My husband just heard from a retired teacher friend who expressed how much he liked yesterday's ABC webinar -and how strongly he feels about its bread and butter platform.... UFT Retiree and delegate
I will delve further into the somewhat remarkable Sunday night ABC retiree meeting for which 540 people registered and almost 300 showed up. Over two hours into the meeting, there were still many people still there. It became clear that there was a gang there to troll and even disrupt to try to force ABC into an alliance with the caucuses. Marianne attended the meeting and here she delves into some of the issues, though I must say, I don't have agreement on Samuel Gompers. There are lots of flaws that have been exposed. Note this:
During World War I, Gompers and the AFL energetically supported the war effort, attempting to avert strikes and boost morale while raising wage rates and expanding membership. He strongly opposed the antiwar labor groups, especially the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
So Gompers was tamping down the labor movement during the war while the capitalists made enormous profits. Not a great look. Think of Shanker's support for the Vietnam war and how he made sure the UFT sat on the sidelines. So I don't think unions should never get into issues beyond the union. And Gompers did use his support for the War to affect the unions in a negative way -- bread and butter by the wayside.
Major labor victories came in the generation after him by industrial unions highly influenced by left wing, including communists. But even the left were able to organize workers by sticking to bread and butter issues. They fell when their Stalinist roots came out when Stalin made his dirty deal with Hitler in 1939 -- I believe that opened them up to witch hunts -- the communist dominated Teacher Union in the UFT, which had great influence, began to wain after that, some proof that Marianne's thesis is on target. The rise of the UFT took another 20 years but their success was bread and butter. Before they even existed the HS night school teachers went on the first teacher strike for more pay and won double their salary after a very short strike - a lesson that resonated.
But her points that the caucuses that have fought Unity over the decades have failed to win more than the high school exec bd seats, except for the one lauded 1985 victory for the HS VP - and that opportunity is long gone since they changed the rules in 1994 - are right on.
ABC is not a caucus with their often arcane mechanisms and controls but a more free-flowing group of individuals, many from caucuses and some independents with nothing set in stone.
This concept bothers the caucus control freaks who ask who is in control and who is making decisions and how are decisions being made. They can't conceive of nor have faith in the ability of people to come together for a common interest and somehow function. I find that once you're in the cocoon of a caucus, you lose some level of creative problem solving as there is always a hierarchy that runs the joint and lots of people on the periphery with an attitude of go along and get along. There is a stifling of sorts that I often found suffocating, except for ICE of course which ran on a more open free-wheeling basis, which drove the structuralists, many of my friends on the left who seem to require a sense of control -- and I also find people with a dim view of the rank and file and the ability to organize them -- caucuses haven't been able to over decades so they make excuses -- the people in my school are too busy, etc and never take responsibility. The roots of the caucuses uneasiness with ABC lie in this attitude.
I would ask you to list the things the caucuses have done so far this year as we approach the halfway mark of the school year? Hand out leaflets at the DA? I exempt RA, which is not a normal caucus with 11 people making decisions, which has been the most active group at the DA and in charge of the RTC meetings -- a busy plate.
I read an interesting review in the NYT Sunday about the late David Graeber, one of the founders of Occupy.
Graeber had a bullish view of human potential unfettered from constraint. He emphasized the possibility of “democratic improvisation,” which would take place “outside of the control of states, in which diverse sorts of people with different traditions and experiences are obliged to figure out some way to deal with one another.”
I agree with him and have a bullish view of people and believe in the possibility of reaching them. And if we don't manage to do that, at least we will have tried.
Caucuses Don't Win Elections - People Do
Here is part 2 of the Marianne video:
A BETTER CONTRACT - UFT MEMBERS
January ABC-UFT Blast — upcoming opportunities to organize for A BETTER CONTRACT
Join us via Zoom for the ABC Retiree Organizing Committee meeting on Sun,1/5 at 7 PM. Also, join the UFT Member Assembly on Tue,1/14 at 7 PM. And still a chance to sign up for our election slate!
Dear UFT Members,
Happy New Year! From everyone at A Better Contract (ABC),we hope you had a restful break well-spent with family and friends. With 2025 kicking into high gear, it’s time to get back to it! Our union proud, union strong, grassroots movement of working educators and retirees continues to grow and capture the imagination and heart of our beloved union.
Here are some things we have happening during the next couple of weeks
ABC UFT Member Assembly on HEALTHCARE – Date Changed to Tuesday, January 14 @ 7 pm
At last month’s ABC Member Assembly, we discussed the ABCs of PAY. This month, we’ll be discussing the ABCs of HEALTHCARE.
Whether you’re a UFT Retiree or UFT In-Service member, our premium-free healthcare is under assault. Let’s meet to discuss the current risks and challenges facing our union, and to discuss what needs to be done to protect and expand premium-free healthcare long into the future.
We had tentatively scheduled it for January 7th, however, we’ve moved it for Tuesday, January 14th at 7 PM.
Join us! Let’s organize for A BETTER CONTRACT that protects and improves our healthcare. All are welcome.
Run With ABC in the UFT General Election – Slate Signups Open Now!
We want you (yes, YOU!) to run with ABC in the upcoming UFT General Election.
We are asking all UFT members, regardless of political inclination or caucus affiliation, to participate in ABC’s non-partisan grassroots movement of UFT members demanding A Better Contract — both with the City of New York and with our union leadership.
We are actively fielding candidates for UFT officer positions, Executive Board, NYSUT Representatives and AFT Delegates.
Go to slate.uftmembers.org to sign up, and we will be in-touch very soon with more information.
Thanks so much. We’re looking forward to connecting with you soon and getting back to work on transforming our UFT.
If you have any questions, suggestions, or want to get more involved, don’t hesitate to reach out. Together, we can create a stronger, more equitable future.
Stay updated with us at: http://abettercontract.org
To run on the ABC slate for the 2025 election, go to: http://slate.uftmembers.org
To join our organizing work groups, go to: http://join.uftmembers.org
Download, share and print a flyer to post at your school/work site: flyer.uftmembers.org
And follow us at:
Disclaimer: This is the official website of the “ A BETTER CONTRACT - UFT” slate. It is not an official site of The United Federation of Teachers. The site title describes a group of dues-paying UFT members organizing for a better contract with NYC and our union leadership. Information shared by us should not be considered officially from the UFTorganization.
15 comments:
I was also on the meeting and had a very different take away. Cherry picked questions and webinar format. Same group of men running the show as usual. An exec board member that almost never attends meeting trashing the current RTC CL - classless - I'll hold my nose and vote unity
For these men words like democracy and organizing are just social media buzzwords.
Wait - you have the Aise option
The men? Star was Marianne appearance and support from many women.
Can she run!!!? I thought she a member of a different union
Of course she can't run but she has an enormous following among UFT retirees who she has saved thousands of dollars and she brings votes for ABC to the table. And Yes I am one of the men. Arthur and I worked with 3 women to put this together and tried to get them to take a more forward role. One of them did. It isn't always easy for women in these situations but we are conscious of trying, I felt the yoiunger guys got a little too firsky.
Two Questions: 1) There are confirmed/card carrying members of Unity Caucus who are running with ABC. Can these folks be trusted? 2) How are Unity folks even allowed to run with another caucus? I thought they all signed the "Unity Oath"? Won't they loose those cushy jobs in the union if they run with ABC?
Yes they sign an oath and if they run against Unity they will be tossed out. Nick Bacon was still technically in Unity when he ran with UFC in 2022. As far a I know he never received an official banishment. Right now I know of one or two Unity people -- at the chapter leader level.
by the way John Q - join the ABC slate.
That Unity voter who made the gender point? No way that person is not connected to the Arise people who tried to break up your meeting. I read some Unity blogger who said the same thing about them. Who were really the thugs at that meeting?
I agree - I would never consider doing that at one of their meetings - if they ever hold them.
Did you see that photo of the 60 person MORE bar event last Friday? It was all about MORE and its organizing. New Action is a joke to MORE but they are carrying them for the purpose of this election. I have a question. If there are 2 slates and everyone thinks Unity will win, why would MORE with a bunch of people who do not want to run anyway, spend all its energy on a losing election? What do they have to gain?
I'm not ready to join any opposition slate at this time but I am leaning toward voting for ABC. Will there be a presidential candidate debate among ABC, ARISE, and Unity???
How great would a presidential debate be like we had with Randi in 1999 and 2001?
EXACTLY! I have been saying this for for a while. I see no possible way for either ABC or ARISE to beat Unity on their own. The infighting will more than likely cause Unity to win at a time when they can actually be beat due to the distrust and disgust that many teachers are feeling toward Mulgrew.
I think you are wrong. One slate with More loses. ABC can actually win in a 3 slate race and I will show how in an upcoming blog in a week or so.
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