For Immediate Release
Press contact: Mike Schirtzer
(917)683-7014
(New
York, N.Y.) The "A Better Contract" slate is sounding the alarm on a
desperate, undemocratic move by United Federation of Teachers President
Michael Mulgrew and his Unity Caucus in the upcoming UFT union-wide
officer elections. Despite paper ballots being mailed out to members on
May 1st, Mulgrew has decided to add his own election rules and block
several attempts to increase voter participation.
After
years of rejecting electronic voting—even though our sister AFT union,
PSC-CUNY, already uses it successfully—and watching turnout plummet,
Unity is now pushing a last-minute in-person voting plan at select,
controlled locations. Meanwhile, they’re rejecting the one solution that
would actually boost turnout and empower members: in-person voting at
our own schools and worksites, the same way we vote for our union
contract, Chapter Leaders, Delegates, and Paraprofessional
Representatives. The fact we elect our building representatives in
school, but not who leads our union is absurd.
Online
voting would also allow for members with disabilities, such as those
who are visually impaired, to cast their votes independently. This would
be considered a “Reasonable Accommodation” under the Americans With
Disabilities Act (ADA).
“They
had no interest in increasing participation when members demanded real
reform,” said Amy Arundell, UFT Presidential challenger. “Now that
they’re losing their grip, they want to stage controlled, in-person
voting sites where they can feed you, give you a gift—and convince you
to vote again.”
Here’s
the catch: if a member votes again in person, that vote overrides their
mail-in ballot. That means your original vote—already cast —gets thrown
out and replaced. It’s double voting with a twist: only the second vote
counts.
Even
more concerning, many of these in-person voting events are being held
at special dinners and award ceremonies—mixing voting with celebrations
in a way that creates the appearance of impropriety. This raises serious
ethical concerns and calls into question the legitimacy of the entire
process.
“They
won’t let us vote at school or online—but they’ll hand out dinners,
awards, and gift bags, then tell members to vote again. First vote
tossed. That’s not democracy—it’s a scam,” said Daniel Alicea, candidate
for UFT Vice President of Middle Schools.
“This
is about one thing: control,” said Arundell. “Unity knows the only way
they can hold onto power is by stacking the deck—selecting who votes
where, while their loyal insiders run the show.”
To
make matters worse, the so-called “nonpartisan” election committee is
anything but. It’s filled with Unity Caucus members and paid union
staffers, making this entire process biased from the top down.
The
A Better Contract slate has filed a lawsuit to stop this manipulation
and is demanding a fair election—where every vote counts, no matter how
or where it’s cast.
“This
union belongs to the educators in our classrooms—not to a political
machine clinging to power,” said Arundell. “We’re not backing down.”
Link to full lawsuit here
A Better Contract is an independent slate of over 550 UFT members that will challenge the over six
