Christina Gavin Defends Her Reputation Against False Claims by Unity Hierarchy and District Rep Woodruff

You have to listen to these podcasts and the recordings of the interactions between Christina Gavin and Bill Woodruff to get the full picture of what happened at a s0-called UFT District "social" event; just a week before UFT ballots went out.

 

(If the player doesn't work try clicking the URL.)

This is not the first time we've heard of bizarre behavior from Woodruff, but I will get into that at another time. In fact, the Unity defense of Woodruff itself constitutes bizarre behavior.

 

Here are some previous posts:

• Christina Vs The Unity Caucus Machine - At May 23 UFT Ex Bd

• 
• Stop UFT/Unity Persecution of Christina - Sign an Open Letter re: Christina Gavin & May 23rd UFT E-board Meeting

But let's put things into context. Christina took the lead in compiling election complaints against Unity which is the cause of the persecution of Christina by elements of the UFT leadership. (I'm not sure there's unanimity inside the leadership in this crusade against Christina.) Ok, she is relentless and willing to go to the mat for her beliefs, a much needed elements all too often missing from the usual suspects (me included) in the opposition. And make no mistake about it, Christina is not one of the usual suspects.

 

You really can't  make this stuff up. A must listen 2 part series by our fave podcaster, Noah Teachey exposes the entire rotten process. Note Christina's point by point take down of the UFT leadership case. She should be the lawyer for the UFT, not Beth (nicknamed Rude Beth by Christina) Norton.

 

In Part 2 (Ep. 46) take particular note of the actual recording of Leroy Barr and UFT attorney Beth Norton subjecting Christina to the third degree on when she eats lunch. Bizzaro-land. The Woodruff stuff is pretty funny too.

 

Here are Noah Teachey's notes:

• If you're enjoying what you're hearing, and want to hear more, check out patreon.com/professionaldevelopment

 

Ep 45: The UFTwilight Zone pt. 1, feat. Christina Gavin

 This week, Christina Gavin (school librarian, MORE UFT caucus member, and UFC candidate) makes an appearance on the show to tell us her story from the UFTwilight Zone, where the bureaucracy of a union meant to support educator-members sometimes turns on these very educators if they dare to identify the majority caucus's breeches of UFT election policy and national labor law. This is part 1, which sets the stage for the story and establishes how Christina first became known to Unity's higher-ups. Be sure to tune in next week for some pretty serious evidence of Unity deceit and the thrilling conclusion of the story.

https://lnns.co/a1ipI3JXKEC 

 Ep 46: The UFTwilight Zone pt. 2, feat. Christina Gavin

In today's episode I'm joined once again by Christina Gavin, a librarian, unionist, and self-proclaimed smart-aleck. This is part two of a two-part episode exploring the UF Twilight Zone, a land governed by a single caucus in which the line between fact and fiction is blurry at best. If you haven't heard part 1, which is episode 45 of the show, be sure to go have a listen so we're all on the same page.

>>Christina's conversation with Bill Woodruff: bit.ly/inappropriatebillwoodruffreadalong

>>Play "spot the contradictions" in this false complaint: bit.ly/inappropriatebillwoodruffcomplaint

>>Read and sign an open letter to UFT leadership on Christina's behalf: bit.ly/openuft

>>If you're enjoying what you're hearing, and want to hear more, check out patreon.com/professionaldevelopment

Listen now

https://lnns.co/fRwSrFs9Be2

• Christina's conversation with Bill Woodruff: bit.ly/inappropriatebillwoodruffreadalong
• Play "spot the contradictions" in this false complaint: bit.ly/inappropriatebillwoodruffcomplaint

Woodruff apologizes to her for a half hour, saying she did nothing wrong at the UFT event and then goes on to file charges against her, along with two other Unity candidates, also on the union payroll. And the UFT gang defends him to the hilt.

 

https://www.listennotes.com/e/64c196a127fb4870ba2eb2e768fb4efc/ ====

After Burn

Note this comment by a Unity hack on one of my posts on the Christina situation.

https://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/2022/06/uft-elections-2022-united-for-change.html?showComment=1655540905191#c5460043551358120642

Really, Norm, first you go on about Christian Glavin without noting that she was the person who filed the charges against Janella Hinds falsely accusing her of electioneering on union time. And now you are telling us that Unity candidates shouldn't be able to use their personal Twitter and Facebook accounts to campaign for election -- for some reason. What were you and all the UFCUFT candidates doing? Were all of your personal Twiiter and Facebook accounts that campaigned for election hijacked?

Christina Gavin Replies: Saturday, June 18, 2022 at 4:28:00 AM EDT

Hi Saturday Anonymous,

My name is Christina; not Christian.

If you were more informed, you might know that no “charge” was filed against Janella Hinds. An inquiry was made and a follow-up inquiry was made too, based on the fact that Mr. Cambria and Ms. Norton had at several junctures in the election provided misinformation, even when asked repeatedly.

Seven times over the course of 37 days Mr. Cambria (informed by Ms. Norton) adamantly told UFC candidates that the UFT was not a nonprofit organization, for example. They also informed representatives of all candidates & Marie Wausnock that the UFT’s Communications and Accounting departments have said that it costs $11 to send each email when asked about the cost to send an email to a portion of membership.

Asking twice was no reflection on Ms. Hinds’ character but was based solely on the repeated instances of off-the-cuff wrong answers from Mr. Cambria and Ms. Norton, as I later told Ms. Hinds myself in a phone conversation about this topic.

Indeed Ms. Norton herself stated that no complaint had been filed against Ms. Hinds, but “an inquiry that may lead to a complaint” had been sent to the UFT.

You write to Norm “you are telling us that Unity candidates shouldn't be able to use their personal Twitter and Facebook accounts to campaign for election -- **for some reason**”

UFC did not say this for **some or no reason,** as you falsely claim. On January 31, Mr. Cambria had emailed UFT employees “reminding” them that they were not permitted to use the same accounts to both communicate with members in their roles as representatives of the union and campaign for candidates/caucuses. Was this an unreasonable directive for him to give? Arguably. Was it a UFT directive given by the UFT Election Chair to UFT employees? Undeniably.

Perhaps you should spend less time making uninformed statements from behind anonymous accounts; it might help you to be less wrong in your future commentary.

My reply to the hack attack:

Obfuscation and distraction. Uft employees - people we pay out of our dues. District reps abused the process. They have power over teachers. One of them in essence threatened not to rep a teacher because of his association with me. As for the charge against Janella that was an admitted mistake, apology offered and accepted. It was unity people who claimed the mistake was racist by another black woman - and I do note the vehemence of attacks on Christina and Camille by Unity. A hint of racism at the so called angry black woman. Like the unity hack at that d 7 event who felt threatened by Christina being behind her. If Christina were white would she have felt threatened?

 

Look for follow-up commentary on the misbehavior of Woodruff (Arf)  and other UFT officials.

 

Stop UFT/Unity Persecution of Christina - Sign an Open Letter re: Christina Gavin & May 23rd UFT E-board Meeting

Christina Gavin, who has produced a 71 page list of election complaints which we are sending in to the UFT today, has by her activity inspired the enmity of the UFT leadership, which has made her a focus of retaliation as I reported:

 

Christina Vs The Unity Caucus Machine - At May 23 UFT Ex Bd

 

The UFT leadership engaged in an attack on Christina at the April 11 Ex Bd meeting without letting her know so she could not be there to  defend herself. She did ask for time a few weeks later. She is relentless and won't just accept a trial by none of her peers. When I start posting the 71 pages of the complaint you will see why she has become their target.

Open Letter re: Christina Gavin & May 23rd UFT E-board Meeting

UFT members have written an open letter to Michael Mulgrew and the UFT's leadership to protest their treatment of Christina Gavin, a dedicated UFT Member, and their refusal to allow Christina's supporters - also UFT members - to attend the Executive Board meeting on May 23.

You can read the letter here with a description of the incidents in question: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1A318fT0dmLCJPw_bbn1iOk_zc1Av-1SDTsmyKr_8yD8/edit?usp=sharing

Also printed below:

 

Please sign & spread among other UFT members to show your support for Christina! We will add names to the letter as they are submitted through the form.

http://bit.ly/openuft

Dear UFT Leadership, 

We, the undersigned UFT members, are writing to share our deep concern, frustration, and disappointment with the UFT’s leadership in regard to the election complaints targeting Christina Gavin, a committed school librarian and UFT member, as well as your refusal to allow many of Ms. Gavin’s supporters access to the UFT Executive Board meeting on May 23rd that should have been open to all UFT members, according to the 2015 UFT Constitution. 

Ms. Gavin has been a dedicated school librarian, special education teacher, and UFT member for the past 10 years. As part of the recent UFT election, Ms. Gavin has also been diligently documenting and submitting election violations on behalf of the United for Change caucus. It is not a coincidence that Ms. Gavin is being accused of 2 acts of misconduct in light of her work for the opposition coalition that attempted to unseat current union leadership. Singling out a UFT member over the course of several Executive Board meetings is unprecedented, wildly inappropriate, retaliatory, and unreasonably petty – not to mention a waste of our union’s time and resources when there are other far greater concerns to attend to that affect all UFT members. 

The complaint relating to the Google group that Ms. Gavin created does not violate any LMRDA directives about electioneering. Similarly, Ms. Gavin’s actions on March 25 at Bar 47 did not violate any LMRDA laws; Mr. William (“Bill”) Woodruff’s actions however are in violation of LMRDA as Ms. Gavin submitted to the UFT on March 28. Mr. Woodruff had repeatedly apologized and taken ownership of his actions, a recording and transcript of which statements exist. Nevertheless, Mr. Woodruff, Ms. Maria Lopez, Ms. Sheila Romero, and Ms. Mary Perez — all UFT members, including a UFT District Representative and UFT Chapter Leaders — subsequently worked together to file a false complaint against Ms. Gavin, despite a witness to the contrary of all the falsehoods they reported.

Surely since both incidents do not violate any electioneering laws on the part of Ms. Gavin, they could have been resolved through private peer mediation through the UFT and not in a public forum wherein elected union officials have slandered the character of a union member that they have been elected to represent and protect. 

Additionally, many supporters of Ms. Gavin – approximately 70 in total – were planning to attend the Executive Board meeting on May 23rd. Ms. Gavin & Mr. Daniel Leviatin, who submitted the names of all UFT members who wished to attend, complied with Mr. LeRoy Barr’s requests to submit names in advance. This denial of numerous UFT members was a result of either intentional gatekeeping to bar Ms. Gavin’s supporters from entering or gross ineptitude. In any case, many UFT members waited for over 30 minutes to be allowed entry to the meeting; many members were not allowed into the meeting in time to hear the complaints targeting Ms. Gavin, if at all. This is inexcusable – and the exact opposite of the kind of transparent and democratic leadership one-third of the electorate were calling for during the election. 

At the May 23rd Executive Board meeting, Secretary LeRoy Barr claimed that we are a union of one. Though Mr. Barr is the UFT’s Director of Staff, instead of holding a staff member, Mr. Woodruff accountable, Mr. Barr effectively minimized and refused to acknowledge this employee’s unacceptable behavior. Mr. Barr also went on to comment about the importance of setting the record straight and honestly facing history in relation to Mr. Marcus Garvey, a long-dead individual who was never a member of the UFT, but refused to do the same for Ms. Gavin. These actions by UFT representatives do not convey a message of unity or demonstrate the solidarity that is the spirit of unionism. 

To that end, we are asking UFT leadership to address these issues with the following actions: 

1. We ask that you dismiss the complaints against Ms. Gavin and issue a formal apology for targeting Ms. Gavin. 

2. The video recording of the open mic portion of the Executive Board should be made available to all UFT members who requested to attend but were not allowed in time to enter the meeting.

3. To avoid any further issues with admitting UFT members into Executive Board meetings, we are requesting that the Executive Board set up a pre-registration process for Executive Board meetings, so that members can be verified in advance. No UFT member should be denied entry. 

We are committed to building a stronger union, and we believe that UFT leadership must take these next steps to make that happen.

Signed,