announced in their last quarterly shareholder meeting that they are below profit margins and promised to concentrate on "margins over members" to recover the 3-4% loss in revenue.  No union should be forcing their retirees off Traditional Medicare. 

Marianne Pizzitola, President states, "It is a new day in the UFT, and this sends a message directly to leadership that they are not protecting retirees or keeping their promises made to them when they were in the union before retiring.  The NYS Appeals Court in Bentkowski v City of NY, affirmed that retirees were made a promise they would have Medicare in retirement and it would be to their detriment if it were taken away.  Labor helped pass the Medicare Act in 1965 and should never have put it in the hands of for-profit insurers like Aetna.  If retiree's former unions are not going to protect them, then their City and State legislatures should.  It is the right thing to do or who would want to give their lives to public service when the promise of a benefit that lured them into employment can be taken away in retirement?"

###

Media Contact

Marianne Pizzitola

631-793-9715

 

Retired NYC teachers toss out union prez’s crew in furor over Medicare coverage

By

Social Links for Carl Campanile

Published June 16, 2024, 9:23 p.m. ET

 

 https://nypost.com/2024/06/16/us-news/nyc-teacher-retirees-toss-out-union-crew-over-medicare-coverage/

 

Retired city educators furious over proposed changes to their health care have toppled a union slate allied with powerful United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew.

The Mulgrew-linked United Caucus’ Retiree chapter sent a notice to its supporters Saturday saying unofficial results showed it lost the recent election to the dissident faction Retiree Advocate.

The loss of control of the UFT’s Retired Teachers Chapter by Mulgrew’s camp means the renegade faction will now be overseeing about 300 union seats carrying crucial voting and administration powers while repping tens of thousands of retired teachers and other educators such as guidance counselors and paraprofessionals. 

Tampering with retirees’ health coverage was “a big mistake,” a union source said.

“This was cuckoo. Why were we messing with retirees’ health care? It’s like a bomb has been dropped on the UFT,” the source said.

Bennett Fischer, the new Retiree Chapter leader, said in a statement, “Wow. It’s a new day in the UFT Retired Teachers Chapter and a new day in the UFT. A good day. A very good day.

“For three years now, retirees have been fighting for our lives: Fighting for the health benefits that we earned; fighting against the privatization of our healthcare; fighting for the traditional Medicare and Supplemental insurance that we were promised. And, fighting for the health and wellbeing of our future UFT colleagues-in-retirement,” he said.

The upheaval comes on the heels of opposition to Mulgrew and city union leaders representing other municipal workers agreeing to shift retirees from their traditional Medicare coverage to Aetna-run Medicare Advantage to generate cost savings for New York City.

Critics claim the shift of 250,000 city retirees to Medicare Advantage supplemental coverage could leave them with higher costs and fewer benefits.

Fischer’s Retiree Advocate faction won 63% to 37% to Mulgrew’s Unity Caucus slate — 17,226 votes to 10,114, according to unofficial results. 

Tom Murphy was knocked out as the longtime Retirees Chapter leader. 

Even UFT sources allied with Mulgrew said the results are a disaster and spell potential trouble when the top seats for president and other union offices are up for election next year.

Mulgrew has been the UFT president since 2009.

Unlike other unions, thousands of retirees are allowed to vote in UFT elections.

Retirees have used the courts to block implementation of the planned switch to Medicare Advantage, though the city has appealed.

UFT insurgents credited Marianne Pizzitola, a retired FDNY emergency medical specialist and current president of the Organization of Public Service Retirees, Inc., with rallying citywide worker opposition to the Medicare Advantage shift.

The issue is a political hot potato for Mayor Eric Adams, who is for re-election next year.

The move to switch over to Medicare Advantage was first proposed by former Mayor Bill de Blasio — and was designed to allow the city to tap into an estimated $600 million in federal subsidies available to Medicare Advantage plans, potentially lowering New York City’s costs to provide healthcare for its retired public workers.

While Adams advanced the program with changes that were approved by the Municipal Labor Committee — comprised of union leaders coalitions representing workers and retirees including the UFT’s Mulgrew — the move faced bitter criticism from retirees and New York City Democratic Socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who called the program a “cash cow” for private insurers.

“This is a tale of a massive shift in voting sentiment amongst retirees,” UFT activist Norm Scott said of the election results. “Can the same shift occur in the general election next year?”

Arthur Goldstein, vice-chair-elect of the retiree chapter, said, “We have taken our United Federation of Teachers from the clutches of those who thought Eric Adams’ budget and/or Aetna’s profits were more important than our health.

“We have broken the bonds placed upon us by ostensible leaders, union bosses to whom our health was not even an afterthought.”

A UFT rep said, “Final results will be certified Tuesday. We wish to congratulate all those who won and thank all those who have served.” 

There were other union elections for chapter leaders, delegates and paraprofessional representatives for each of the city’s public schools. The Mulgrew-led Unity Caucus fared much better in those contests.

 

Earthquake in the UFT/Unity Machine as regular Unity voters desert the mother ship for RA in 30 point vote swing

There is no joy in Mudville. Mighty Unity has struck out.

Unofficial totals rough numbers: RA 17,000+, Unity 10,000+

What exactly did RA win? Due to the wrong winner take all (instead of proportional rep) system, RA gets it all:

10 officers, 15 ex bd (I am one) and all 300 delegates to the DA (not AFT). I reminded a long time Unity guy at the count that if they had prop rep they would have had over 100 delegates and over a third of the officers and ex bd and I believe that would be better for the union. I reminded him that 3 years ago RA asked for 5 out of 300 DA position so our voters would be represented and were turned down. I imagine with us in charge we will actually call for a fair system.

The major impact on the union goes beyond the RTC. Our 300 delegates are packed with long-time and experienced former CL, Del, Ex Bd members - and UFT Pres candidates. (Our saddest moment is thinking about how James Eterno will not be there with us.)

Let me note that Unity has been planning on some carve out of the 7k para retirees from the RTC chapter. Let's see if retired paras go for it. I bet they don't.

And don't forget the para election where all 8 slate candidates on the Fix Para Pay slate won. But Unity won all 268 delegates and the rest of officers and ex bd. Unity did some rigging of this election. But look for the FPP slate to grow and be part of the oppo next year.

You have certainly changed the dynamics in the NYC labor movement: Ray Markey President New York Public Library Retirees Association, President (Ret) New York Public Library Guild Local 1930, VP (Ret) DC37 Executive Board AFSCME -- comment on Arthur's Substack

IMPORTANT NOTE: The final RTC meeting, (the last for the next 3 years under Unity control) of the year will take place on Tuesday June 18 at 1 PM at 52 Broadway, followed by RA inviting those who show up to join us at a local establishment. Randi is the guest at the RTC meeting. Who knows, she might even drop in at the RA event.

Sunday, June 16, 2024

I was wrong. The wrongest one of anyone. 

• Norm Handicaps the 2024 Retiree Chapter Election - 35% is bad, 45% and above is a winning formula going forward
  

And Arthur never doubted. https://arthurgoldstein.substack.com/p/a-new-dawn

 

At most I expected RA to lose with about 45%.  63% was beyond comprehension. This is a tale of a massive shift in voting sentiment amongst retirees. Can the same shift occur in the general election next year? It now seems possible -- if the forces opposed to Unity can actually unite - always problematical, which I will delve into at some other time. Let me catch you up on Friday's historic events with some instant analysis.

 

I left you on Friday with a last minute 12PM early update that presaged the tsunami about to hit the UFT, Unity Caucus and the opposition movement. I called Jonathan who saw the 28k as good for us while I felt we needed 33-35k with many new voters to win. I didn't account for the massive shift of Unity voters. I turned off my computer and was about to leave when Bennett texted early sampling showing us winning each batch by a lot, so I turned on my computer and updated with those early returns:

RA  Unity

34    25

22    13

17      8

23    16

19     12

 

So this was my 12:15 report:

• UFT Retiree Chapter Election Vote Count 11 AM Update - Over 28k ballot returns.

I got back to the count at 1 and Jonathan was just getting there and said "We won and its over 60%." Only a relatively few votes had been counted but the sampling was going our way.

When I entered the counting room and saw the faces of the Unity crew, the story was told -- but this was 1PM with less than half the ballots counted. I texted Bruce Markens, one of the heroes of the opposition since the early 1960s and he said he'd come down to the vote count. The last time he went to a vote count was when the members turned down the 1995 contract. Bruce is two for two. Let's get him there for next year's election. RA core people were showing up and at some point we had to rotate into the viewing room. As usual, Yasmin, in charge of elections, was gracious -- we even got to share the pizza and drinks with the counting staff who took a lunch break with about half the ballots counted.

 

As the afternoon went on, the Unity crew huddled in the corridor and phone calls were being made to HQ. RA people were stoic. We never gloated.

 

My samples from that point on were coming up 50-50 or is slightly ahead so I still had doubts until close to 7PM when the shocking informal totals were read. At that point I figured we'd probably with with 53%. But I overheard a UFT official on the phone estimating 58%. So, yes, 63% blew us away.

Why is the big margin important? If Unity had planned any tricks like protesting the election over outside interference or some other gambit, they'd look like the Jan. 6 crowd. But I put nothing past them. I would be surprised if they cooperated in transition and not surprised if they throw roadblocks in the way of RA running the chapter. But you never know. Some of them near the top may have voted for us and with our sense of running a democratic chapter, some may see it to their advantage to cooperate.

 

A number of people have mentioned James Eterno and how much he would have relished this win. Plus he would have been an RTC ex bd member and delegate. The only sad moments we had Friday.

 

Then we went out to celebrate and were joined by Marianne Pizzitola whose work fighting the machine had so much to do with winning the healthcare battle - so far. Unity attacks on her as a Trojan Horse not only did not work, but brought us votes.

 

We were joined by a young very well respected working teacher activist who raced over to congratulate us and join the celebration and that was a great sign of hopefully coming united front.

 

Just in the last two days, congrats are pouring in from all factions. Winning and winning this big can help heal many wounds. My message will be "eye on the prize." Taking the UFT our of the hands of Unity has to be the focus, not petty and not so petty issues. This is the only issue --- if we win having diverse views instead of the single Unity type  line makes for a better union.

I had a conversation with someone on our team yesterday who asked if the means justify the ends. And I say if the ends means 60 years of Unity ruling comes to an end, then my principles are flexible. The major ally Unity has is the ideologues on the oppo who want a perfect coalition that meets their ideology. No single ideology can win a UFT election. It needs to be broad-based like Retiree Advocate, with people from ICE, NAC and old MOREs plus independents.

 

A theme I saw which may rankle some: MUGA - MAKE THE UFT GREAT AGAIN!

 

A tale of usual voters switching sides

To me the story is not as much as new voters as old voters dumping Unity. There were not enough new voters to create a 7k gap - in actuality RA rose by 10 k and Unity dropped by 6k. We went from 30 to 63% in 2 years. Shades of Chicago, c. 2010.

We saw signs in the 2022 general election of abandoning Unity but they did not shift to the oppo. They just didn't vote. I don't think ex-Unity ever trusts the oppo enough to vote for them. This was the first time we saw a massive shifting of votes. RA had obviously gained their trust due to an astute and effective campaign and great choices in the people running for RTC officers, exec bd and delegates. And of course the support of Marianne Pizzitola and NYC Retirees.

 

One commenter had a different interpretation 

• The election results (hurray!) showed that union elections are won and lost by reformers mostly by getting out people who have been non-voters. The new voters were the margin of victory. Hope the active teachers see this and learn from it.

Remember. over 40,000 retirees didn't vote, amazing given the outreach from both sides. 

 

Yes, there were over 4000 more votes than the last RTC election in 2021 when RA got less than 7K and Unity had over 16K. My concerns had been with the general election 2 years ago with over 27k votes - just 1k less than this election and Unity got 19k and we got less than 9k. I couldn't see how we could close that gap in 2 years but Jonathan argued all along that the chapter election is different from the general election.

I was so sure the Unity faithful would ignore the health issue and vote loyalty. Boy was I wrong. My old pal Ira who worked with many Unity people had been assuring me that they all said they were voting RA. Others were saying the same. I figured just some anecdotal but they had their ear to the ground.

Are public Unity defections coming?

So there is another factor. We already saw some Unity CLs quitting and even joining New Action. Will higher levels be joining in with their jobs on the line if Unity loses?

When faced with a possible loss next year, will some middle and even higher level Unity people begin to abandon ship? Mulgrew is not liked by a lot of Unity people and after this election he will take a big hit -- maybe enough to knock him out as a candidate next year. If that is to happen we might see some action as soon as this summer because Unity always appoints the president almost a year before an election. (Sandy replaced Shanker before 1985 election and Randi replaced Sandy at least a year before the 99 election and Mulgrew replaced Randi in August 2009 a year before the 2010 election - when James opposed Mulgrew). 

One thing we know - don't get fooled again. I know people who were turned off to Randi welcomed Mulgrew as an alternative and joined the Unity machine. What if Mulgrew decides to retire -- maybe an AFT position but def not to replace Randi -- her successor is already decided - Melinda Person, who became NYSUT head a year ago.

 I can't wait to see the Labor Notes interpretation of the election.

 

 I will close on a few excepts from Arthur:

A New Dawn: Yesterday, Retiree Advocate broke Unity's monopoly

Arthur Goldstein

 

 

as Mulgrew sold us out, not one single member of his elite, privileged Unity Caucus said word one against it. Not one member of Unity stepped down in protest.

That may change now. Sinking ships affect people in different ways. 63% of voting retirees have now declared Unity does not represent our interests. An impressive majority of us declared we don’t trust them with our health care. This loss is a precursor to the general election next year.

It’s entirely possible Mulgrew will step down and procure some sinecure with AFT or something, but anyone who takes his place will represent more of the same. Whoever it is must be defeated.

Personal note - I have mentioned my recent illness which is a tumor in my pancreas which they say is operable - scheduled for June 26. This blog has been active since August 2006 and of course as Ed Notes since 1997. So you may not be seeing too many posts on this blog after next weekend - but I may turn the keys over to some of my partners in crime.  And it I have a decent recovery I will be back - hopefully in time to attend the first RTC Meeting in October. 

HAIL JAMES ETERNO!!!!

Powerful endorsement for Jamaal Bowman from Naomi Klein in Daily News Op Ed

I just contributed another $100 to Bowman as a way to ward off the millions Aipac is tossing into this campaign. AIPAC money is openly racist, being used to remove non-white progressives from Congress. They even tossed in money to defeat that black policeman who was a hero on Jan. 6 for no other reason than he was black (he had no record on Israel or any really controversial issue.)

There is so much over the top dishonesty in the ads. Bowman's vote against the Biden bills joined others who were promised the bills wouldn't be split. Yet they were. (I won't go into the ugly details over Biden admin broken promises.)

I will admit I would like to have seen Bowman, as probably the only public school reality-based educator in Congress spend more time focusing on education issues and their root causes. More clarity on the chain of testing- closing schools - promotion of charters. Use his bully pulpit in the anti ed deform cause.

Naomi Klein brings it all together. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

America needs brave leaders like Jamaal Bowman

By NAOMI KLEIN    June 9, 2024 at 5:00 a.m.

 

UFT Retiree Chapter Election Vote Count 11 AM Update - Over 28k ballot returns, Count Won't actually start until 1 PM - Why I left

12 PM Sampling UPDATE: It's going to be close.

Looks like they started counting already so discount my complaints below.

Counting ballots flying across screen: looking good for RA

RA  Unity

34    25

22    13

17      8

23    16

19     12

The major news is that the vote count jumped from 23,034 to 28,098 with today's returns to be counted even if past 8AM plus anyone who brings in a ballot today will be counted. Jonathan will do a deeper analysis later so mine will be some quick speculation. For me the numbers are too low to win. I felt we needed to bump to 32K or more to make it close. Others in the oppo don't agree and think this number puts us in contention. 

Here's the issue. Two years ago 27k retirees voted in the general election with 19k for Unity and 23k voted in the RTC election 3 years ago with 16k for Unity. 70% both times.

Two views

So the pessimist like me looks at the 27k and sees only a 1k increase from the general election.

The optimists in RA see a 5k increase from the RTC election 3 years ago and sees those votes as mostly RA. And they count on some erosion in the 16k Unity vote. So they are putting RA in the over 40% while my pessimism keeps us in the 30's.

 I've been reporting my concerns about the vote counting process and did some handicapping. The latest was last night: 

• Norm Handicaps the 2024 Retiree Chapter Election - 35% is bad, 45% and above is a winning formula going forward

So I did get there (AAA 120 Broadway) at 8AM with Bobby Greenberg, RA's lone rep on the UFT election committee and Yasmin and her assistant were there along with Nina Bishop, Unity chair of the election committee. A while later UFT Manhattan Born head Carl Cambria showed up but his day starts at 10.  Then another Unity election committee rep, known as the farbissiner in a certain dialect - showed up with a third Unity caucus member, John Soldini due. So what did I do? I left Bobby alone with this pack and went back to my apartment.

Why? Let me tell you.

Like I expected they didn't start slitting the outer envelopes until after 8AM using one machine to open 28k and then they have to open the 28k secret ballot envelopes. And they won't start running the ballots until at least 1 PM. Why can't they have a few machines slicing envelopes? And start counting

Then there is the observing aspect. I began the day objecting to Yasmin over the process where we can't go in and look at the 4 scanners and she said we can see two scanners on a screen. 

Well, I did leave Bobby alone with the Unity pack so I am heading back down with my sleeping bag because we are not leaving till we have a slate count -- they will take more time to count the split votes from the booklet. Last time there were 500 of those. I think a batch of Unity people are splitting the vote so I think we will see that number go up -- some Unity hack sent out a memo pleading with their core not to split the ballot. I hope Unity people did split -- better for us.

See you later. 

Norm Handicaps the 2024 Retiree Chapter Election - 35% is bad, 45% and above is a winning formula going forward

Unity Caucus - The Real Enemy Within

I went to the DA Wednesday with a leaflet I wrote under the Ed Notes banner with the headline above where I pointed to the leadership working closely with the city and private health insurance - outside the UFT - to undermine retiree healthcare. In brief conversations even some with Unity, people seemed to agree that the healthcare issue is not a good one for Unity. I had conversations, especially since my recent major health issue, with Unity people about how if I was on Mulgrewcare I would not be able to get the quick service in terms of tests and seeing new docs so easily. They all nod their heads and seem to agree -- so even in the deep state there's skepticism. 

 

But will loyalty to Unity triumph over common sense?

 

Then I attended the 14th annual Skinny Awards event with the usual amazing ed activist crowd. Saw many old pals. Leonie honored PEP members, including Kaliris for the 2nd time. It was a big crowd of ed deform resisters, some for over decades. Proud to be among them. 

 

I saw Jonathan there and we chatted briefly about possible election numbers. He did a deeeeeeeep dive on election numbers. Really worth a read. 

 

I'm not going to go so deep.

(Late) Thursday June 13, 2024

 

I'm staying in the city so I can get down to the retiree chapter vote count early Friday morning. I've been back and forth on the potential outcome from slight win for us to slight win for Unity to big win for Unity (meaning 65-70%). 

I know I'm going to make some of my colleagues angry in this analysis because people consider taking hard looks and not being positive as defeatist. Most of my colleagues are more optimistic than me (a noted pessimist) who always looks at the downside.) 

 

Arthur is super gung-ho. And sees Unity crashing: Retiree Advocate Is Ready to Represent: Unity's time has come.

 

So, on the day before the count, it is safe to come out of the water. Or is it?

• In my interview with Daniel Alicea on the WBAI Talk Out of School program he asked me to handicap the election and I told him he'd have to wait for today. I talk about how I got into teaching, the process I went through in becoming an activist and my version of opposition history through the early 90s. We end on the membership voting down the 1995 contract. To be continued in a few weeks with part 2 taking us up to current events in the UFT.  Listen to Part 1 (https://wbai.org/archive/program/episode/?id=50740)

I shared my pessimism with one of our candidates the other day -- he's a long time UFT activist going back to the 70s and a founder of ICE. He is not as pessimistic, saying he's been on contact with many Unity retirees, all of whom are so pissed at the Medicare situation, they say they are voting against Unity. Others report the same but that may be a particular non-hard core Unity.

Does Unity really have to worry about losing?

I feel there is a massive retiree Unity loyalty hell or high water block that is immovable.

 

So let's take a hard look at the current RTC election by the numbers and see if Unity is really threatened with losing or just panicking and tossing around hysterical charges at Retiree Advocate and Marianne Pizzitola whose NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees has just managed to save UFT retirees thousands of dollars over the past few years while the UFT/Unity gangsters have alied with the city and insurance companies. Exactly who is the enemy within?

 

I'm going to make this argument in the context that getting former non-voters to vote is a key in this election.

RTC Election Results, as reported on Ed Notes on June 23, 2021

Slate results:

Total votes cast: 23,024

Retiree Advocate/UFT: 6755 (29.3%)

Unity slate: 16,269 (70.7%)

Chapter Leader Results:

Total votes cast: 23,546

Gloria Brandman, RA: 6900 (29.3%)

Tom Murphy, Unity: 16,646 (70.7%)

• Note that about 500 people split their ballots -- a big error as slate votes are how we judge results.

You will notice that there is almost a ten thousand vote difference between Unity and RA. The key question is whether RA can make up that 10K difference. 

But let's jump ahead to the 2022 general election numbers where I had high hopes for the retiree vote.

Retiree ballots mailed: 68,970. Returned: 27,451

 

Unity: 19,368. United for Change:  7,984

• "the most dramatic number in this election’s turnout was the surge in retiree votes, 4,600 more votes than three years ago." - Jonathan

Yes - a year after Mulgrewcare we hoped more retirees would vote but even these new voters still did a 70-30% split. That is why I'm pessimistic.

 

While we went up by one thousand and Unity went up by 3000 votes A YEAR AFTER MEDICARE. 

The 2022 outcome is my major reason for thinking Unity will win this bigger than we think. Some people point out that my focus on that election is wrong and that over the past 2 years there is more erosion in Unity.
 

What is bigger? The worst outcome for us is sticking to the 30% but I don't expect that will happen. How about 35%? That would be very disappointing. We need to get to 40% to give people hope the opposition could close to 50% by next year. 45% would be a big boost. Winning would be better.

 

We live in a bubble of retiree anti-Mulgrew/Unity sentiment due to the healthcare issue. Outside that bubble where retirees are not getting any info other than from the Unity machine, it is a different story.  

There are the people who are not plugged into any network - the vast majority of the 70k retirees, some of whom are not even aware of the healthcare issue or the chapter election. Expect well over half not to vote -- if over half did vote - non-voters from the past - RA could win. But I don't expect such a big turnout based on previous elections. I'll get into more detail on the numbers below.

 

I wrote on May 19, 2022:

Retirees - massive turnout - over 27K - the UFT is weakened with well over half the total votes come from the no longer working, Unity is strengthened.

UFC got almost 8K, just short of 30%, which is the highest total by far in a general UFT election. Most attribute that vote to Mulgrewcare, but I don't see it that way. In last year's RTC election we also got 30% and Mulgrewcare was just being announced. I assumed we would go up to 35% or more. this year. But Unity was helped by the plan not being implemented due to the court case and Mulgrew tried to run away from it -- and in some ways was successful. Imagine of the opt-outers were paying $200 a month on Jan 1? It seems even Unity people who were unhappy came home. In the over 3K new votes this time, my guess is UFC and Unity split them with an edge to Unity -- which is sort of good but disappointing as I had hoped we would get a bigger chunk. Unity went all out organizing retiree chapters all over the nation -- all dominated by Unity retirees. I don't see us moving much beyond the 30% in the future and may in fact see a slippage. Unless Mulgrewcare is implemented. Watch outcomes in the RTC election in 2024 as Retiree Advocate remains active in the RTC chapter and as a crucial part of UFC.

So you can see I was not optimistic two years ago about this upcoming election but am more so than then.

 

The Shanker Advantage Still Holds for older Retirees: Voting for Shanker and forgetting that Mulgrew is no Albert Shanker

 

The other night we were out with a couple we know for 50 years. He's a UFT retiree. I asked if he voted yet. He said NO. He knows about the healthcare issue. But people are in his ear. A good friend says he will vote Unity because Unity has been good for us because of Shanker. Our friend's sister says the same. She will never vote anti-Unity. And these are not Unity members. They dismiss the healthcare issue. Do they actually believe Mulgrew has a better plan? They probably can afford to pay an extra premium if Mulgrew gets his way and gives us "choice" with pay for what we now have for free option.

 

Did they forget the Randi/Bloomberg years? Have they forgotten the reduction of interest from 8.25 to 7%? Of course they have no knowledge of the Tier 6 sellout. They were probably retired to witness the even more inept Mulgrew years. There will be no way to shake them. 

 

I'd bet there are a whole lot more like them, which leads to me taking a harder look at the realities.

 

That's not a good sign for this election. I have been assuming that if we can get the vote totals up to the 30-35k range, most of those votes would go to us. But Unity still pulls a lot of loyalty. Tens of thousands of retirees were or still are in Unity. And they have been as propagandized by the Unity machine as FOX with the Trumpies. 

We have an almost 12,000 vote gap to make up and with the court wins the pressure is sort of off Mulgrew. How can we make up the gap?

Will Unity votes slip? At most they will slip a little. But maybe not. So I start by giving them 18-20K. If they actually slip back to their 2021 16k, RA may be in the ball game.

RA vote will increase because we have 300 candidates and a lot more outreach and people are telling us their friends are voting RA. Even right wingers. But lots of retirees to some surprise are not totally tuned into the healthcare issue and also some are fine with MedAdv - a woman going in to the RTC meeting told me all her relatives in Massachusetts are happy with MedAdv and she is also on some plan she is happy with. She might have been Unity.

The major hope to close the gap is the Marianne fans, which is why Unity is so intent on attacking her. But does she have enough outreach to close the gap? I'm guessing no, but her people will make the election closer - I hope. 

 

The key question will be whether we get 35% or 40% or 45%? or 51%

How can we win?

On the bright side, stories are coming in from hundreds of people who say they have contacted their retiree networks and people are saying they are voting RA. Let's say we get about a thousand vote bump from them.

The way to victory is for Unity to lose a few thousand - down to 15 or 16K and for us to get those votes plus our outreach plus the Marianne crowd. But if would be close no matter what as the best case scenario. 

 

And then expect Unity to do what it can to undermine the win in every way they can.

Expect the vote count to contain elements of a shit show.

• Press Release: ICE-UFT Demands Transparent and Eff...
• Can AAA Competence, Management and Reporting Proce...

We will post what we know Friday night - unless we are sleeping over at the AAA.

 

Press Release: ICE-UFT Demands Transparent and Efficient Ballot Count and Reporting Results by the American Arbitration Association (AAA)

Reprint from the ICE blog

Press Release: ICE-UFT Demands Transparent and Efficient Ballot Count and Reporting Results by the American Arbitration Association (AAA)

New York, NY – The Independent Community of Educators within the United Federation of Teachers (ICE-UFT) is demanding that the American Arbitration Association (AAA) implement a transparent, efficient, and equitable ballot counting process for the upcoming UFT elections, including those for the UFT Retiree Chapter, Paraprofessional Chapter, and all other contested elections. ICE-UFT insists that all members, regardless of caucus affiliation, must be treated equally and provided with equal access to observe and participate in the ballot count and access to all data generated during the entire election process.

(See Education Notes for more background: Can AAA Competence, Management and Reporting Process be Trusted in UFT Elections?)

 

This demand follows numerous issues observed in previous elections, including inefficiency and delays on the part of AAA, frequent machine jams, and extremely limited observation opportunities for members. Additionally, concerns have been raised about private communications between the UFT officers, all members of Unity Caucus, to which others were not privy, and AAA, as well as delays in announcing results. During past UFT election counts, requests for school-by-school data were denied, with AAA stating that only UFT officials had access to those reports.

 

“Transparency and fairness are non-negotiable in our union elections,” said Norm Scott, spokesperson for ICE-UFT. “We demand that AAA conduct the ballot count in a manner that is open, efficient, and equitable, ensuring that representatives from all caucuses have the same opportunities to participate and monitor the process. Any deviation from this standard undermines the integrity of our elections and the trust of our members.”

 

ICE-UFT’s demands include:

 

1. Equal Access for All Caucuses: Representatives from all caucuses must have identical opportunities to monitor the ballot count and raise any concerns in real-time.

2. Transparency in Procedures: AAA must communicate and adhere to clear, consistent procedures throughout the counting process to ensure transparency.

3. Efficient and Accurate Counting: The counting process must be carried out with utmost efficiency and accuracy to reflect the true will of the UFT membership.

4. Access to All District and School Data: Full access must be provided to all district and school data related to the elections to ensure complete transparency.

5. Access to ballot process during the voting period: Regular reports on numbers of ballots received, a report on number of ballots that were returned due to wrong address, number of ballots returned past deadline of reception, modification of the 8AM due time in final date of return to account for late mail delivery.

6. Prompt reporting to all caucus election committee reps on day of the count instead of being told to wait for the official AAA report.

 

ICE-UFT emphasizes the critical importance of these measures in the ballot counts for the UFT Retiree Chapter, Paraprofessional Chapter, and all other contested elections.

 

“These problems have cast doubt on the integrity of the election process,” continued Norm Scott. “We cannot allow these issues to persist and compromise the democratic principles our union stands for.”

 

ICE-UFT’s call to action comes amid increasing concerns about potential discrepancies and biases in the ballot counting process. By demanding these measures, ICE-UFT aims to uphold.

 

This press release is intended for immediate distribution.

 

For more information or to arrange an interview with Norm Scott, please contact him at (917) 992-3734 or via email at normsco@gmail.com

 

**About ICE-UFT** 

The Independent Community of Educators within the United Federation of Teachers (ICE-UFT) is dedicated to advocating for the rights and interests of educators and supporting democratic practices within the union. ICE-UFT works tirelessly to promote transparency, fairness, and inclusivity in all union activities.

Norm Gets Interviewed by Daniel Alicea on Talk Out of School - Part 1 and The Skinny Awards - Contribute to Leonie

Tuesday, June 11, 2024

 

I was a guest for a two hour interview about my teaching and activist career in the NYC public schools as a student and teacher on the June 9th edition of Talk Out of School which Daniel Alicea hosts along with Leonie Haimson - a dynamic duo. I've been a UFT member since 1967 and participated in 3 strike. I became active in the UFT in 1970. In part 1 I recount the years through the 1995 contract. For me it was a good way to review and recall 57 years of work in the union and defending public education through groups like

 

Here is the link:  https://wbai.org/archive/program/episode/?id=50740

Part 2 will be on in a few weeks.

 

By the way, June 12 is Leonie's annual Skinny Awards. I haven't missed one yet over a dozen years and I won't miss this one either. I was a recipient of the Award, as were so many other UFT activists like James Eterno, Arthur Goldstein and Julie Cavanagh. 

 

Support Class Size Matters even if you can't attend.

 

  This year’s annual Skinny awards will be held on Wed. June 12 at 6 pm.   Come celebrate and honor six independent parent members of the Panel for Educational Policy, who have valiantly spoken up for the interests of our students, and who despite great odds, have maintained their eloquence,  intelligence and persistence in striving for better policies in our public schools. Not to mention, Class Size Matters really needs your support! Food and wine will be served. Here is the link for more information and to purchase your tickets..

 

Can AAA Competence, Management and Reporting Process be Trusted in UFT Elections?

How competent is the AAA to conduct UFT elections with massive numbers of voters? Is there somewhat of an illicit relationship between UFT/Unity leadership and AAA officials? Does the AAA show favoritism to the very people who hire them for every election?

 

From Hiro Kawahara, elections director at AAA. 

• He said that they can check to see if individual ballots were received at AAA.
• He is only authorized to give the returned ballot count to the designated point person from the UFT. 
  

There are reports of ballots, mailed, being delivered to the address on the back (the voter) instead of to AAA. Here is one: 

So, I pick up the mail today and I find my ballot returned! And, it's postmarked "1 June 2024 PM 6 L --- UFT retiree and RA candidate.

He lives in New York so I suggested he hand deliver but he is not currently mobile enough and AAA doesn't allow for someone else to deliver.  No way to get another ballot in time and assure it will get there in time. And what about people who don't live in NY? There is no way they can get another ballot and have it returned in time. We need AAA and the UFT to tabulate how many late ballots come in each day after 8 AM on June 14. In fact RA should call for late ballots to be counted because of the failures of the AAA.

And then there were those delayed ballot mailings. May 10 became on or about with a lot more about than on.

Ed Notes May 21: J'Accuse: Unity/AAA Delayed ballots suppress the vote

So we were told that ballots were to go out on May 10 but no one we know received their ballot until at least a week later and many haven't gotten it yet. Then when asked, AAA reported "on or about May 10." I asked a former colleague who is a snowbird and up in Boston now and he hasn't gotten his ballot and probably never will unless he contacts AAA and gets them to send to his summer home. I expect we will have loads of people who ask the AAA for replacements and they do la, di, da and it takes a week to get one and another week for it to get back to AAA? Demand they extend the deadline for ballots received to a few extra days to make up for the delayed mailing and other AAA screwups.

 

But of course that will be rejected, as Unity is all about vote suppression. They are the Republican Party of the UFT.

Unity expects to win this election by bombarding their core with lies and misinformation about the opposition while suppressing the rest of the vote where ever they can.

 

Sunday, June 9, 2024

How competent is the AAA to conduct UFT elections with massive numbers of voters? Is there somewhat of an illicit relationship between UFT/Unity leadership and AAA officials? Does the AAA show favoritism to the very people who hire them for every election?

Over the elections for the past decade I have noticed changes in how the AAA deals with the various parties in the election. 

 

If RA wins, what are the chances Unity protests and calls for a new election?

 

Here are some thoughts:

 

What data does AAA have during balloting process and how much is shared with UFT/Unity? 

We can now confirm that the AAA scans in the cover envelope as the arrive and thus have data on everyone who has voted -- and by subtraction, everyone who has not voted. 

When I asked someone from AAA this same question they said, "No. We scan the day the balloting ends." I didn't see how that made any sense.

 

Now, imagine if someone had this information every day to check on their own core voters and contact those who didn't vote yet? Do we think that UFT/Unity, which hires AAA, would be denied this data? 

This would be collusion. We need inside leakers to actually tell us they saw this data in the past. Feel free to comment anonymously.

What data does the AAA have on results and how they are reported?

You'll notice on the second point made by the AAA election head that they can only report to a designated UFT rep. This is a big change since the days when AAA reps came out to all observers after each division vote count to inform us of the slate vote totals. LeRoy Barr would represent Unity. Now when we see him huddling privately with AAA people he claims he's UFT not Unity. Thus spoketh the head of Unity Caucus. So in recent elections we get zilch until the UFT decides to release the numbers and put its own spin on them, sometimes delaying things for days.

I raised the reporting issue as a member of the 2022 election committee but was constantly deflected. I also asked for school by school breakdowns on how many people voted as a way to check on the work UFC people were actually doing in their schools. I was turned down. Does Unity get to check on the work their own people are doing in their schools? Imagine a tabulation of returned ballots from oppo schools, with the likelihood of being oppo votes?

I will also note recent signs of a la di da attitude and thus a slowing up the count (purposely to create delays?) I used to walk in at 9 AM in the old days and things were humming. Now when I walk in people are just getting there and unpacking boxes. Then we see breakdowns in scanners, extremely limited ability to observe -- now we watch cameras on 2 out of 6 machines on a big screen with frequent stoppages. 

In the 2022 election they didn't even have cameras and told us we couldn't go beyond the ropes to look at the machines. So I raised hell - what are we observing then? They delayed for an hour to set up some cameras and a feed to the screen.

So is there cheating going on? From what I see I assume AAA conducts on honest count. The questions are how competent are they and their cozy relationship with UFT/Unity officialdom. Imagine if we won and hired another vote counting company? Or went to electronic voting? Our election is a potential threat to the AAA bottom line.

For me the dishonesty is how they pass info to UFT/Unity that other groups do not get. But there were times when the count was at the UFT HQ where the uncounted ballots were left overnight, supposedly with a security guard.

School info on voting is a particular concern. 

I asked the AAA guy in the past if we can get info on how many people vote in each school and he said they can generate such reports. In fact the AAA knows who in each school voted though not how because of the inner secret envelope. The outer envelopes are opened and are discarded. As a member of the 2021 election committee I made a reso calling for school data to be reported and Unity reps turned it down but agreeing to some kind of district report - which in the end was pretty weak. Spec Rep Patti Crispino was especially vehement in her opposition claiming school reports would "embarrass" people. Damn right. Imagine district reps and Unity ch ldrs being called to account for vote turnouts in the schools? 

I once asked UFT a key UFT election liaison about school data and he said the UFT didn't pay for that data. Yet insiders say I was lied to and they do have the data.

 

Does Unity have access to school by school data? 

 

Does Trump ever tell a lie?

 

Observers used to have free reign, now they are restricted. Why the change?

There have certainly been increasing restrictions on observers (yes, Covid was a reason so we accepted that.) I observed the last RTC count in 2021 and there were so many delays and we didn't get results for days until the UFT released them, a big change since the days of open reporting. YES - this is intentional. 

 

In last year's special para election they would not tell the two oppo winners the results in terms of counts. Since there were 5 people running, they had no idea how close the ones who lost came -- if they really lost. 

How about those constant jams on the scanners and why don't they have more of them?

So does Unity cheat? What will they do if they get advance results that they are losing the RTC count June 14) or Para election (count June 13). 

For the June 14 count, will we see slate results that day, especially if the election is close or in doubt? We may have to sleep over.

If you want to read on, below I review my own history of observing vote counts and how the AAA has become more restrictive due to orders by Unity/UFT Officials.

------

 

I've been going to UFT election and contract vote counts since the 2004 election (I think I also went to counts in the late 70s) and in recent years have observed disturbing modifications in how the American Abritration Association and the UFT/Unity machine deal with elections.

 

I was involved in the 2004, 07, 10, 13, 16, 22 UFT elections as an active participant and observer and also observed the 2019 election results. In addition I observed the 2005, 2014, 2018 contract counts. And the RTC chapter 2021and the OT/PT 2023 counts. I don't remember but probably observed in the late 70s.

 

For major UFT elections through 2013, the UFT and AAA rented ballrooms from hotels on 7th Avenue around 53rd St. The space was wide open to any UFT member who wanted to observe with total access to looking over the shoulders of the AAA workers as they opened envelopes and ran the vote scanning machines. They counted slate votes one division at a time, with the smaller divisions first so we had results. Now they decide to do the largest first.

 

When each division was completed the AAA guy in charge called all together and gave us the totals for the slates. The booklets with individual votes took a long time and they held that for last -- none of us cared at all about those results. 

 

LeRoy Barr, Unity head, was often there standing with us. Did he talk to AAA people behind the scenes by switching his Unity had for a UFT official? Let's end the fiction that there's a difference.

I was at the hotel in 2013 and all the MORE people had left to go to a "victory" celebration at a bar on 34th St attended by 100 people. I had the results in hand at around 6:30 - same day as vote began and went down to inform everyone we won nothing -- but they cheered anyway. I bet of those 100 people you can count on one hand how many are still involved in MORE. (When you think of it, MORE is now over 12 years old - no comment in the impact on the UFT so far.)

In the 2014 contract and 2016 election there was a change. The counts were at AAA HQ at 120 Broadway, just a few blocks up from 52. The count took place behind a closed door with a large window for us to look in while observers sat around a large conference table. There was limited space and we submitted names to rotate in if necessary. 

 

In 2016 I was there until James Eterno arrived to take my place while I went off to an ICE meeting. James called us at the meeting to let us know we won the high schools, which makes the point that we had results the same day.

 

But we were allowed to go in and look directly at the scanners. Ellen Fox and I would sample a hundred ballots at a time as the day went on and could get a good reading on the ultimate outcome.

So let's jump to the 2019 election when we had 4 caucuses running and lots of observers. Shulman and some NAC, Lydia from Solidarity, Myrie from MORE and I was there I guess as an dishonored guest from ICE which stayed out of the election. I can't remember if we had access to the counting rooms to look over the shoulders of people. We only had a screen with two machine posted and lots of delays and breakdowns.

So the AAA has seemingly become less capable of efficient operation and more tied to the UFT/Unity leadership.