You probably haven't noticed. I am not doing too much writing lately. Damn cell phone and internet distractions. I seem to do anything to avoid sitting down and writing. Is it the sitting down or the writing? I can't stand and write. Or I can't stand writing.
My recent writer's block has delayed my commenting on the firings, a
cleansing by Unity Caucus of its perceived dis-loyalists. Mulgrew and
crew, when faced with waning popularity, instead of trying to fix it,
resort to fear and loathing tactics to try to cow potential opposition
into silence and obedience. It might work for some but over time these
tactics alienate people in and outside the club. The attacks on Amy Arundell, going back
years, brought enough people into ABC to make it a viable opposition. The Pissgate story (I hold the actual proof and when I next get back to writing will cover it as the hired lawyer has been asking me for it) has spread far and wide -- even a DOE guy I know with no interest in the union brought it up to me.
As with all authoritarian entities, whether on a national or union level, loyalty becomes more obsessive as the pitchforks coming for the leadership multiply.
A 54% "victory" is getting dangerously close. Rather than look to the reasons for losses of support, authoritarians put the blame on disloyal insiders. Oh, if only they had stuffed more mail boxes with Unity leaflets. Or browbeat people to vote Unity. People who just do their jobs without emphasizing their loyalty become suspect. The most partisan people are the least competent. And incompetents just turn more people off. In the campaign I worked with current and former Unity people who were attacked viciously by certain union officials, which just energized them for the ABC campaign.
Over the years I've joked that Putin uses Unity Caucus as a model for authoritarianism. And Trump certainly seems to be following the same path of loyalty above all over competence - taking it to an extreme. Arthur's latest goes into some detail in comparing Mulgrew/Unity to Trump: Separated at Birth: Mulgrew and Trump--the GOP and Unity .
I always include "Unity" tied to Mulgrew because I think some people make the mistake as seeing the problem mainly as Mulgrew and if there would be a different leader it would be Ok for Unity to control the UFT for over 60 years. And not just to control the UFT, but to fundamentally shut out all opposing voices. Unity with 54% of the vote controls 100% of the Exec Bd and uses its staff to pack the Delegate Assemblies and dominate the amount of time alternate voices get raised. Even at the July 9 Mamdani endorsement, the officers and Mulgrew got to dominate the time, with a few known supportive "oppo" voices included. I think only one or two people were allowed to voice disagreement. This situation has existed in my 58 years of UFT membership through 4 presidents. (Think of that for a minute).
But one area Unity has never seemed to go, at least publicly, has been public mass firings over perceived disloyalty. The recent firings of 6 and then we hear 2 or more and the demotions and warnings issued is a new wrinkle designed to inspire fear (and I bet more than a bit of loathing) inside the Unity tent. Not only won't it work, but it will inspire more internal resentment and opposition.
In particular, the firing of popular District 30 rep Ashley Rzonca has led to a mini - and maybe a soon to be major - revolt of chapter leaders, parent groups, and even politicians. And we might see this revolt spread deeper into schools beyond the chapter leaders.
I attended two events this summer for Ashley, a rally in July attended by over 50 supporters and one last week (Justice for Ashley) as a number of chapter leaders and supporters
attended the event organized and sponsored by the Community Education
Parents, which is striking to see this level of support for a union rep.
I'd bet most CEC's have no contact or idea who the District Rep is.
Ashley apparently threw herself into all aspects of what a district rep
should be doing.
Attendees,
at a bar on restaurant row on Ditmars Blvd, were asked to write letters
of support to local politicians and UFT officials. Imagine city council
people calling for the reinstatement of a UFT district rep. Unheard of.
I had some interesting conversations.
A chapter leader leans over and whispers, "I voted for ABC." A colleague sitting at the same table later tells me if he had spoken to her before the election he wouldn't
have voted for Mulgrew.
The CL told me she did not want to influence her chapter on how to vote. Too bad. Unity people do that all the time. It was great that she voted for ABC but if she had shared the reasons with her staff, I'd bet the school would have gone ABC. Next time I bet she will be more active. And therein lies the major error Mulgrew is making in firing competent and popular staff.
There were a number of chapter leaders at this event who have the capability of bringing their schools into the battle. Now what if Mulgrew changed his mind and rehired Ashley? Would all be forgotten? I'd bet the damage to Unity, in what was a loyal Unity district, will not go away. There are over 40 elementary and middle schools in D. 30.
I do want to make it clear that these people are fired from the UFT jobs and have the right to return to their old school and those not eligible for retirement are doing so. And guess what they will do when they return? Hide in fear of Mulgrew? Or organize - and hopefully with ABC.
Of course the big enchilada in the original June 27th firings was Amy Arundell who ran against Mulgrew. It is not clear what Amy will do now - go back to a school or retire. Either way, she seems up for the coming battles. Would Amy be a force in the retired teacher chapter?
Arthur wrote about the initial firings in June:
Michael Mulgrew went on a revenge spree last week, and his Unity
ducklings got in line right behind him. He fired a bunch of people who
supported ABC. The most egregious of these firings, for my money, was
that of Migda Rodriquez. Migda won office by a 3-1 margin, and
paraprofessionals expressed overwhelming support for her. ... Unity to Paras--Go Screw Yourselves, Arthur Goldstein, Posting after the June 26 firings.
We
heard of more (unnamed) firings at the UFT late last week, more examples of the panic at 52
Broadway over the rise of ABC and the fall of ARISE, the traditional
and favored opposition. You'll note that there has been little or no support for the fired Unity people coming out of ARISE, some of whom attacked ABC for even aligning with ex-Unity, even claiming that ABC was on the Mulgrew payroll as a way to split the opposition. Purity over Trying to Win.
My recent writers block has delayed my commenting on the firings, a cleansing by Unity Caucus of its perceived dis-loyalists. Mulgrew and
crew, when faced with waning popularity, instead of trying to fix it,
resort to fear and loathing tactics to try to cow potential internal opposition
into silence and obedience. It might work for most in Unity but over time these
tactics alienate people inside the club. The attacks on Amy, going back
years, brought enough people into ABC to make it a viable opposition. Look for more to come, either openly or surrepticiously. Depends on how badly they need to hold onto their part time job.
Arthur commented again recently on the initial firings:
On June 27th, King Mulgrew and company relieved five full-time employees
of their duties: Amy Arundell, Ashley Rzonca, Migda Rodriguez, Hector
Ruiz, and, we have learned, the 5th staffer is David Kazansky....
WTF! David Kazansky? David was pushed out of his Teacher Retirement System job after 9 years. Many of us considered him the best of the 3 TRS reps -- a good reason for Mulgrew to dump him. Too competent. Did he ask too many questions? Or question private equity? One day we have to get the real story.
He was replaced by someone who rose to a new level of Unity incompetence, as we witnessed at an RTC meeting where she refused to answer questions and then refused to give up the mic. David landed on his feet by being given a job with the AFT working out of the UFT offices. That was the job he was fired from. Randi Weingarten was technically his boss. The UFT paid his salary. But Randi cannot escape her complicity in the firing.
Caucuses Purge
If
anyone in Unity didn't notice the drop to 54% and the energized ABC
campaign infused with Unity refugees, they are fooling themselves.
Repression, fear-mongering and cleansing engenders resistance. As someone "cleansed" from MORE, I know all about purges. The election proved that purity-based caucuses tend to stagnate.
There are many angles to this Unity purge - a few who ran with ABC and a few who ran with Unity. Arthur in his post addressed the outrageous firing of para Migda Ridriguez, who did run with ABC. Another para, Hector Diaz, Jr who ran with Unity and won an exec bd and AFT/NYSUT rep seat was also fired. Of the original 6 who were fired in June, 3 ran with ABC and 3 ran with Unity. But none of them tried to pee on Amy's photo in a urinal.
The brewing revolt inside UFT District 30 in Astoria is being led by Rzonca supporters with social media influencer and D30 CL Leah Lin, who ran for elementary VP on the ABC slate. Now here is an interesting fact. Rzonca ran on the Unity slate and was elected to the UFT Exec Bd as well as an AFT/NYSUT rep. (Fired para Hector Ruiz, JR also ran on the Unity slate for ex bd and AFT/NYSUT. Kazansky also ran and won for AFT/NYSUT).
What is the common thread in the firings? Certainly not doing a bad job. How about some level of proximity to Amy Arundell?
Leah Lin, as a Unity CL in Ashley's D. 30, defected to ABC and might be one reason Rzonca was fired for failing to use the Unity Caucus whip to keep Leah in line. A district rep who would have tried to scare Leah would be the Mulgrew ideal. Scare Leah? In the roughly 7 months I've known her, no one scares Leah.
So the result of the firings is that Ashley and Leah, two top-level organizers, have teamed up with other D. 30 CL and other teachers to fight back.
One of the most interesting angles in this battle is the involvement of parents through the D 30 Education council. There were officers of the CEC and other parents at the event on Tuesday as they wrote letters to local officials while teachers wrote letters to union officials.
Check out this article on the July 22 rally for Ashley.
Community Education Council 30
(CEC 30) has called on the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) to
reinstate Ashley Rzonca after the union representative for Community
School District 30 was dismissed from her position earlier in the year
for what the CEC describes as “political” reasons.
CEC 30, which represents dozens of schools across western Queens, has launched a petition
calling for Rzonca to be reinstated, drawing more than 570 signature
from local teachers and parents. The Council also staged a rally on July
22 calling on UFT to reinstate both Rzonca to her previous position.
Note: DOZENS OF SCHOOLS.
The UFT has issued a call for a new district rep -- I hope Ashley applied and a smart UFT leadership would reverse itself but Smart and Mulgrew are antonyms. I pity the next District rep.
====
I began to write up the July 22 demo.
Impressive turnout at the July 22 demo at UFT Queens office.
They came by Ubbas, Subways, Automobiles and even
AirTrain from JFK.
I was very impressed by the turnout and the impending revolt inside
District 30 (Astoria, Jackson Hts). I saw some Unity people there who I
never would have expected to see. Many are chapter leaders.
I
enjoy taking public transportation more than driving at this point and enjoyed the
trip with the Airtrain to Jamaica where I changed to the E for a few
stops.
I gave up at that point since Arthur covered it so well.
Here are some pics:
 |
| A CREW FROM ABC |
 |
| Ashley Rzonca |
 |
| I think this is a city councilwoman |
I did attend the Happy 65th Birthday event at City Hall on Tuesday with Marianne's NYC Retirees to promote law 1096, opposed by our own union leaders who are more focused on saving the city money than saving our healthcare.
