UFT Election Update: Where the ballots are - My Conversation with GES President When I voted In person

I mailed in a ballot last week but before the RTC meeting on Tuesday,  as a member of the UFT election committee, I decided to vote in person to get an understanding of the process. I was thinking of doing the same again to test if their system is working until I heard Unity got hysterical when someone in ABC tried to do the same. The in-person vote will invalidate the mailed ballot and I thought if you try it again that would invalidate the last time you voted but when I saw how things works it made sense why we can't vote twice in person. I wanted to know... Exactly how this process works.

The voting took place in an empty space on the corner of Exchange Pl. and New St. Three ladies were behind a desk and all I had to do was show them my UFT ID. No picture ID to show it was really me. 

I asked the woman in charge a number of questions which she answered very openly. She is the President of Global Election Services. Ahhh, I wanted to know  --- the chain of custody of the ballots and she filled me in.

I asked if she could tell me if my ballot had been received and she had a lengthy explanation why she couldn't. In other words, GES does not scan the ballots as they come in like AAA did daily. She claims this is a more secure system. So how does this work?

Ballots currently reside in a post office locker until the morning of May 28 - the day before the count - when GES has a truck pick them up and deliver them to Shanker Hall at 52 Broadway. What? The ballot will be sitting at 52 overnight until the count begins at 9 AM on May 29? (They hire security - Look for Mulgrew and Ellie Engler in security uniforms.)

At 9 AM on the morning of Thursday May 29, the outside envelopes will be scanned, which should take hours. Then run through machines that slit the envelopes open - more hours. The fact they used an open sleeve inside saves some time - in the past the second envelope had to be run through slitters to open it. But in reality, the actual count won't begin until afternoon - maybe late afternoon.

I asked about how many scanners and she said 3. I said AAA had 4 and they jammed often. She said they were brand new. And also said we would be free to roam as observers and see the machines work unlike in recent elections.

I asked about the chain of custody for in person ballots. She said they were all in locked boxes and stored on Long Island. She said these ballots -- all in booklets even if only a slate vote -- would be counted first.

She said the entire process was open for observers - Can I ride on the pickup truck? No. she said. I did intend to go to the post office to see the loading process and then onto 52 but now have a dental emergency for next Wednesday but will go in right after.

Booklets will slow up the count

They handed me the ballot book and there were voting booths behind a curtain. A word of warning was to not tear off the front page even if voting for a slate -- which you can do if voting by mail. I asked why and she said they had to maintain the integrity of the entire ballot and not have the rest of the booklets floating around. I don't quite get that point -- they could just shred the rest of the booklet. I warned her that all these booklets will delay the count because even if no marks on them, they still had to be scanned. She responded that in the last election only 10% of the voters sent in the booklet. I told her this time there will be a lot more booklets and by having the in-person booklets even if voting slate, we may be at the count over the weekend of May 31.

Some ABC people may be voting for their friends on the other slates. For instance, both ARISE and ABC are only running 550-560 AFT/NYSUT candidates and Unity is running 750, so they are voting ABC slate on the first page and then going into the booklet to vote for about 150 in ARISE and some in Unity they know.

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

 

NYC pension gimmick alert? Are Hochul and Mulgrew Pulling the Wool Over Our Eyes?

This is a classic save-now, pay-later scheme - Ever Upward Blog

Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025

Pension stuff gives me a headache. My only interest in pensions is cashing the check but this seems to be a warning sign, especially that the governor and Mulgrew agree. We remember how Mulgrew and Adams agreed on taking away Medicare?

I didn't write the info below but received it in an email chain. There is a retired teacher chapter meeting on March 18 and a UFT DA in March 19 - expect some controversy at both on this issue.  

Kathy Hochul is putting an addendum to a bill that would basically borrow money from the NYC civil servant pension funds (EXCEPT the police firefighters would be left alone). This measure acts almost like a home equity line of credit, taking from the pension with a pledge to repay it at a later time. By doing so, this stands to underfund the pension system and compromise its solvency. This could affect both future retirees and current ones who are already receiving their monthly allow and stand to have it lowered.  

The proposition to borrow from the funds is also likely driven by the presidents of DC37 and the UFT, Mike Mulgrew and Henry Garrido. Just as bad is the fact that this proposal was done through back end doors with no transparency and no informing of other smaller unions. Am I supposed to think that Mulgrew is looking for something to take because he's getting nervous about repaying this annual $600 million dollars back to the NYC? This is tied to the Medicare Advantage plan and using healthcare savings from retirees benefits (by diminishing them) to pay for raises of current active educators. If he can't get from one source, he might be brokering deals with the governor to get the money from another source. This is an election year for Mulgrew. 

Here is a copy of the bill:

https://www.budget.ny.gov/pubs/archive/fy26/ex/30day/ppgg-artvii-newpartff.pdf

Here is an article about it:

https://ejmcmahon.substack.com/p/nyc-pension-gimmick-alert?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&triedRedirect=true&fbclid=IwY2xjawIrErlleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHSbLlJ6-MaqpEU-O5EPciMwEBrigwarvq5SnrhS5_OV7rrsr6M0aH3Cs8A_aem_QTPJ9Ev-IRTGlMZVWfqrzA

And Here is further information about it:

https://www.facebook.com/100001388949749/videos/556969404066466

https://arthurgoldstein.substack.com/p/buy-now-pay-later

an interview that unpacks and breaks down the mechanisms of this addendum by Hochul. 

It appears to me  that the school system does not have to pay as much into the pension system as it has is obliged to, and that gap will be paid back at a later time and future year(s). The concern is that the mayor, city council, and union bosses will be out of office by then, and the newbie officials and younger teachers will have to inherit this dangerous risk. It is reprehensible that any union would cooperate with this. And it would not be surprising if Mulgrew and Garrido have lobbied for this. I also would not be shocked, even if speculative, if any of this has Randi's behind-the-scenes counsel on it, as she knows how these systems work and is a master at playing many ends against the middle. 

This is an interview that explains all as we know it now. 

 

Here is the interview:

Marianne Pizzitola Interview

Marianne Pizzitola Interview Arthur Goldstein NYC Retirees President Marianne and I talk about union, health care, and the curious new pension deal our leader...

Here is the Mcmahon article in full.

 

https://ejmcmahon.substack.com/p/nyc-pension-gimmick-alert?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&triedRedirect=true

NYC pension gimmick alert

Governor Hochul has slipped some dubious New York City pension "amortization" language into her FY2026 state budget amendments.

E.J. McMahon

Feb 21, 2025

On the day she announced a half-baked plan to sort-of, kind-of undermine and stigmatize Mayor Eric Adams rather than either (a) remove him from office, or (b) leave him alone, Governor Kathy Hochul quietly did the mayor a big fiscal favor (at least in the short term, maybe). Then again, maybe the mayor isn’t the only beneficiary she has in mind.

Late Thursday, Hochul’s 30-day state budget bill amendments included a technically complicated piece of legislation designed to reduce city pension costs by $1.3 billion this fiscal year and next, and by another $9.6 billion over the following six years. The change would affect the New York City Employees’ Retirement System (NYCERS), which has $90 billion in assets and covers 350,000 active and retired employees; the New York City Teachers’ Retirement System (NYCTRS), which has $285 billion in assets covering 200,000 active and retired employees; and the much smaller Board of Education Retirement System (BERS), which has 58,000 active and retired members and $6.3 billion in assets.1

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As depicted below, total savings under this proposal are projected at $11 billion through fiscal 2032. But after that, it will be time for payback—a big payback. From fiscal 2033 through 2044, pension costs will rise nearly $18 billion higher than the levels that would be projected under current standards.2 In other words, this is a classic save-now, pay-later scheme.

In the past, statutory changes to city pension fund assumptions were introduced by the chairs of the relevant Assembly and Senate committees, passed with little or no debate, and were quickly signed into law. This kind of thing has never previously been embedded among a governor’s Article 7 budget bills, where it doesn’t belong.

Borrow now, pay later

The last time New York officials monkeyed with pension amortization to reduce short-term employer contributions was in 2010 via the Contribution Stabilization Program, which gave the state government and local municipalities the option of paying only a portion of their annual pension contributions to the Fund when due, spreading the rest over time with interest. Danny Hakim of The New York Times described it as “classic budgetary sleight-of-hand”—since employers would in effect be borrowing from the pension fund itself with a promise to repay the loan later. “Call it what you will,” said then-Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch, “it’s taking money from future budgets to help solve this year’s budget.” As it happened, the state lucked out: the risky “stabilization” program didn’t leave fiscal scars because the stock market strongly recovered in the years that followed.

The circumstances now are much different. Adams’ FY 2026 financial plan projects modest growth in pension costs, from $10 billion this year to $11.8 billion in fiscal 2028, thereafter dropping to $11.3 billion in fiscal 2029. All of this assumes, of course, that the fund hits its targeted 7 percent rate of return on investments. Meanwhile, as shown below, since the end of the Great Recession both NYCERS and NYCTRS have made progress toward fully funded status. Assuming the financial markets and economy don’t go into a prolonged slump, these pension funds are still several years away from getting back to 100 percent.

This gets back to the question of why. With key metrics headed (if slowly) in the right direction, why mess with pension financing now?

Look for the union label

Hochul’s amortization proposal is of strong interest to the two largest unions whose members belong to the pension funds in question—District Council 37 of AFSCME and the United Federation of Teachers (UFT). Indeed, it’s safe to assume nothing like this would see the light of day if Henry Garrido and Michael Mulgrew weren’t supporting it—assuming they aren’t, in fact, actively lobbying for it.

A few more pension basics: for purposes of calculating the annual contribution due from employers (i.e., taxpayers), pension liabilities (the total retirement payments promised to all employees vested in the system) are discounted at a rate matching the system’s expected annual return on its investments. A higher assumed investment return equates to a higher discount rate—and the higher the discount rate, the less the employer needs to contribute each year to cover newly accrued benefits for current employees.

In the 1990s, the discount rates of public pension funds across the country peaked at more than 8 percent, which proved to be excessively optimistic once the tech bubble burst in 2000, followed by the 2002 stock market downturn, and finally the financial crisis and Great Recession of 2007-09. (Private pension plans also invest in the volatile equities market, as well as other assets, but are required by federal law to calculate employer contributions based on lower (and hence more prudent) discount rates, benchmarked to Treasury bills and highly rated corporate bonds.)

In early 2013, the Legislature passed and then-Governor Cuomo signed a bill reducing the city pension funds’ assumed rate of return at 7 percent. With no further change to pension actuarial assumptions, this would have created a larger unfunded accrued liability, or UAL, which in turn would have required an immediate and sizable increase in taxpayer-funded employer pension contributions. To cushion the blow, the law (Ch. 3 of 2013) provided that the additional cost of the lower discount rate would be “amortized” over 22 fiscal years, based on the UAL as calculated in 2010. In each of those 22 years, employer contributions would include an extra amount representing 3 percent of the UAL. The amortization period is due to end in 2032.

The bill Hochul backs would extend this existing amortization period out to 2044 for the NYCERS, NYCTRS, and BERS. But why bother? What’s the pressing need here?

As noted above, in contrast to fiscal and economic conditions prevailing in the wake of the Great Recession, pension costs aren’t skyrocketing. Both NYCERS and TRS have come close to hitting their 7 percent targets over the last 10 years, most recently earning a 10 percent return in fiscal 2024. If the stock market continues to perform well, pension costs will continue to decline. Of course, there’s always a very real risk that the markets will tank, in which case costs will rise again. But even under that scenario, the scheduled end of the current UAL amortization period will provide some added relief in seven years. The proposed amortization extension would wipe that out.

If the Legislature approves Hochul’s proposal, the money saved by the city is most likely to be spent on salary increases. The DC 37 contract expires in November 2026, and the UFT contract a year after that; in the meantime, despite falling public school enrollment, the city must hire and pay thousands of additional teachers to comply with a class-size reduction mandate signed into law by Hochul in 2022.

So far, neither Hochul nor Adams has publicly explained or offered any justification for this maneuver. In the meantime, the late Dick Ravitch’s words bear repeating: “Call it what you will, it’s taking money from future budgets to help solve this year’s budget.” *

*After this was initially posted, Governor Hochul’s office released this concerning the pension proposal:

“At the request of New York City, this proposal is an extension of the timeframe to fully account for unfunded obligations within the New York City pension system which were first recognized in 2010. This proposal will have no impact on the State financial plan, fully supports the NYC pension system, and will mitigate volatility by extending the period of recognizing these costs.”

1

Pointedly excluded are the city’s separate Police Pension Fund and Fire Pension Fund.

2

These, it should be noted, are nominal values. On a net present value basis, assuming the pension funds achieve their 7 percent annual return target, the changes even out at $8.226 billion in savings in the first eight years, and $8.226 billion in costs over the last 12. That’s how the thing is justified in the actuarial universe. (Thanks to Mary Pat Campbell for the NPV calculation.)

 

Will Unity Echo Vote Suppression by Rejecting Electronic Voting (Again)? - It's time for UFT to Adopt Electronic Voting - Sign the Petition

In the last election, we had loads of people who did not get their ballots in the mail and when they requested another ballot, they were told by the AAA that the deadline passed, but they could vote in person. Tough commute from Florida or if you have a disability.

With the UFT election committee meeting (I''m a member again) coming up on November 26,  a push is being made to institute electronic voting as we did before the 2022 UFT election, which I review below.

First, Arthur hits the current attempt by gaining support with a petition.

Voting by Mail Is for Dinosaurs

UFT Unity adores it, but it's time for a change.

Arthur Goldstein

Nov 09, 2024

Please sign this petition. It asks that we use electronic voting, and/ or in-school voting (I very much prefer the former) for the next UFT election, so as to maximize participation. After you sign, please share it with friends, and post it to whatever social media you favor.

Why?

Mailboxes are all but obsolete. Yet UFT bosses insist on using them for elections. For at least as far back as I can recall, this has not worked well. A small minority has regularly chosen UFT leadership. If democracy isour goal, that’s less than ideal.

For years, voting participation in the UFT has been abysmal. In the last election, 75% of us could not be bothered to vote. Voting is too cumbersome or inconvenient for the overwhelming majority of our membership. That’s unacceptable.

UFT Unity resists efforts to improve this. In 2021, a proposal to use electronic voting was rejected by every Unity member of the Executive Board. Unity members vote in a bloc, as instructed. They sign an oath to do so. Oath or no oath, it’s absurd to point to mail-in voting as successful for our union.

 

Saturday, November 9, 2024

 

As a member of the UFT Election Committee for United For Change in the 2022, I and others pushed for the UFT to adopt electronic voting. With Unity stacking that committee any proposal for change was rejected.

I wrote about the issue in 2021:

Unity (Paid) Election Committee Reps reject UFC call for electronic voting

We (UFC) went in with the idea to avoid the ghost of UFT elections past of

The ghost of UFT elections

embarrassingly low turnout where the highest turnout is from retirees by expanding opportunities to vote through electronic voting. We don't even think electronic voting would automatically help us more than Unity. After all, they are so popular in the schools.

A Unity reso was made to disallow electronic sigs on petitions -- I misunderstood and thought they were banning electronic voting and objected but was told it was about petitioning -- one of them said he likes to see a wet signature on a petition. Weird but I guess I can live with wet signatures -- ich! I think we should allow non-wet signatures on petitions but that was not the hill I was there to die on.

But then came the fun part. We were asked to vote on the election posting which stated that ballots would be mailed out, and we did vote to accept that unanimouslybut they then said that meant there would be no electronic voting. Whoa - I withdrew my support and asked for this to be added after - Ballots will be mailed out - "and electronic voting will be allowed." 

We made strong comments. We pointed to PSC voting electronically -- backroom Unity comments are this 30K union is small. We raised the point that the AFL-CIO has endorsed electronic voting. And with Adams and Banks coming in, a low turnout was a signal to them that we are weak.

Wow! To Unity vote suppressors trying to increased turnout is a nuke. They looked desperate to kill it. So every one of them spoke against electronic voting with some weird arguments in support of low turnout -- like why do anything different when we've been "successful". The weirdest was claiming to protect teachers from using school computers to vote --- like no one has a a phone.  The final vote was --- SPOILER ALERT -- 8-5.

The next day (Dec. 15, 2021) we published:

UFT Exec Bd Vote Opposing Electronic Voting: Mike Shirtzer and another are Lone Dissenters, 13 Reasons For Electronic Voting as Unity Echoes Republican Vote Suppression

Do Mulgrew and company really believe that dues-paying members would have voted down an electronic voting option that would increase our union participation and give members increased access?... Mulgrew’s caucus-laden executive board used arguments against our members’ further enfranchisement that were reminiscent of those seeking to suppress and obstruct increased voting rights and voting access in our national and statewide elections. ..... EONYC

The other key issue at the Ex bd was endorsing the election committee recommendation not to include electronic voting in the upcoming election following its meeting last Thursday which I reported on last night - UFT Election Committee Meets, Petition Dates Set, Unity (Paid) Election Committee Reps reject UFC call for electronic voting.

If you went to any school in the city and took a poll on electronic voting would 99% oppose it? This is a true indication of how the UFT EB represents the 1% union bureaucrats, not the 99% membership.

Arthur Goldstein reported at that time- I'm not including the lame Unity arguments -- you can read them at NYC Educator--

Michael Shulman--(Election Committee member; Head of New Action, not on Executive Board)Thanks LeRoy Barr for invitation. Thanks Carl Cambria for chairing. Wants to discuss balloting. Favors voting electronically due to low voter turnout. That is key. Not a caucus issue. Big issue is getting membership to participate. Important to be proud of union democracy. We are not moving with the times. About 25% of our membership vote. That is unacceptable. There have been proposals to GOTV, but we are lagging. 

Since pandemic, our union uses secure electronic voting for DA, for CL, for SBOs. Not a radical new proposal. Other public sector unions doing this. We have capability, not as sole source. We could use both. If someone votes both, we could distinguish which came first and that would take precedence.  I come from older generation. I believe many younger teachers use electronic voting. Snail mail alien to them.

I put Shulman's entire comments down below, followed by the 13 points.

Mike Schirtzer (Independent)--Agrees with Shulman. PSC (Professional Staff Congress-CUNY union) has option of online voting. We are in a battle to enfranchise folks who lost right to vote. Eric Adams is looking to union bust. Need to show we are strongest and best union. DA and Town Hall numbers are staggering. We trust AAA to get it right. Teachers under 30 don't know where mailboxes are. Need to open options. 

Mike was elected on the Unity line in 2019 but has remained independent and it showed here. Mike has been nominated to run on the UFC slate for Ex Bd. I trust Mike's political instincts and actually would support Mike if he decided to run on the Unity line, which would make sense for Unity to be able to claim they have one independent voice on their slate

 Here is Shulman's comments to the Ex Bd:

A Missed Opportunity! Unity Votes Down Electronic Voting

By Michael Shulman, Chair, New Action Caucus

The UFT Executive Board had an opportunity to strengthen union democracy at last night’s (Dec. 13) meeting. Instead they clung to time-worn arguments that there was no evidence electronic voting would increase voter turn-out. My request to speak at the Exec. Bd. was agreed to, as I had fully expected. Unity would not leave itself vulnerable to the charge of being undemocratic. After 51 years of union activism, I was certain publicizing a negative reply would only embarrass Unity. They frankly would never allow it. And as an appointed member of the UFT Election Committee, I was in a unique position to make a presentation to the Board.

My arguments were pretty straightforward: Electronic voting would increase voter participation. 

In city-wide UFT elections around 25% of the membership usually vote. I stated that this was not a caucus issue (of course, I suspected otherwise) since it was in everyone’s interest to want higher voter participation. I pointed out that since the pandemic our union was utilizing secure electronic voting at delegate assemblies, voting for chapter leaders and delegates, and for school based options. I pointed to the fact that other public sector unions, such as the Professional Staff Congress, are now using this method for their general elections. I concluded with the reality that the younger generation of educators are using electronics on a daily basis. Why couldn’t we use both – electronic voting and mail-in ballots.

Here are some of the responses from our Unity colleagues:

1)     Nothing indicates electronic voting would increase turnout.

2)     There are a couple examples of voting in functional chapters that did not produce more voting.

3)     Members will use DOE email and cause problems.

4)     Voting on SBO’s has not been a success. We’re not there yet.

5)     The voting in one district is poor and did not increase voter participation

6)     There isn’t time to institute. It is questionable whether it would work. It is an untried idea.

7)     The head of the Retiree Chapter stated it is not certain it would work. We must campaign like Hell. We must do better outreach. The retiree chapter election produced greater turnout.

Only one member of the UFT Executive Board spoke in favor of my proposal. With one exception the motion was denied. Another victory for union democracy?? VOTE UNITED for CHANGE in the spring election. Run with us!

Daniel Alicea of Educators of NYC, a UFC coalition member, came up with the case for electronic voting. He may nail the 13 points to the door of 52.

13 Reasons Why We Should Have An Electronic Voting Option In the Spring UFT 2022 Elections - even if Mulgrew And Company Want To Stop You From Having It.

Do Mulgrew and company really believe that dues-paying members would have voted down an electronic voting option that would increase our union participation and give members increased access?

 

DA Takeaways: All About Control as Mulgrew talked and talked and talked and talked and... and loads of UFT Staff on the Dole

Did Mulgrew lie at the DA? Marianne has the answer. 

 

Michael Mulgrew - Leaders Should LEAD, not LIE

  

Mulgrew insults retirees by accusing them as using healthcare issues as a campaign issue.  

Sure I don't really care about my medicare. When Mulgrew claims MEDADV is the same as Medicare, just Part C I should buy it.

...it’s presumptuous and offensive of Mulgrew to assume that retirees who are at the DA for the express purpose of saving their healthcare are merely candidates seeking further political office. Absurd. Election season is not a bad way to frame Mulgrew’s own conduct, though, who took out the Unity playbook this DA to use our dues for his own party’s campaigning.... Mulgrew controlled the DA by going so long with the President’s report that it seemed like there would be no further business - Nick's Notes

 

Monday, October 21, 2024

I had the best time at the DA - before and after the meeting. About 70 retirees attended in person and another 100 remote. The meeting itself? Eh. 

For me the best part of the DA Wednesday was seeing so many old pals who were elected in the retiree election.  And hanging out after. A poll of attendees asking for their reaction? "Hearing people name themselves as one of the 300 new/proud Retiree Delegates," was a major response. The enthusiasm in the responses to being a delegate was palpable. If Mulgrew thought he would drive retirees away, it didn't work.

By the way, there is another big meeting coming up tomorrow - the first Retired Teacher Chapter meeting of the year and we control the agenda. Unity is flipping out over the appearance of Marianne and her lawyer to report on the court cases. Mulgrew should show up and engage in a discussion rather than just make charges. If you are a UFT retiree, come on down - but register first. I can promise Bennett Fischer won't talk for an hour 13 minutes.  We gave him about 10-15 minutes.

Arthur was remote:

In the first DA I’ve attended since I stepped down as chapter leader two years ago, Michael Mulgrew spoke for an hour and 12 minutes. When someone objected, he claimed the majority of people wanted this report. However, there was no vote on this report, and no way to know whether or not this was the will of the majority. Mulgrew said so, and clearly believes that should be good enough for anyone.

The first question in the brief question period, ten minutes I think, as opposed to the unlimited time for Mulgrew, was about health care. Mulgrew doubled down on the false narrative that UFT is the only union that opposes the MA plan. He repeated the same lies, established to be absolutely false in court, that he’s been using about the MA program.

----It's the Mike Mulgrew Show!

Arthur Goldstein

At one point in the 1 hour and 13 minute Mulgrew talk, newly elected retiree delegate Lois Weiner called a point of order:

Nick's Notes: After an hour of Mulgrewspeak, newly elected retiree advocate delegate Lois Weiner had had enough and called a point of order asking him to stop, please stop. He ignored her and kept going but you could see she forced him to go faster. Still, he ended around 5:40 when he opened up for questions.

I want whoever runs against Mulgrew to promise a 10-minute limit on president reports. Here's an idea, reverse the agenda and do the business end first and the president report last. Watch the exodus as people vote with their feet. (Mulgrew could also issue his report on video or in writing.) 

His filibuster left little room for the rest of the agenda.

It's all about control. Packing the meeting with paid staff is a control mechanism. As is the Covid excuse cap on attendees? Nahhh. The other day I asked this question:

• UFT Delegate Assembly - Why the 400 In-Person Limit? Hint: It's About Control, not Covid

And of course we saw the answer played out in real time.

 

DA Attendance limits on school-based but not on UFT staff: The place was crawling with them.

In a packed room the answer to the limit was obviously not Covid protocols. Some retirees who showed up were turned away. But I bet no UFT staff was turned away. Entire rows were reserved by some district reps. When there was applause for Mulgrew it came from staff and other Unity acolytes. So, another method of Unity control of the DA is district reps corralling the people in their districts in one area and keeping an eye on how they vote.

Note: the agenda for DA haven't changed from the Shanker days but Shanker had the confidence to allow oppo challenges. Randi, less secure, began to manipulate the DA and Mulgrew, the least confident and most paranoid, has taken things to a new phase of control. 

 

After Pres report comes Staff Director - LeRoy Barr, who is mercifully short. (Not LeRoy, the report.)

 

The 10 minute Question period:

Nick: Chris Balchin, another proud RA delegate asked the healthcare question: Now that you've withdrawn support for MAP and given that courts have found in favor of facts as presented by NYC Retirees. Will you submit amicus brief in support, send resources to UFT, etc.

Chris is super sharp -- he better wear a disguise next time to get called on.

Nick on Mulgrew response which prompted the Marianne video response above.

I said this in the executive board minutes already, but I’ll say it again: Mulgrew appeared deceptive when he claimed that the UFT was the only union officially against MAP (or, probably better described: this most recent MAP negotiation). In fact the Unity-led UFT led the charge for MAP and was one of the principle reasons we were in a financial hole (which we’re still in) that required us to find ways to make healthcare savings. For an article showing a vote in which many unions, but NOT the UFT (i.e. Mulgrew), went against the MAP decision before Unity lost an election, see here. Notice, Mulgrew seemed to defend the original MAP contract in today’s DA, which should make us wonder if it might appear in a new form if/when the City resumes negotiations.

Wait a minute: one of the principle reasons we were in a financial hole (which we’re still in) that required us to find ways to make healthcare savings. 

 

Who required us to side with the city against member so make healthcare savings? YOU - MADE THE DEAL.
Mulgrew tries to escape accountability  - like some god-like entity made that deal.

 

There was another interesting question:

CL from D24: Shortage of paraprofessionals. Is there any plan about the hiring freeze?

Nick tries to decipher the Mulgrew word salad:

Mulgrew: Sorry, sent this out but didn’t report. Yesterday, we sent an official notification to the commissioner, DOE, mayor – under corrective action plan for almost – can’t count COVID – roughly four years. Four years it’s gotten worse, not better. They’ll talk about two things that have gotten better – 1, more of the evaluations, especially for outside referrals, other thing is gonna tout that they’ve started increasing NEST programs. But now have more out of compliance. Not fighting with them.

Mulgrew's meandering no solution response made me want to call out:

Fix Para Pay

I saw one spineless anonymous Unity slug actually ask how the oppo intends to fix para pay? 

How about fuckn contract negotiations, the actual way we fix pay? But Unity slugs no longer think contract negotiations are a way to win anything much, which makes sense when you accept the city claim of not having money. The anti-Unity para vote in the election last spring shows they are not buying the "let's throw up our hands" Unity position.

 

Mulgrew Does Teeth - Finally Using some of the $800 million UFT Welfare Fund Surplus

Word from inside the asylum at 52 is that UFT election mania has taken priority and every trick in the book is being tried. In some cases there will be benefits and here may be one.

 

After opposing a reso at the DA calling for using some of the massive surplus to improve
the awful dental benefits that narrowly was defeated last spring after they argued against it, but facing the massive defeats in chapter elections and facing potential defeat in upcoming UFT elections, the Mulgrew administration is responding with some changes, but I bet few will be happy. EONYC provides the history, demonstrating elections have consequences -- sometimes in our favor. So think about that when UFT elections come up next May.

 

Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024

 

From @educatorsofnyc

1. Revelations that the UFTWF is now sitting on over 800 million dollars. A bloated fund that seems to be growing exponentially since 2014 as city unions have agreed to take hundreds of millions from the city’s health stabilization fund for their own welfare funds. Not what the stabilization fund was designed for and causing other healthcare services to diminish, as a result. https://jd2718.org/2024/03/28/uft-welfare-fund-nest-egg-bigger-than-most-nests/ 

 

2. Pressure internally from concerned UFT rank and file delegates and activists publicly asking why top leaders are hoarding millions when many of our benefits, especially dental, are being diminished — affecting reimbursements and numbers of providers leaving the network. 

 

3. After an overwhelming rebuke by UFT retirees who voted out Mulgrew’s administrative Unity caucus out of power from their chapter’s leadership because of his support behind forcing them into predatory, inferior Medicare Advantage … the much-maligned Mulgrew is now reeling and seeking to pander as he faces a tsunami of discontent in an union election year that could mean his Unity caucus is finally toppled after 60 years of unilateral control. 

 

4. After Mulgrew and his henchman, Goeff Sorkin of the WF, told us that the existing money in the fund was needed to cover out of control prescription drug costs and as a reserve fund if there is litigation against the city over healthcare… today their “best welfare fund in the country” will get a reboot. Let’s wait and see what they bring with them today. https://cityandstateny.com/politics/2024/06/after-rebuff-retirees-ufts-mulgrew-bails-medicare-advantage/397572/