Unity Attacks on ABC Verge on Hysteria, ABC Revs up GOTV

After 20 years of Honda CRVs - the current one from 2013 after we lost two cars in the hurricane, I'm trying something new. Today I pick up my new Subaru Forester hybrid - I took a chance on a brand new model just released but I wanted a hybrid and the Forester rates so well and everyone who drives one raves about it - also the first car that is keyless -- I hate that idea -- but that's "progress." I only have 66k mileage on my 12 year old CRV so I'm getting a nice trade-in on a slightly battered car. 

 

Monday, May 12

 

I checked out the interview Marianne Pizzitola did with most of the ABC officer slate last night and expected it to last an hour. Two and a half hours later I was still engrossed in just how rich this discussion was. Anyone who says this group is not ready for leadership of the UFT is an idiot.

 

Check it out and leave a comment: 

https://www.youtube.com/live/L2Ay78AwuUA?si=BxipgAeZF-xTykBa 

 

Also sign up for the ABC GOTV Rally Tuesday 5/13 at 8PM. Sign up at tinyurl.com/abcgotv

 

 

 

And check out this ABC ad: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1Abtud1cE8/?mibextid=wwXIfr

 

I won't give details of the insane accusations coming out of Unity attacking ABC -- they seem to think ABC actually has a chance to win. Which of course means some of them may face the dreary prospect of having to go back to the classrooms they have allowed to deteriorate.

 

I generally do not leaflet mail boxes in this election but I decided to do the two schools on my corner, one a D.75 school. I was turned away on Thursday and told to come back Friday and was chatting with the secretary and teacher in charge in the office as I stuffed boxes. They knew little or nothing about the election or who was running and I tried to explain when a para came into the office who was totally up on the election and an ABC supporter. She is a Marianne fan and knew so much about the election and even said she was going to bring her daughter, an Occupation Therapist to the afternoon ABC Rockaway meetup to meet Amy and the crew - and she did.

 

I've been busy with so many ABC events and the constant chats going on. We had a zoom last Thursday night and people I don't know were saying some amazing things. And then we had a Brooklyn meetup on Thursday and Rockaway meetup on Friday and same thing. I have never met or heard of most of them. 

 

This is my first election experience where this has happened but then again the very idea of ABC from the beginning was to reach new people and schools. Will it go deep enough to win this election? Even if not, we have broken new ground in the UFT and the attacks on ABC by both Unity and some ARISE people are indications of the threat ABC poses to both the people in power and to the old legacy caucuses in the oppo. 

 

How could a group of ad hoc individuals from a wide range of ideologies manage to come together, often as strangers, and build a 560 member slate and run an effective campaign when we were lectured ad infinitem that the only way was through the caucus infrasture? 

The very idea for people who believe in "structure" is a threat to their way of thinking -- and I often find this need for strucure is very prevalent with the leftists I have worked with who view me as an anarchist with libertarian tendencies. At the root I find that they and the union leadership just don't trust the rank and file to emerge as leaders which is exactly the opposite of what we've seen with ABC, which is also a threat to their way of thinking.

 

What an interesting UFT election cycle, with all its permutations. I'm looking forward to the May 29 - through "whenever they finish" count, which could take days due to the delays from split ballots -- see my post - UFT Election W25 Splitters: Signs of Unity Desertions to ABC but How Far Will it Go?. Maybe we will know the outcome by July.

Also check out my ruminations on Amy-Gate from Oct. 23, 2023 - where I speculated on splits in Unity Caucus - which came to pass, though I never expected Amy to take her bold step of challenging Mulgrew.

Unity Caucus and Amy-Gate -Reasons for Arundell removal as UFT Queens Borough Rep

The results will check the pulse of UFT members - and the current leadership - and also the legacy caucuses' ability to pull out votes.

 

Will the votes of in service go beyond the usual 25%? ABC predicated its run on increasing that number. Or will the 40% retiree return keep dominating UFT elections? Will the massive shift in retiree votes away from Unity continue? Will some of the votes Unity lost come back to them? Will ARISE and ABC split the anti-Unity retiree vote? What impact will Marianne's support for ABC have? Will paras come out in force for the first time in UFT elections and how would that affect the prospects of ABC? What about the.... Oy - the few hairs I have left are hurting.

 

I am getting blamed by all sorts of people for the existence of ABC who claim if we were one slate we would beat Mulgrew. I never believed one slate under the management of the 3 caucuses that make up ARISE, even with the sliver they offered ABC, would have won and in fact posited that two slates that ran independent campaigns but with enough common candidates was the better option to defeat Unity. I wrote in December -  UFT Elections: The Two Slate Solution - Keep Calm.

 

ABC is a new entity that has never existed in the UFT before due to the influx of Unity people, the first break in Unity probably since the late 60s.

 

ABC is aiming at winning while I see ARISE at aiming at beating ABC. They know they can't win - you know why? Because their leading lights kept saying two slates cannot win. One of their leaders actually said in urging ABC to come to ARISE (when it was ARISE who left ABC) "Do you want this to be your legacy when you die -- you helped Mulgrew win?"

 

Unity clearly doesn't see ARISE as a threat and has worked with all of three caucuses in ARISE over the decades -- NAC, RA and MORE. ABC, with its ex-Unity contingent plus an ad hoc collection of independents and with its more aggressive assault on the Unity machine clearly is viewed as the bigger threat.

 

Even Mulgrew has jumped into the ABC bashing while ignoring ARISE:

 ..the most dangerous thing about them (ABC)? The company they keep. They’re working closely with non UFT organizations–outsiders– who are trying to use our election process to gain control of our union for their own political schemes. Do your research to see who they are backed by.

This is an attack on Marianne but he is afraid to name her here because she is more popular with UFTers than he is. 

They shout over and over: “Members first” but reject plans that address members' needs, like the class size law and para legislation (yes, ABC slate fought back against both.) They throw slogans like “we need change” but offer no policy.

Thus, he accuses ABC of not supporting paras and class size reductions because we were critical of the half-assed way Unity goes about it, like supporting the 10k para bonus while being critical that it is non-pensionable and not trying to make class size reductions more bullet proof through the contract.

 

From the earliest days of this election going back a year, I took a position that the caucus alliance that became ARISE is similar to the UFC alliance from 3 years ago, though with the added imprimatur of the retiree win, along with the para win.

 

Someone made this comment - I forget where:

Their (ARISE) priorities are backwards. Number one priority should be to oust Mulgrew. The rest could be discussed later after getting him out so we could finally effect real change instead of just complaining. Speaks volumes that you (ARISE) are more interested in social justice than doing what is necessary to oust Mulgrew. Protests appeal to you more than petitions. Both are necessary where we are right now as a union, and as a nation. Discord will not help us to carry the day.

I knew Marianne would not support ARISE and told people in RA repeatedly that she would back ABC - and ABC and the ARISE people were at meetings together from March through late October/early November when it was clear Amy was seriously considering running against Mulgrew. ABC offered a plan where everyone could run as individuals from all the caucuses without branding ABC as caucus driven. The caucuses wouldn't accept that even though they had enough people to flood ABC with candidates. First MORE pulled out and then NAC and RA followed. They viewed what was left of ABC as inept and only a few people with a bunch of ex-Unity and felt they would drop out and leave the field for ARISE which offered what was then ABC, a sliver. No one expected ABC to be able to form a massive slate of people to run which exceeded ARISE. Even I was shocked and as the petition coordinator begged them to stop getting people to run since I was drowning in paperwork. I had to lug a massive suitcase full of petitions the day it was due.

 

A lot of the 300 delegates felt they ran under the RA banner but were not included in the decision to run with ARISE plus the group has been kept small and also does not put out minutes of its meetings. Bennett has been the best of them so far - fair-minded but he also needs the support of the other RA people who make up the RTF officer slate and do work for RTC. The problem is that New Action occupies 4 of the 12 slots on RA so their interests take precedence over the interests of RA. Bennett is caught in the middle but goes with the majority, which I get. 

Anyway -- a long election cycle that for many of us began with the meeting at Amy's apartment last March is coming to an end in two weeks. The count is at 52 May 29 and probably May 30 and maybe into June. Any UFT member can observe but if they are overloaded they will use a waiting list. I will be there all the way as an election committee member.

 

Here are some photos from the Rockaway ABC meetup on Friday.

 

 

UFT Election 25 Splitters: Signs of Unity Desertions to ABC but How Far Will it Go?

 

Gene Mann. the well-known and well-read former Unity Caucus Organizer

Tuesday May 6, 2025

If you watch the Unity election reaction you can see some level of panic and hysteria and how much they are focused on attacking ABC and if not ignoring, actually pushing ARISE. But underneath the sturm and drang, we hear lots of whispers about Unity ballot splitters which means instead of voting the Unity slate, they will be picking and choosing a select list of people to vote for, with some (or more than some) favoring Amy Arundell over the unpopular Mulgrew. Which leads to some interesting conjectures: 

Can people win from both ABC and Unity? Or is it even possible for ARISE to sneak in with a 3 way race? I doubt that ARISE has any chance to win while ABC has a path if the retiree and para vote and the breakaway Unity vote come in strong, but I have to say unity is still the favorite - and to those who continue to harange and blame me for two slates I say that if we ran one slate that was dominated and controlled by the 3 members of the ARISE coalition with the ABCs given a slim sliver, we would not have 120 paras running, doubtful backing by Marianne and no Unity split offs voting for such a slate. One slate configured and controlled by ARISE would have had as little chance of winning, so get over it. ABC being freed from the ARISE controls has flourished and brought new blood into the battle.

There are whispers and secret pats on the back coming from a silent minority or maybe majority  of Unity people at all levels in messages to ABC candidates they've known and worked with. Some ABCs have been surprised at the friendliness toward them, given the vicious attacks coming from Unity slugs, some anonymous. 

I DON'T RECOMMEND IT

Clearly, there is worry about their jobs and the prospect of going back to the classroom if Unity loses. So it could be a game of mirrors where they figure they have everything to gain in making nice just in case while maintaining the loyalty oath.

Gene goes on where he points out he's not voting for Amy to send Mulgrew a message but to actually make Amy president.

 

Here's the problem Gene with split ballots: Imagine if you vote for Amy and LeRoy and and other Unity people on adcom and they all win. Amy would be hindered from making needed changes. So vote A Better Contract straight up -- and the people in Unity who do good work will be recognized. A massive ship like the UFT needs a little time to be turned.

But, yes, look for a lot more ballot splitters in this election than in the past, though I tell people that if they don't vote for one slate, these ballot splitter votes are the last to be counted, and often discounted in reported totals because they generally have no real impact on the election as the different totals for candidates come to a few hundred at most.  

But if this is a close race, these split ballot votes may determine some winners. Imagine people in Unity decide to vote for Amy and also their friends in Unity they respect. She could win and be saddled with a Unity dominated adcom and executive board. Real change won't come if that happens - so vote ABC slate.

Some Unity were reassured when Amy has said that there are staffers who are capable and would be needed to help keep the wheels on the union if there was an overturn of the leadership. 

Let's face it. Amy is the wildcard. Insiders know she is smart and competent and capable of running the UFT, probably the most competent opponent Unity has had (I'd exempt James Eterno and possibly Julie Cavanagh). 

The big question is how deep into the schools do people know Amy? I met a guidance counselor in a k-8 school today when I was putting leaflets in the mail boxes (something I swore I would not do but Amy asked me to do this school and a few others) and she knew little about the election (other than two of her colleagues whose photos were over the time clock running with Unity - probably a violation of DOE election rules) but did know about Amy. So the difference between this and other elections is that knowledge about the ABC presidential candidate extends deeper into the schools, especially in Queens, than any other candidate in the past. 

Let's face it -- no matter who is on the slate, people vote based on the president. That was certainly a strategy behind ABC - for better or worse, Amy Arundell is a magnet for matter and some anti-matter - she gives ABC the best chance to win, while also probably costing ABC some votes.

March 2007 - James Eterno: ICE BEATS NEW ACTION HANDS DOWN There's No Comparison; I've been with Both Groups!

Why run as an opposition group if you don't oppose much of anything the leadership does? Maybe you want to eliminate the real opposition: ICE-TJC. A truly independent opposition to Unity will strengthen the UFT. New Action's last stint on the executive board proved that some of their people didn't oppose or question Randi too often. I urge everyone to vote for ICE-TJC.

The ICE-TJC opposition to Unity over the last three years has been more active and effective as compared to the prior three when NAC was on the Executive Board, cementing their "bipartisan" relationship with Randi. We have a solid record of raising issues and actually getting some stuff accomplished at the UFT Executive Board.... In 2004 when the resolution to have the president appoint DR’s was up for renewal, only NAC's Ed Beller and I voted no. New Action's other representatives had changed their view or didn't vote..... James Eterno, ICE blog, March 2007

• UFT Election Results 2004/07 Compared

 

May 1, 2025 - Ballots go out today. A vote for ARISE is a vote for Unity.

New Action and Unity have been in the forefront of attacks on ABC in this election. But no surprise there. History counts.

As part of the ARISE coalition, New Action brags about its history and when challenged about their sellout to Unity Caucus from 2003 through 2016, they actually defend it by using the excuse of the Bloomberg attacks and the need for the oppo to work with Unity in bi-partisanship. Bring up the fact that many of the NAC pack were on the union payroll and they go silent. NAC is also a big component of Retiree Advocate and they still tiptoe around Unity.

ICE - Independent Community of Educators - was a group of individuals and ex-caucus members and similar to ABC in many ways - formed in response. The late James Eterno, Ellen Fox and Lisa North all left NAC to join ICE which allied with Teachers for a Just Contract (TJC) which became an active caucus in response to the sellout for elections and defeated the NAC HS candidates in the 2004 election. NAC then ran on the Unity slate in 2007 and won back those seats which they held through 2016. Just as the NACers in ARISE attack ABC in the 2025 election, they did the same to ICE in 2007 (and in other elections). 

Here in a 2007 pre-election blog posting, James compares his 7 years with NAC on the Exec Bd with his 3 years with ICE. I witnessed much of it and saw James grow into a tiger working with the ICEers Jeff Kaufman and Barbara Kaplan-Halper. When James was in NAC I used to sit behind him at Exec Bd meetings and prod him to break out of the NAC stranglehold. I remember a particular issue where some NACers were resisting a Unity push and the NAC leader, currently running for the second highest position in the UFT,  went around telling them to cool it because resistance would make Randi mad. 

In all the years of contention with Bloomberg over closing schools and other issues, I attended almost all PEP (Board of Ed) meetings with other activists to protest Joel Klein and his policies. Throughout the dozen years of Bloomberg, NAC had no presence in the resistance, so the Bloomberg excuse for running with Unity is bullshit.

Here James provides a preview of the different approaches between ICE and NAC which echoes the differences we see between the ABC and ARISE approach.

Thursday, March 08, 2007

ICE BEATS NEW ACTION HANDS DOWN

ABC-UFT Media - Mulgrew’s Election Tactics Spark Legal Consequences

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

verified petition2.pdf drive.google.com

A Better Contract is an independent slate of over 550 UFT members that will challenge the over six

 

ARISE Pro-Unity Positions Proves ARISE never AROSE: Don't Waste A Vote That Helps Unity Win - VOTE ABC

Saturday, April 19, 2025 - ARISE SINKS!

Proof is in the pudding. ARISE is not running against Unity but against ABC. 

Holy Cow - ARISE's Bacon increasingly takes the same line as Unity - this time on the Intro 1096 City Council law that so many retirees want to see passed to protect their Medicare. And engages in an attack on Marianne Pizzitola and her enormously successful organizing of retirees to battle for their medicare. 

Of course the motivation is that Marianne is supporting ABC and only wishes she would back ARISE and if she did you would never see him writing these comments. Even more interesting to me is that 2 of the 3 legs of ARISE - Retiree Advocate, and his own caucus New Action, are loaded with retirees - in fact 25% (140) of their candidates are retirees, many of them elected to the DA in the massive retiree win in last year's retiree chapter election, which they won with what Nick Bacon would call a "myopic" focus on the healthcare issue - and they won due to the massive support Marianne and her troops gave them. That election and the 75% win by Fix Para Pay are amongst the main forces driving the possibility of defeating Mulgrew -- note there are 70k retirees and 27k paras -- about half the total voting UFT membership. 

That FPP is aligned with ABC -- with 120 paras running with ABC - over 20% of the 560 candidates - unprecedented in the history of the UFT - irks ARISE which had reached out to FPP to ask them to run with ARISE, especially since ARISE does not seem to have many - or any - paras on their slate.  

Yet, ARISE continues to join in the Unity attacks on ABC for focusing on the issues of most concern to UFT members and attempting to create a broad-based non-sectatarian inclusive movement. Shame, shame, shame.

How does the position of ARISE on intro 1096 - which many of the 300 elected RTC delegates and Exec Bd members support - play out with them or even with the 140 retiree candidates?

This was posted by Dan Alicea on FB:

Whether fueled by political/personal vendettas, unabated paranoia or Mulgrew’s Unity talking points, Nick Bacon, the caucus boss of New Action, now believes full support for Intro 1096 is short-sighted and could adversely hurt active members. 

 

This despite an overwhelming majority of UFT retirees voting in favor of a reso in full support of Intro 1096 and their calls for our union to lobby and commit its resources to it.

 

This is strange since many of those who support the bill and the RTC resolution are RA, and even New Action (NAC) UFT retirees.

 

https://arthurgoldstein.substack.com/.../uft-retired...

 

Bacon thinks that we need a task force of UFT labor lawyers to decide our futures. Despite, MLC/UFT lawyer, Alan Klinger, on an audio recording not willing to call 1096 illegal but rather that he worries it would impact future options of the MLC to negotiate retiree benefits for active service benefits and wages.

 

UFT retirees, a vote for ARISE is a wasted vote. 

 

ARISE never AROSE. 

 

Nick has shown his MORE-led, caucus-first coalition is willing to ignore the will of UFT retirees. They are willing to bow to Mulgrew for political gain and election season posturing by pitting actives against retirees.

 

If you think it’s time to replace Mulgrew because our healthcare, pensions and benefits are too important to risk, only ABC offers a steady hand of seasoned union leaders and the unwavering commitment to support the issues that matter to retirees. 

 

On May 1st ballots will be mailed to our homes. In May, we take back our union and make MEMBERS FIRST, again! 

 

Vote for A Better Contract (ABC)

Learn more: http://abettercontract.org

 

 

The NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees are having an in person mayoral forum on April 17th at CUNY, 6PM

Wednesday, April 16, 2025

ABC, A Better Contract, will have a bunch of people there.

The NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees are having an in person mayoral forum on April 17th. Many retirees live out of state and cannot attend. Retiree healthcare is not just an issue for those who are retired. This issue is important to us all, for our future. We need to demonstrate people power so that mayoral candidates know that we are paying attention. Candidates need to see we can deliver numbers. So, let’s stand in solidarity with all public service retirees and exercise power.

Of all the candidates that were invited, Curtis is attending as well as Jim Walden, Scott Stringer, Brad Lander, Zellnor Myrie , Michael Blake, Whitney Tilson, and Jessica Ramos. 

Zohran Mamdani backed out after agreeing, Adrienne Adams said no, Eric Adams ignored us, and Andrew Como said no. 

Attending is not an endorsement of any candidate. It’s demonstrating to all candidates that they must address the issues that are important to the constituencies they want to endorse and vote for them. 

Here’s the registration link

https://forms.gle/JHQAVPe8oVLz7K1N8

The NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees are having an in person mayoral forum on April 17th. Many retirees live out of state and cannot attend. Retiree healthcare is not just an issue for those who are retired. This issue is important to us all, for our future. We need to demonstrate people power so that mayoral candidates know that we are paying attention. Candidates need to see we can deliver numbers. So, let’s stand in solidarity with all public service retirees and exercise power.

Of all the candidates that were invited, Curtis is attending as well as Jim Walden, Scott Stringer, Brad Lander, Zellnor Myrie , Michael Blake, Whitney Tilson, and Jessica Ramos. 

Zohran Mamdani backed out after agreeing, Adrienne Adams said no, Eric Adams ignored us, and Andrew Como said no. 

Attending is not an endorsement of any candidate. It’s demonstrating to all candidates that they must address the issues that are important to the constituencies they want to endorse and vote for them. 

Here’s the registration link

https://forms.gle/JHQAVPe8oVLz7K1N8

 

 

Ben For Teacher Retirement System - Still Time to Help with Petitions

Did you know?

• In 2009, the TDA rate of return was reduced to 7% for UFT titles, an effective cut of $2.3 million per teacher in retirement benefits.
• All non-UFT titles, including administrators, still receive the full 8.25% TDA.
• Tier 6 members receive less than half the benefits of Tier 4 members who make equal retirement contributions, and must work up to 15 years longer to receive a full pension.

Ultimate irony - retirees can't vote, nor run, not sign the petitions.

 

In last year's election, Unity hacks attacked Ben's petitions with a vengeance but we had almost double the number needed - so help out in the final days of petitioning.

 

Saturday, April 5, 2025

I wanted to post this before I head into Manhattan for the big rally today -- I will have some petitions for Ben with me for an in-service people I run into to sign. 

 

Here is Ben's campaign poster from last year.

With the recent State re-amortization budget proposal, now, more than ever, it is important to protect our pension against further cuts, and reverse the most recent ones.

Ben Morgenroth ran in the election last year against a no-nothing Unity shill as Ed Notes reported:  

• ICE Endorses in TRS, 
• Teacher Retiree System (TRS) Pension Election 
• Vote for Ben to End Unity Monopoly of Pension reps.

The UFT has 3 pension reps who serve 3-year terms that are staggered, thus triggering an election every year and they are all Unity Caucus reps who take their orders from the union leadership, which dovetails so closely to the center/right Democratic Party line and also is so cozy with the financial industry. I have advocated for years that the oppo should challenge Unity in every venue, including the TRS election.

 

Ben is back and he got 33% of the vote despite a massive Unity campaign against him and a boycott by MORE to support him because of an ugly false rumor spread by a current prominent member of ARISE. Irony: Ben is running with ARISE for the Exec Bd. Will the same forces aligned with ARISE refuse to back him this time and help the Unity candidate win?

 

Many ABC candidates are helping Ben with the petitions despite his running with ARISE and also will organize voters for him in their schools. 

 

Teacher Mike Schirtzer Celebrates Paraprofessional Day

For Unity, MORE, and New Action, this is an election gimmick...Mike S.

April 2, 2025

Mike, a candidate for HS Ex bd on the ABC slate, didn't mention that over 100 paras are running with A Better Contract through the Fix Para Pay group. This is the first time in UFT general election history that paras have joined groups running against Unity and Mike points out the failures of the past and even some current caucuses in their failures to work with paras - certainly United for Change in the 2022 election, of which I was involved, failed in this regard. I always wonder about all those teachers in the caucuses  and whether they talk to paras at all in their schools. Retiree Advocate has few if any paras associated with it and I'm trying to come up with paras who ran for the 300 delegates to the RTC. Note: This is also a failure on my part and had been for decades so I don't take myself off the blame list.

 

 

There is no bill yet and the 10K bonus is non-pensionable and looks like an election bribe but we still support them getting that money and despite Unity attacks, ABC has supported the 10K and signed the petitions while also being critical of the tactic of using bonuses that are not pensionable.

 

Some schools are holding celebrations:

Holy Paraprofessional Day! by Mike Schirtzer

As an ICT teacher for almost 20 years, I can’t even begin to tell you how incredible it has been to work with so many amazing paras. Every single one I’ve worked with has made my students’ days brighter and better. They’ve helped me become a better teacher. They are the backbone of our schools.

And let’s be clear—the foundation of any union is negotiating strong contracts. That’s why we pay dues. It’s so our union leadership can sit across from the DOE and fight for real raises, benefits, and protections. That’s how it’s supposed to work.

But what are we being told now? That we have to beg City Council for a raise because our union leadership can’t get it done at the bargaining table? That’s an admission of failure. You’re telling me that every other union in this city negotiates raises for its members, but for paraprofessionals, the best we can do is hope and pray politicians throw them some crumbs?

Crumbs in our weekly paycheck—and we’re supposed to be thankful? We’re supposed to rally and wear blue, but whatever you do, don’t bring up the shady backroom political deal. Don’t bring up that it’s not pensionable. Don’t mention that we’re not doing this for school aides and parent coordinators in DC 37. Just smile, say thank you, and keep paying your damn dues.

And even if this raise, bonus, City Council gift, or whatever we’re supposed to call it actually happens—it’s not pensionable. So when paras retire, they’re left high and dry. This is the same scam they pulled on teachers with those garbage bonuses that don’t count toward pensions. Who in God’s name gave Michael Mulgrew the power to hand out non-pensionable “bonuses” like some Wall Street CEO, while refusing to fight for real raises?

And one more thing—because my brothers and sisters in A Better Contract (ABC) have been too kind about this: Let’s talk about New Action and MORE, running under their front group Arise.

New Action has been around for 40 years. MORE for over a dozen years. And now they’re running around pretending to care about para pay? Have they ever made fixing para pay a priority? Hell no. For Unity, MORE, and New Action, this is an election gimmick. For us, it’s about a union doing what it’s supposed to do—fighting for real raises and making our paras’ lives better.

We have worked alongside the leaders of Fix Para Pay—not only including them, but taking our lead from them. Isn’t that how a real union works? A real union listens to its members and fights for their needs. Unlike Unity, MORE, and New Action, who treat para pay as a political prop, we believe in doing the real work to make our paras’ lives better.

This isn’t about political maneuvering—it’s about securing fair, pensionable wages through proper collective bargaining, not backroom deals or non-pensionable bonuses. Our paras deserve respect and real compensation, not empty promises.

Meanwhile, ABC has been fighting to fix para pay from day one. We’re running actual paras for the Executive Board because we believe they should have a real voice in this union.

Unity, MORE, and New Action haven’t cared about para pay—yesterday, today, or tomorrow. Don’t be fooled.

 

Beware of Unity & MORE, UFT! They ALL claim to be 'member-driven'. Part 1 - UFT Proud

An ABC supporter opines on this anonymous blog. (It's not me writing this stuff - too much research work for lazy me to do.)

Tuesday April 1 - and this post is not an April Fool Joke

I am tired of the caucus control of our union. This is our union. We need a better contract.

They ALL claim to be 'member-driven'. But can you truly be member-driven while forcing your own personal politics and personal agendas on union members? - Part 1

Do Mulgrew, Weingarten, and their Unity caucus really think they speak for us all? Who do they represent and speak for? Doesn't member-driven mean we have a say?

 

Beware of Unity & MORE, UFT!

Mar 18, 2025

 

https://uftproud.substack.com/p/they-all-claim-to-be-member-driven 

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Can Michael Mulgrew, Randi Weingarten and their Unity caucus separate personal politics and personal agendas with leading our union?

Do they even bother to ask us what we think when they act on our behalf?

Umm. No.

Here are just some recent examples that they don’t give a darn about our diverse views, nor do they bother to get our input before they act on our behalf.

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1. Congestion Pricing - Mulgrew decided he’s against congestion pricing, therefore, the UFT is against it. He never polled us. We never spoke about or debated this issue at a UFT delegate assembly or UFT executive board. Like the dictator he is, he used our dues to file a lawsuit without our consent.

   Maybe he has a point about how it affects working class folks? Maybe he’s ignoring the body of environmental studies that prove him wrong? Maybe some of us agreed with him regarding congestion pricing. Yet, we also know just as many of us didn’t. Either way, he didn’t care to ask because he doesn’t think he has to.

   

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3. Israel/Gaza - This is an issue that has many strong, passionate, polarizing and personal positions among Americans and our union members, alike. Despite the inherent dissension this issue inevitably brings, Unity decided they would pass several geopolitical resolutions locally and nationally without speaking to members, first. Why bother, right?

   Even when some in Unity pushed back behind closed doors about the need to make sure that any stated position included our union’s diversity of voices, or that perhaps a press statement might be better, they didn’t care to ask or include members in the discussion before writing and forcing through geo-political resolutions with limited debate.

   As some know, Unity doesn’t just control our local union but Randi Weingarten leads Unity’s equivalent in our national union, the American Federation of Teachers.

   Did Randi or Unity poll teachers on a national level if the union should have a “Ceasefire Resolution”, condemn Netanyahu, or that the union must support a “two-state solution”? Nope.

   Ask most on the various sides of the Israel-Gaza issue and sufficed to say that the majority these days may likely not support a “two-state” solution. Some of us are not even sure our unions need to have a union position on geopolitical issues.

   One AFT delegate, Amy Lesser, from Los Angeles, holds a view many others in our union have expressed. She stated in a recent interview:

   “We are not international politicians,” she said. “And there is no foreign government that has any interest in what the teachers union or any labor union has to say about how they should function. . . . So the entire purpose behind these motions and these resolutions is that they generate a hostile teaching environment and learning environment for students.”

   Nonetheless, Unity didn’t bother to ask you or me, once again. They voted as a bloc in Houston, Texas, in the summer of 2024, for a “two-state solution” because of their oath that binds Unity delegates to vote for whatever the caucus leadership decides.

   

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4. Divesting our pensions and union assets from Musk’s Tesla? - We all know that Randi and Unity are tied to the hip of the establishment Democrat machine. They may try to appear to be neutral but those of us who attend delegate assemblies heard when Mulgrew included us as part of the DNC’s operations. He blurred the lines with the DNC when he spoke about ‘WE’ will be door knocking and campaigning for the Harris for President campaign in Pennsylvania.

    
   Who can forget Randi and the UFT making public endorsements of Kamala Harris the minute front page news shared that Biden would no longer be running and Kamala had declared her candidacy before rank and file AFT delegates voted on the matter? They boasted about being the first union to endorse Kamala while unions like the Teamsters deliberated and polled all of their members. Teamsters did the unimaginable in Unity circles these days — they made no endorsement.

   Now that Harris lost the presidential election handily and Trump has included Elon Musk in his administration, Randi is really mad and obsessed about losing to the will of the American people, Trump and Musk. She dedicates a lot of her time and effort these days in a Twitter/X war with Elon and has gone as far as asking that pension and asset managers divest from Musk’s Tesla company.

   It seems that her personal politics and petty partisan online bickering now affect our financial bottom lines, too? Randi, have you reflected about why so much of the working class isn’t voting for your side these days?

   

5. The New York Health Act - Here’s a little secret Unity doesn’t want you to know. Retirees, take heed. Our union’s official position according to our highest-deliberative body is that the UFT SUPPORTS of the New York Health Act.

   
   Did you know that Unity is actually behind writing, motivating and passing the two UFT resolutions that affirm the union’s official support for the New York Health Act? They have a really crazy way of gaslighting us to deflect from their own deeds.

   In 2015, most of the left and even centrist Democrats were staunchly behind Bernie’s Medicare for All. For a season, it was politically cool and fashionable to support single-payer universal healthcare. Following the political headwinds of the day, Unity wrote and passed a resolution in support of NYHA that seeks to a create a single payer healthcare system for all in New York.

   In May of 2015, the former Unity-UFT Secretary, Emil Pietromonaco, can be found here motivating the Unity crafted UFT resolution in support of the New York Health Act. It passed overwhelmingly by the Unity dominated executive board. Shortly after, it passed overwhelmingly in their rubber stamp, Unity dominated delegate assembly.

Another Unity inspired reso in 2017 that affirmed our union stance on the New York Health Act was motivated by current UFT secretary, LeRoy Barr. It too passed overwhelmingly in the Unity-dominated exec board and delegate assembly.

So what changed? Why did Unity waffle on its own stance on the New York Health Act? Did they see the light? Did they finally realize it may affect retiree Medicare? Or did they have a “come to Jesus'“ moment as to how to fund it? No, the Biden-Harris campaign for President in 2020 changed the DNC’s views on single-payer universal healthcare, at least for now.

The 2020 Biden campaign may have still supported a path to universal healthcare but it also believed it could become a reality through privatization — rejecting a single payer option exclusively. We see this in his stated campaign positions.

We also see the AFT and Randi abandon its hardline single payer stance from the Bernie days and fall in line with the Biden-Harris privatized insurance plus public option view.

The Uniry-led AFT passed a resolution during the pandemic changing labor’s long held position regarding univeral healthcare with a single payer option to supporting the possibility of achieving it with “private insurance with a public option.”

Circa 2020, the current union leadership pulled back on its own single-payer healthcare position, despite their own resolutions in support of NYHA, and they began to publish contradictory anti-NYHA messaging on our union web pages. Mulgrew openly attacked the will of the union’s deliberative bodies and blamed union activists, except it strangely was their own Unity caucus machinations.

In this insider, establishment political see-saw game, they didn’t ask you or me. Their flip-flop regarding the New York Health Act wasn’t because they sought input from the membership. It had more to do with the Big Healthcare lobbyists having the ear of the Biden Administration while it fiercely lobbied in states that were considering a single-payer option or a public option.

So maybe they just changed their minds? So why not use the executive board and delegate assembly to change the union stance on NYHA?

These days they have no guarantees in ramming things through the DA because of their shrinking majority and why should they if Mulgrew can do whatever he wants without consent, even if the consent is performative.

Did they realize how it would impact their control of the Welfare Fund? Maybe. We also can’t discount Mulgrew’s dance with the City to achieve health care cost savings in exchange for retro raises and the bill that came due in 2018 . Or that he created a Medicare Advantage plan that sought to force Medicare eligible retirees into it to pay for his givebacks.

To Cuomo or Not to Cuomo?

A test of Unity’s disdain and mistrust of members will be on display during this pivotal upcoming mayoral election. Will Unity actually poll us for our desired endorsement picks as to who should be the next mayor of NYC? Would they bother to share the poll results with us? Already Unity apologists are making a case for disgraced, former Governor Andrew Cuomo who has a marred history steeped in anti public education and anti-union policies, creating Tier 6, and multiple allegations of sexual harassment of 13 women. Mulgrew already has shown his cards and thinks Cuomo is worthy of our consideration.

And still our voices and input don’t matter to Unity in our union’s political decisions. Member-driven? Not in 60 years. Not ever.

Member-divisive. Yes.

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Up next: If a MORE-dominated ARISE coalition is elected, can it genuinely be MEMBER-DRIVEN?

Can MORE caucus and its political front groups, like Educators for Palestine, separate their own personal politics and personal agendas from leading our union?

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We need new leadership that’s committed to being member-led, member-centered and MEMBERS FIRST. That’s why I’m voting for the A Better Contract slate. Caucuses like Unity and MORE only pursue their own self-preservation. While ABC believes in genuine member voice and referenda — no more decisions on big issues like political endorsements without bringing it to the membership, first.

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A Casino in Queens or Time Square? - Most of us still don’t understand why he used the weight of the union or had union officers at public hearings fighting in this casino bidding war among the city’s billionaires as to whose project should be approved by the City. Mulgrew decided that he was firmly with Team Billionaire Steve Cohen and that Queens residents deserve a new casino in their backyard— not in a business district like Time Square. Mulgrew’s close ties to chief lobbyist, Louis Cholden-Brown, for Cohen’s casino empire bidding operation raises a lot of eyebrows. Should our union be involved in this? Were we consulted or briefed? Ha!