Will UFT Endorse Mamdani after their attacks on DSA? Will that be his kiss of death? Would Cuomo/Adams Odds Rise?

Recent post from David Sirota

My two thoughts on this are: 1) If every Dem would talk like this, the party might be a real opposition 2) It's shameful that some Dems have been more focused on using their platforms to demonize/undermine this guy than on fighting Trump https://pic.x.com/QqhPxnaZuU

 

Recent post from Ryan Grim

Stepping back, it's really wild that Hakeem Jeffries, Chuck Schumer, Dan Goldman, Kirsten Gillibrand, etc., still won't endorse the landslide winner of the Democratic nomination for NYC mayor. It's not unbelievable, exactly, but it's legit crazy. And then they wonder why

'He's playing a bit of chess': Pablo Torre on Mamdani's response to 'globalize the intifada' question

UPDATE: Arthur covers the issue too: 

Unity Patronage Cult Plans Major Endorsement Without Consulting Membership: If you don't like it, you don't matter. Arthur Goldstein, Jul 05, 2025

Mulgrew has done here, which surprises me not at all, is he completely sidestepped elected Retired Teacher Chapter Leader Bennett Fischer. After all, Bennett isn’t Unity, so Mulgrew has no respect for him (let alone anyone who voted for him). Of course if he were Unity, that would mean he’d have taken and oath to support whatever, so he’d still merit no consideration. Then, on Tuesday, there’s a Delegate Assembly so Mulgrew can get his rubber stamp. ... 

This is gonna be a hard sell for Michael Mulgrew and Unity. They know it, too, which is why they’re doing the Town Hall. After all, they were at least tacitly approving all the crap about Amy being antisemitic. Some of them had no qualms about saying it out loud. or even writing about it. It was curious because those very same people never noticed it when Amy was part of the cult. Go figure.

Doubtless Mulgrew and his Very Smart People have worked out some elaborate explanation to show they are Not Guilty of antisemitism 2.0. The thing is, though, like True Believers in Unity, True Believers in antisemitism 2.0 have their minds made up and will not be persuaded otherwise.

Thursday, July 3, 2025 

After a June 14 Gothamist report:

NYC teachers deeply divided between Mamdani and Cuomo, union boss says a note from the NY Post: Zohran Mamdani set to pick up powerful NYC teachers union endorsement after primary win.

 

This news is more than shocking. After engaging in a massive attack on DSA, claiming they had a plan to infiltrate the union and tying in the heavily DSA MORE, to endorse a DSA member for mayor might make you blink in disbelief. 

 

There's more than a little irony if the UFT endorses Mamdani, who has faced some of the  same attacks over his position on Palestine and fake charges of antisemitism that ABC Pres Candidate Amy Arundell faced with many of these attacks coming from union officials and Unity Caucus hacks. Oooh the eggs on the faces of the main attackers. But don't expect them to be fired, as Amy was. 

 

Personally, I'm for Mamdani - no matter what his stand on the Medicare issue, his fundamental philosophy is pro-labor and anti-privatization - and he's one impressive political talent. I will go into some details of his campaign which is fundamentally non-ideological and more bread and butter, no matter how people try to distort - like free buses, where half the people don't pay anyway and better childcare is so radical. Even his response on intifada is interesting, as Ryan Grim explains when he compares the calls to denounce him as equivalent to cancel culture from the left:

"At the very end of this rant, Gillibrand argues that it doesn’t matter what the term intifada actually means, what matters is how people receive it, and she says that black, Hispanic, and LGBTQ people have similarly offensive words that must never be said and the same standard applies here. So if you’re on the right and spent a decade denouncing this sort of thing, how is it that you are now embracing it and on Team Gillibrand?" .... 

But my sense of democracy is challenged by a top-down endorsement process. If the DA was really open and not rushed we would get a snapshot of where membership stands - but I would go further.

 

I have reservations about a UFT endorsement without checking the pulse of the membership. Coming from the top as it usually does actually is harmful as proven in previous elections where the massive UFT membership does not seem to go along - witness the constant failures if mayoral endorsements. My sense is this is a move to jump on the bandwagon of the leading candidate, which actually may doom Mamdani, given the UFT track record. A UFT endorsement will automatically elevate the chances of Adams and or Cuomo.

 

 

There is a big push, naturally, coming from the left in the UFT, with a petition going around. So why am I bothered by that? It amounts to the same push from the top concept when the UFT leadership pushes its own interests over where the members might stand. I've been annoyed even when I agree with my left comrades on the way they push their agenda on members. Sure push your personal ideas - you have a right. But if you are trying to organize people, well how about seeing where they are at? That is precisely what Mamdani has done, as he went to Trump supporters. One surprising result in the election was how many Trump voters went for him -- the sort of Bernie/Trump concept we saw --- see NYT today:  

• How Zohran Mamdani Brought New Voters to the Polls,

• Halal Cart Holds Blueprint for Mamdani’s Upset

• How Social Media Videos Fueled Zohran Mamdani's ...

Shocking that he actually talked to Trump voters -- something the ARISE crowd attacked ABC for. In fact I see a lot of similarities between the two campaigns - except we didn't win, of course. He reached out to new voters and so did ABC - he was more successful. He had 40k volunteers and I saw ABC with more volunteers in this campaign than I'd seen in the past - and the vote totals indicated that. Both campaigns get credit for their social media. But more on this comparison in the future.

 

Member driven means member driven even if the members on the whole don't agree with you. So though I would hope a clear majority of UFT members would support Mamdani, especially given the Adams/Cuomo/Sliwa alternatives, I would like to see where the actual pulse of the membership lies at this point. 

 

The problem with pushing endorsements down the throat of members is that they alienate people unless there is a clear mandate. I think there is a strong case to be made for Mamdani but only if people get a chance to debate. Let's air the claims of anti-semitism and respond. Invite him to a meeting - invite them all.
 

If you really want to mobilize the membership in a campaign, win the bulk over and that takes work beyond calling an emergency summer meeting of the DA where a small minority of members will decide. 

But one interesting story will emerge. The so-called left of the UFT, the ARISE crowd, will be overwhelmingly in favor and with UFT leadership backing Mamdani, we could expect overwhelming support at the DA. As for the 200k UFT membership? I'm not so sure. It weakens the union of there is a wide gap.

 

Thus, while I'm not speaking for ABC, and I think many ABCers do support Mamdani, I think there might be a sentiment to go through a more serious process in the UFT as a way to build support. At least a serious poll or a referendum -- like how about using electronic voting to do one? Oh, the Unity gang is allergic. 

 

 UPDATE - 

Political Currents by Ross Barkan

They're Losing

Zohran and the decline of the pro-Israel voter

Ross Barkan

Jul 03, 2025

https://substack.com/inbox/post/167483841

TRS Election Update from Candidate Ben Morgenroth - Election is May 14

UPDATE - May 8 - THE DOE HAS CANCELLED THE TRS ELECTION BY DISQUALIFYING BEN OVER SOME MINOR IRREGULARITY AND DECLARED THE UNITY CANDIDATE THE WINNER

Tuesday May 6, 2025 - 

Congrats to Ben for getting the signatures he needed to run. Unity has controlled the 3 pension reps forever and we need another voice. They serve 3 year terms so there is an election every year. Ben ran last year and got one third of the vote. The election is in the schools on May 14 - retirees, ironically, can't run or vote. I know some people in ABC helped get signatures even though Ben is running with ARISE. It's too bad both campaigns didn't make this an issue to tie into the campaigns but I understand how busy people have been.

Here is Ben's missive:

Hi everyone, A couple of quick updates: First and foremost, congratulations! We collected well over the requisite 1,000 signature to get onto the ballot for the TRS election. This accomplishment is thanks to all of YOU and your hard work! Ours is one of two names that will appear on the ballot in May. I would like to ask everyone to please submit the Google Form below after May 14 to indicate whether the election protocols were properly followed in your school. I may not re-send this form link, so please save a copy of it. Please encourage your colleagues to fill it out as well: www.tinyurl.com/trselection25 Important Election Information: Principals are supposed to provide a copy of the notice of the election, including the names of both candidates, by Wednesday, May 7. Principals are required to hold an election in each school or worksite on Wednesday, May 14. If requested by at least 10% of the staff, the principal must call a meeting between May 2 and May 5 to hold a meeting to discuss the merits of each candidate. Once called to order, the contributors present must elect a chairperson and secretary for the discussion meeting. The election on May 14 shall be held at an in-person, called by the principal. A chairperson and secretary shall be elected at the start of the meeting. At the May 14 meeting: the chairperson shall appoint at least one teller for each of the two candidates, and at least 3 tellers in total. The tellers must be an acknowledged supporter of the particular candidate. Each member receives a ballot and signs a list of contributors (provided by the principal) to indicate they received a ballot. If an error is made, a new ballot shall be provided, and the original ballot shall be indicated as a VOID. No electioneering or discussion of candidates is permissible during the election meeting. For members who are off-site, an alternative voting location is to be provided. After each member has deposited their ballot in the box, the tellers publicly count the ballots and post and announce the results. One copy of the results is to be posted on the official site bulletin board. The ballots are returned to the box, the box is sealed and delivered to the principal, who keeps all ballots in a sealed box for at least 6 months. Note: At CUNY campuses, balloting is to remain open from 9:00 AM until 5:00 PM on Wednesday, May 14 and Thursday, May 16. Ballots are counted and tallied at the end of each day (publicly per the procedure above), but not posted until the end of the second day. Please encourage your colleagues to participate in the election on May 14. Thank you again, everyone for all the hard work! Looking forward to the election. 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. 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. Candidate statement: www.tinyurl.com/benfortrs2025statement   Committee for the election of  BENJAMIN MORGENROTH AS TEACHER-MEMBER OF THE RETIREMENT BOARD  Co-Chairs  Andrea Kung, Teacher  Urban Academy Laboratory High School 02M565, Manhattan  Aziz Jumash, Teacher  Stuyvesant High School 02M475, Manhattan  TO ALL MEMBERS OF THE TEACHERS RETIREMENT SYSTEM  Dear Colleagues: We are pleased to announce that  Benjamin Morgenroth  will be a candidate for election to the Teachers Retirement Board.  Ben Morgenroth has a strong financial background, expertise, a decade of service in the classroom, and is dedicated to sound investments and member education. Ben is the most qualified candidate for election to the Teachers Retirement board and is the only person running with the financial expertise necessary for the position.  Board trustees are fiduciaries responsible to protect the long-term value of the pension’s investment portfolio and provide benefit security for members. They are entrusted to oversee the investment of our funds and achieve the highest possible long-term rate of return consistent with appropriate levels of diversity and risk.  Ben teaches AP Calculus and Algebra II at Brooklyn Technical High School and has served as a passionate teacher in the New York City public schools for the past decade. He also serves as an adjunct lecturer in Mathematics at Hunter College, City University of New York. He is a life-long New Yorker and a graduate of New York City public schools. He comes from a family of educators and TRS members. Ben holds a BA in Applied Math-Economics from Brown University and a MA in Applied Mathematics from Hunter College. Prior to teaching, Ben served as a business technology consultant and hedge fund risk analyst, helping to manage $3 billion in client investments.  In addition to his investment knowledge and financial expertise, Ben has intimate knowledge of the pension, including the nuances of individual Tiers. Ben is experienced at sharing his extensive pension knowledge with individual members and large groups, including the webinar he hosted focused on understanding and improving pension benefits, options, and Tier 6 reform.  Ben is running as an independent-thinking, union-proud, classroom educator who will serve with the best interests of everyday educators, like you, in mind. He is not beholden to the investors from TRS or any DOE official. This Trustee position will be the third to change hands in as many years. We need to keep our billions of dollars of investments safe and only someone with a strong investment background can be trusted to keep our pension stable, solvent, and ensure that it continues to grow. Ben’s classroom and financial experience make him the best qualified candidate for teacher trustee of TRS.  Ben’s top priorities for our pension:  1. Ensure financial stability and fund solvency to secure financial futures for retirees. 2. Aggressively and judiciously pursue investments that maximize returns while minimizing risk. 3. Continue to hold webinars and workshops in schools to ensure members understand our pension including benefits, investment, and retirement options.  Reverse pension cuts through advocacy to:  ● Improve pension and disability benefits, and pension flexibility, for members in all tiers. ● Restore the 8.25% TDA rate still received by all TRS members except UFT titles, and reverse the 30% reduction (approximately, with compounding) in our TDA benefits instituted in 2009. ● Reduce pension contributions for all tiers and restore the end of pension contributions after 10 years of service.  ● Restore retirement age to 55 for Tier 6 members.  ● Reverse the over 50% reduction in benefits for Tier 6 (compared to Tier 4 with equal contributions) instituted in 2010-2012.  ● Improve Final Average Salary calculation for pension benefits that better reflect real earnings. ● Update COLA law for benefit increases that keep pace with inflation.  ● Offer swifter movement of funds between TDA investment options (reduce time lag from 30-120 days to 1 day)

 

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

 

 

Amy Arundell: A Tale of Two Cities, Part 1: Chicago Fights and Wins — What NYC Can Learn

....their success is just about a contract. I think it’s about a culture. A culture of courage. A culture of clarity. A union that sees every struggle inside the school building as connected to the fight outside it. A union that organizes relentlessly—and wins publicly. 

Long-time followers of Ed Notes are familiar with the coverage of the Chicago Teacher Union going back to the victory of CORE caucus in the 2010 election and how our crew from NYC had met with them a year earlier and had frequent contact with them over the early years of their victory, including at the AFT convention in Seattle a few weeks after they won. I won't put up the numerous links but these intital reports of the victory that helped change the labor movement:

MORE CHICAGO HOPE AS CORE SWEEPS

Chicago Hope - UPDATED - 9am

 

One key in Chicago that differs from the Unity approach is open bargaining and the public reports on the progress. This contract win was a big one and I guess it doesn't hurt that the mayor was a teacher and member of the CTU and an organizer with them.

Also, Amy was interviewed this week.

Listen: Amy Arundell Makes Her Case to Lead the UFT LATEST STUCK NATION RADIO MAR 31

Work-Bites: https://www.work-bites.com/view-all/a7nwt235ykmjme5355xchk7tezmw8x

 

 

A Tale of Two Cities, Part 1: Chicago Fights and Wins — What NYC Can Learn

This is the first in a two-part series from A Better Contract (ABC) comparing what’s possible when unions fight—and what happens when they don’t. In Part 1, Amy Arundell, longtime educator and presidential candidate on the ABC slate, reflects on the Chicago Teachers Union’s tentative agreement and the culture of organizing that made it possible.

Amy Arundell

Apr 04, 2025

 

https://abettercontract.org/p/a-tale-of-two-cities-part-1-chicago?r=4ptxgk&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&triedRedirect=true

 

I wasn’t planning to write today. But after reading through the Chicago Teachers Union’s tentative agreement, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something important had just happened—and that we needed to talk about it.

The 2025 CTU contract locks in substantial pay raises, guarantees more prep time, and expands community support for students—showing just how powerful collective action can be. If you’re ready to see how these educators turned “impossible” into a done deal, you’ve got to check it out. Click here for all the details: https://www.ctulocal1.org/posts/ctu-announces-historic-tentative-agreement-major-leap-forward-toward-transforming-chicago-public-schools/.

What the Chicago Teachers Union just accomplished—it wasn’t magic. It wasn’t luck. It was movement. It was members, organizing each other, mobilizing consistently, and building power over time. It was setting clear priorities, building public pressure, and refusing to be told “no.” They didn’t wait for politicians to save them. They did it themselves—and they did it together.

I want to be really clear about something. I don’t think their success is just about a contract. I think it’s about a culture. A culture of courage. A culture of clarity. A union that sees every struggle inside the school building as connected to the fight outside it. A union that organizes relentlessly—and wins publicly.

And let me tell you what struck me most: it wasn’t just the raises. It wasn’t just the prep time. It was the way CTU connected everything they do to uplifting workers and the communities they serve. They didn’t organize for scraps. They organized for dignity.

Now, back here in New York, Unity tells us: this can’t be done. They say don’t expect too much. Be realistic. Accept what you’re given. And every time they say that, I ask: do they think we haven’t seen what our brothers and sisters in Chicago just achieved? Do they think we didn’t notice?

Because we noticed. And we are not accepting the scraps.

When we started this campaign, there were maybe 20 of us sitting around folding chairs, talking about the same things I’m talking about with you now. But we were armed with a faith in member power. And we are armed with a belief in transparency. And most of all—we believed in each other.

We are now on the verge of winning. And if we keep moving together, we will—and we will be a union again. A union that listens. A union that leads. A union where truth replaces talking points and backroom deals are replaced by bold demands.

CTU didn’t wait to be rescued. They got organized. They built up. They broke through.

And we can too.

Let’s stop settling. Let’s start organizing with urgency and demanding with discipline.

Together, we will drive our future.

When we fight, we win.

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 

---

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.

---

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.

   

2. ---

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.

   

   ---

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.

---

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?

---

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.

---

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!