Tuesday May 30 - Too much news to report, but here goes anyway
Rumors that oppo in para election won two out of 5 positions up for grabs. The para chapter is the second largest (28k)after retirees in the UFT. Try to imagine how a general election (in 2025) would look of both of these chapters were close. Unity will pull out all stops, especially in the 2024 chapter elections. Watch those numbers (if they are honest) for signs of breakage in the Unity front.
When people used to claim Unity cheats in elections I always responded they don't have to steal an election - until elections get close and contentious. Then it's Katy bar the door. I firmly believe that if UFC ever won, Unity would pull a Trump and refuse to leave.
There's a breaking story on the recent UFT para chapter election to replace leaders who have retired or left for the next year until the regular 2024 chapter elections with hints of Unity playing games and a refusal by UFT election officials to release voting counts. Educators of NYC has the preliminary story while we get more details. I reported on April 15:
...our union is weakened by demonstrations that are essentially just for
show. There are times to stand up, and when those times come along,
we're either asleep or being stabbed in the back by the Municipal Labor
Committee, including our esteemed leadership. More likely, we're asleep and being stabbed in the back by leadership. ...I'm not energized by lies. I'm energized by fighting for real
progress. Our leadership, Mulgrew included, is moving us backward. We
should be a vibrant force, the "powerful teachers union" the tabloids
are always complaining about. Instead, we're a sleeping giant. Step
one in awakening this sleeping giant is tossing the Unity Caucus out of
power. We'll begin that process with the retirees. I hope to be one by
election time.... Arthur Goldstein, NYC Educator
Arthur is on target. UFT leaders will claim the rallies have an impact. On whom? I don't think the powers that be are scared by a few thousand people, if even that many showed. Unity Caucus has over a thousand members, so they are required to show up. And the opposition, so constantly denigrated by Unity hacks, are the most loyal in supporting union initiatives, no matter how lame they may be, even though they point out the flaws.
Rousing rank and filers is hard - but also dangerous to the leadership.
The UFT has about 130k working members. Flood the streets and bridges with 50k and that would make a statement. But when you put contract negotiations under a non-disclosure agreement so the members and the public have no idea what exactly is going on, don't expect results. So the rallies are more about internal issues. An attempt to rouse the membership. But not to much rousing.
Nick Bacon had a similar take as Arthur at the New Action blog:
I am hopeful that attendance will be good – not just by staffers, but by
regular rank-and-file teachers, paras, and related professionals. And
yes, I plan to attend, and have encouraged members of my chapter to
attend. I encourage you to attend too...the preparation meetings for May 24th have been feel-good Unity-heavy
events that seemed to lack substance. Moreover, using an event like what
is planned on May 24th for ‘yes-vote’ purposes rather than negotiating
purposes would keep with the MO of other ‘Taylor law proud’
union leaders, such as those of DC37, who held a major rally on Feb.
16, only to announce a tentative agreement with the City the next day
(Feb. 17). That deal, we now know, cemented one of the worst patterns in the history of the NYC labor movement. That pattern, we’re now stuck with.
Arthur
It's fine that UFT is out there. But the fact is, the overwhelming
majority are not. The overwhelming majority of us are essentially
asleep. That's been a feature of our union for decades. You can tell
when people speak about it. People say terrible things about the UFT,
not realizing they're describing themselves. Sadly, pathetically even, a
lot of us feel no responsibility for anything whatsoever regarding our
union. For many of us, the union is somehow the people sitting in
offices.
Nick
it’s a mistake that our union’s leadership is so committed to keeping working teachers from having the right to strike. I think that their over-reliance on bureaucratic ‘Taylor Law’ tactics undermines the potency of our organizing. And, I worry that if UFT leadership is relying on the threat of PERB rather
than the culmination of good organizing (i.e. the viable ‘strike’
threat), the City has little reason to react to the limited organizing
it does see.
Nick and oppo are mocked by Unity all the time for standing up to them. Witness this recent Unity leaflet:
You see, you are disloyal if you question, just like any authoritarian regime. Yeah, Unity does the work - of the scam private insurance companies.
There were other rallies taking place on May 24.
A fun rally at city hall, followed by bird dogging Mayor Adams - and the police response to 30 old codgers and a load of cops
I posted that morning just as I was leaving for the Rally and Protest Day for Retirees opposing UFT on Healthcare, People's Plan opposing budget cuts and UFT for the contract
The CROC (Cross Union Organizing Committee) rally was at 9:30 outside City Hall was separate from other demos going on at the same time - much younger workers who joined a long line to testify at City Council hearings. I gave out copies of The Indypendent with my article comparing the dynamic Chicago Teacher and Los Angeles unions with the moribund UFT: A Tale of Two Teachers Unions comparing influence of progressive Chicago CTU with Tepid UFT - Norm's article in The Indypendent.
Rather than go into the council CROC (consisting of UFT, DC 37, CUNY and other city union retirees) had people read their submitted testimony outside. At 10:30 we heard that Mayor Adams would be appearing along side the Brooklyn Bridge to celebrate its birthday and we decided to birddog him and marched to the area under an overpass shouting slogans on a public walkway until police saw us and put a metal battier in our way. Gloria made a little video from the Rally at City Hall "Do Not
Screw Retirees, Mayor Adams!" https://youtu.be/aUfrCBSNWgE.
Why Vote NO? Why not?
Unity whiners cry about our 5
demands before voting YES. They will argue we go to the back of the
line, blah, blah, blah. In 1995 we rejected the contract which raised
from 20 to 25 years of work to reach max salary. Sandy Feldman said if
we think we can do better we must be smoking something. Well take a tote
because they came back with 22 to reach max. Think of how much money
people have saved over the decades with those extra 3 years? Not a total
victory because it was still a giveback, only not as bad. And the OT/PT
chapter rejected the 2018 contract and the redo came back with a few
nuggets. So there is precedence.
We gain leverage with a no vote by demonstrating members are unhappy are ready to go beyond the leadership. Cred
threat of a strike either led by leadership or wildcat actions - as
we've seen from teachers around the nation over the past 5 years.
I urged a VOTE NO - a year ago and go back to Ed Notes in 2009 as a reference
Mulgrew joins UFT to private insurance scam artists
I urge you to read this report from The Lever on The $20 Billion Scam At The Heart Of Medicare Advantage, which will outrage you, especially since Mulgrew has placed our own union and all city retirees at the service of the enormously profitable private insurance companies that will lead to the end of Medicare as we know it as public funds are drained into stock givebacks and exec salaries. What the UFT, with the support of the AFT president Randi Weingarten did was help bring about the end of the only publicly managed option, the very opposite of their claims to want a medicare for all system.
When I sent this article above to my wife who ran the billing system for a division of a major hospital, she rolled her eyes and said she's known about these schemes for 30 years from pressure being put on doctors with gifts, etc to upcode to make people sicker than they are. She often tried to resist dishonest coding and was not very popular with some administrators.
At a recent Retired Teacher meeting a woman explained that upcoding can be harmful for us as patients as our records would not be accurate if we had an emergency.
From the last UFT ex Bd meeting
Unity hack1: There was not one time that I voted on a contract that I
wasn’t aware what my union pointed out to me and what I chose to read. I
don’t think any of our members need two weeks to look at what is
important to our members. I think this resolution is somewhat insulting,
that it would take anyone two weeks to read what is important. I trust
our union leadership, and I trust our union.
Unity hack2: How many people presenting this have actually read the
contract and the 2018 MOA? How could you possibly have harmony? How
could we have that whenever we have exec boards and DAs things are
reported out negatively? Imagine the negativity that will come out if 2
weeks notice are given. Right now we have a vote no campaign – you
haven’t even seen the contract.
A few Takeaways:
We gain leverage with a no vote - demonstrates to city members are ready to go beyond leadership
Cred threat of a strike either led by leadership or wildcat actions - as we've seen from teachers around the nation over the past 5 years
Penalties on members are harsh in two for one but harsher on leadership which can be fined extensively and lose dues checkoff - catastrophic for UFT if had to collect dues individually.
Mulgrew mentions the S word - and people LOL- EONYC comments
trying to argue that it’s not illegal for public sector workers to strike in NYS is laughable. Mulgrew said it just means “you can but you have to pay fines”. While Section 210 of Taylor Law reads “PROHIBITION OF STRIKES”. He also failed to say union leaders are fined + jailed.
The word play is intentional as his Unity leadership caucus has done nothing to lobby against the Taylor law provision that makes an unfettered right to strike possible, despite calls from rank and file.
Imagine telling someone during the 1920’s Prohibition: Buying alcohol is not illegal. It’s just prohibited with some fines. Or the cop who pulls you over: My tinted windows are prohibited but not illegal.
In fact, your dictionary will likely define illegal as not lawful or prohibited by law. When something is prohibited by an authority like the state it is ILLEGAL.
See Shanker thrown in jail in last illegal teacher strike in 1975.
Striking is a human right. And should not be prohibited/illegal.
Interesting factoid from NYCDOE
UFT, DOE and class size
A community activist comments:
"Meeting
the new class size standards is going to require a real plan -- and so
far, the DOE hasn't managed to create one. This document is missing a
strategy for
implementation and a targeted proposal for where and when new seats
should be built. The state passed the small class size law and increased
funding to New York City public schools to pay for it. We will work
with the state to make sure the New York City Department
of Education fulfills its obligations and complies with this law" -
Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers
If Mulgrew is serious about implementation and
enforcement, he’d support a class size guarantee in our next contract.
The United For Change coalition is calling for one as part of their BIG 5
contract demands. -- Educators of NYC
Note the guest blogger today at ICE blog - the famous RBE, formerly proprietor of Perdido Street School blog.
Guest Blogger: RBE
