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October 13, 2025
I haven't posted much about ABC since the election ended in June. While some expected to win despite having to compete with the 3-caucus ARISE coalition, they were also excited at the 32% result for a group no one had heard of a few months before while the long-time caucuses in ARISE could manage only 14%. These results seemed proof of concept that drove ABC -- that the legacy caucus model in the UFT has failed to capture the support of the rank and file.
We can even apply the legacy model to the victorious Unity Caucus, 60 years in power and only gaining a 54% vote, their lowest total ever - in actual hard numbers, a hard minority of the total membership.
An ABC-type group is the future - I'm not claiming that the current version of ABC is going to be that group but some version of it -- and the important point is that ABC is open to all UFT members, even those in caucuses.
I think ABC as formed at this point has potential but it must grow and expand its outreach. How to do that is still up in the air and open for discussion. If you don't want to be a formal caucus than what form does it take and how to ensure a level of democracy but also a method of making decisions and carrying them out?
Oy. My sense at this point is based on the people ABC has attracted so far -- creative, competent, dynamic - a willingness to think out of the box. But without some way of making decisions, some of that energy gets dissipated. What I have found interesting is the informal leadership -- the people who rise to the occasion when needed. I hate to formalize things --- because when you do, potential leaders can get stifled.
Oy. My sense at this point is based on the people ABC has attracted so far -- creative, competent, dynamic - a willingness to think out of the box. But without some way of making decisions, some of that energy gets dissipated. What I have found interesting is the informal leadership -- the people who rise to the occasion when needed. I hate to formalize things --- because when you do, potential leaders can get stifled.
ABC, unlike other groups in the UFT, consists overwhelmingly of actively working UFTers and they felt they needed a break after a brutal election season. (Retirees are a smaller portion of ABC than they are in ARISE).
The firings of ABCers at the end of June and into this school year (The Friday Night Unity Purge/Massacre) and the Pissgate (Misogyny at the UFT Delegate Assembly) June DA created a lot of internal discussion, as did the recent healthcare changes. There is a retiree group within ABC and it is growing but the perception is that RA and NAC have a bigger group based on the fact that 140 retiree ran with them. But then again retirees in the UFT voted 3-1 for the ABC slate in the election. ABC retirees are caught betwixt and between, unhappy with Unity and unhappy with the current RA/NAC leadership of the Retiree Chapter, as Arthur expressed in his weekend post:
I agree with much of what Arthur says, though not so much with his attempts to reach out - As a member of RA Organizers, I understand the mentality there and I don't see many signs of wanting to share power with others. I've given up trying. They are enjoying being in charge of RTC and while Unity initially saw them as a threat, I sense that the Unity hierarchy, while still wanting to take back the chapter in 2027 (they won a slim majority of retiree votes in the recent election), are not too upset or threatened. So far the biggest threat took place a year ago at the first RTC meeting under the control of RA when Bennett had Marianne as his guest, which freaked Unity out (UFT Retired Teacher Chapter Meeting Takeaway).
ABC came together as an election slate and questions remained as to its future. Not wanting to be like a formal caucus leads to questions of exactly what form would a group like ABC take. A difference between ABC and the legacy caucuses is a willingness to take the discussion out of the backroom and open up the debate outside voices with a mass meeting on Oct. 23. (I believe we dropped the ball after months of successful mass meetings by not holding them regularly during the election.)
I believe over 700 have already registered, so hop on board.
Here are the Ed Notes posts on the election:
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