Delegate Assembly Today - UFT Members Handout, plus a few words from me (for a change)

Wednesday, November 13, 2024

 

I will be at the DA handing out the leaflet below and the Retiree Advocate leaflet. But I want to get upstairs first and get an aisle seat - in case I have to pee. One thing we've done is divide the 300 delegates into groups with volunteers taking a portion of the group. I have about 17 people in my group. I get in touch with them to make sure they get the registration emails and for some there have been some snags. Some are suspicious but I trust Yasmin Colon, who has been incredibly responsive, as has been LeRoy Barr when issues come up. Let's not get all Trumpian with conspiracy theories. Unity does do shit, like identifying Tom Murphy as RTC CL in the new calendar, but let's focus on the big stuff.

Like how long will Mulgrew talk today? Put your money down for the Ed Notes pool. I say 48 minutes. Take the over/under. 

 

Expect loads of paid staff to be there and for some of them to reserve entire rows of seats. I'm tossing their shit on the floor.

 

What tricks will they use to chew up the new motion period?

Here's a fun one. Apparently LeRoy Barr has taken away the table the oppo had for 25 years (that I procured from Randi). And also ordered that any motions we want to distribute not be allowed on the lit table unless we send it to him in advance. Wanda, who polices the table disallowed our motions last month. Today Wanda may face someone who will sit on the table and refuse to move until the police are called. Phone videos may be available. Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, here is a piece of lit from UFT Members with resos that LeRoy will Barr from distribution on the lit table because it has a group name on it.  I call this the Barr make up a rule as you go dictum.

I work with this group, a loose conglomeration of people who are focused on reaching out to the membership beyond the usual suspects. This had caused some consternation from those same usual suspects, but I won't go any further because a hell of a lot of people don't want me to report what is really going on, one reason Ed Notes has not been publishing as often -- social censorship from all sides of the oppo world. Wanna know one reason given for not talking about UFT elections? Unity will find out! Horrors. Too many oppo people spend too much time thinking about Unity reactions. Better spend energy on organizing people outside the usual suspects because an election won't be won with the current crop of US. 

And by the way -- how about a little more transparency instead of closed door meetings and decisions? Just sayin'.

(If you don't hear from me in a few days, you know why.)

 

 

 

 

Dear UFT Members,

Thank you for participating in the launch of our grassroots movement! To date, 1,200 of us have completed our member survey, over 1,000 of us signed our petition to expand UFT member voting, and 150 of us joined our first Member Assembly held at the end of last month. What a start!

Here are some next steps for November:

1. Share the Petition for UFT Member Voting

Please share with at least 1-2 UFT Members you know. In less than a week, our petition to expand member voting to electronic and/or in-person voting for our UFT citywide elections has collected over 1,000+ signatures! 

If each of us share this petition with just 1 or 2 (or more!) UFT members, we know (both in-service and retirees), then we will double or triple the number of signatures. Please share the petition far and wide, or simply ask 1 or 2 UFT members to sign. Each and every signature goes a long way toward making change happen!

Sign UFT VOTES! petition

2.  Share the Petition to End Mayor Adams' Scripted Curriculum Mandates

Educators and school communities must have an active voice in creating, choosing, adopting & implementing curricula that best serves our students - not politicians, bureaucrats or corporations.  Yet, we are forced to teach using Mayor Adams' latest reading and math scripted curriculum mandates that treat classrooms like assembly lines.

UFT members are dealing with a lot of unnecessary and frustrating managerial oversight. We're being pushed by school admins and superintendents to use certain scripted curricula that just don't cut it. 

There's not enough support, and many don't seem to get the wide-ranging needs of students in the biggest, most diverse school system around --- or they also feel pressured to implement.

Sign our new petition calling on the Mayor and Chancellor to halt these scripted curricula until educators, school communities and families can have authentic input.  Bring back teacher voice and autonomy.  End this micro-management, now.

Sign the TEACHER VOICE, NOW petition

3. Sign up to join  one or more (or all!) of our Campaign Working Groups

We said from the beginning that we will do this work together, and we mean it! We’re going to begin with the following working groups to start building out our UFT Election campaign.  Sign up, now. We will connect with you to see where you best fit:

1. Get Out the Vote: - think of ways to increase awareness in and the desire to vote in this year's election;
2. Organizing/Member Mobilization: - develop and implement plans to increase participation in the movement;
3. Media: - help with the movement website, outreach, literature to be disseminated;
4. Divisional work groups: - join with others in the same divisions (i.e. elementary, middle school, high school) to think about what needs to be done to improve working conditions in your division and engage others in the movement;
5. D75: - work on messages and mobilization that address the uniqueness of D75;
6. Paraprofessionals: - focused on mobilizing paraprofessionals;
7. Retirees: - focused on mobilizing retired educators

The working groups listed above will meet remotely via Zoom. Please fill out the survey linked below to indicate what working group(s) you’re interested in joining. It’s time to roll up our sleeves and get to work! 

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR ELECTION CAMPAIGN WORKING GROUPS

Lastly, download, print and share our November flyer and share at your school.

Thanks for reading, we’re looking forward to meeting with you very soon.

In solidarity,

Your fellow UFT members 

Our Voice, Our Union
join.uftmembers.org

UFT Members

info@uftmembers.org

 

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.

 

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

UFT Leadership attempt to suppress in person DA attendance

There are almost 400 new Chapter Leaders and countless new delegates, including 300 retired. Most of them will not be able to attend in person. But full-time UFT staff and District Reps should have no problem.

Unity has issued an all-hands on deck for today's DA from the faithful but uses social distancing as an excuse to limit in person attendance from rank and file. Ironic since the leadership has been passive in the relaxation of those rules by the DOE.

Leadership maintains an inherent advantage in keeping hundreds of people from attending. Remote people do not get the info we hand out or the organizing we do inside and outside the meeting. There is no question that control of the DA has tightened in the hands of leadership since Covid.

With the election threat coming look for all-out war and Trump-like attacks on critics.

Wednesday, October 16, 2024

The last time I was a delegate was 22 years ago when I retired. I had been a delegate/Cl for most of the years since 1971. So I am excited to participate in the Mulgrew Marathon time-killing report. I need to catch up on my sleep -- if you are remote, you will hear loud snoring.

Yesterday, I was contacted by one of the new retired delegates who was having trouble registering. So I got in touch with my go-to UFT reliable, Yasmin Colon and she took care of getting the delegate the correct registration link. 

 

Except for one thing: the delegate could only register for remote. So I asked Yasmin of there was a cap on in person and not long after I received a phone call from LeRoy Barr who informed me there has been a cap of 400 since covid days. I urged LeRoy to lift the cap since the room holds almost 900 people and also to reinstate the 19th floor breakout room. He said Mulgrew will address it - maybe today. 

 

LeRoy emphasized that while not always agreeing, we are still one union. I agreed and also said we will miss the old Unity retiree war horses at the DA and if we had proportional representation they would have still been there even with their 37% of the vote. And if Unity is defeated in the election if there was not winner take all they would still have a stake. LeRoy, you still have time.

When retirees elected 300 delegates in June I actually raised the issue of a cap as a way to keep our people out. I told LeRoy I smelled a rat but he assured me these caps are not directed at the retirees but have been in place for years due to social distancing. Hmmm, where's the UFT on the lack of social distancing in the schools?

 

A cynic, I told LeRoy I bet there is no problem for UFT staff in getting in but he said he is getting texts from District Reps who are begging to get in. I will spend the meeting counting them. If you are there and see staff you recognize email their names and I will keep a running count.

I'm offering an over/under on how many staff can be spotted today at the DA. I'm betting on 80. (They must have had early registration). I will collect the bets on the way out. 

More DA News:

 

UFT Welfare Fund

 

 

Below are leaflets I will be handing out today before and after the meeting. If you are there, stop by and say hello.

 

RA leaflet:

 

Note the Member Assembly open to all on Oct. 29 - register using the code. And also fill out the survey by clicking on that link. And if you are there support the resos - and expect the leadership to try to suppress them.

Here are some facts from Daniel on the UFT Welfare Fund:

 

1. The Welfare Fund has grown exponentially since 2014 to the tune of 800 million dollars— when Mulgrew began dipping into the joint healthcare stabilization fund that is designed to protect the healthcare of all city workers and retirees for wages and to hoard within the UFT Welfare Fund. Now, the gap between investments and actual benefits provided to members for such things as prescriptions, dental and vision has widened while dental reimbursements and services have diminished. Many dentists simply won’t take our dental insurance anymore. The data doesn’t lie. Mulgrew’s Unity administrative caucus does. 

 

Sources: https://ronniealmonte.substack.com/p/the-uft-welfare-fund-is-prioritizing 

 

https://ronniealmonte.substack.com/p/the-uft-welfare-fund-is-prioritizing  

 

https://jd2718.org/2024/03/28/uft-welfare-fund-nest-egg-bigger-than-most-nests/

 

 

BEWARE THE IDES OF MARCH DA - UFT Leadership Separates from Reality - Strikes are for the Wealthy, Sill(y) comments, LeRoy Bombast, Pattern Bargaining is wonderful (for leadership), Arrogant snowflake Unity Leaders Talk Down to Members

Being Critical is Political - UFT Leadership Mantra to critics telling them to STFU

We have seen an uptick in aggressive attacks on opposition voices by some in the UFT leadership, accusing them of playing politics when they raise critical issues. While not a new tactic, used by authoritarians over the decades to paint critics as "the other", recent variations have escalated at the Exec Bd and DA and on social media. "We do the work" is their mantra and when that work is criticized, they take umbrage. Like we know Mulgrew is doing the work - for the city and Aetna. And when union officials ignore and bury complaints from schools, they want a free pass. 

In the meantime, the real work continues.  

As per Article V, Section 10 of the UFT Constitution, we call for a membership-wide vote for any significant changes to active and/or retired members’ healthcare.

Mulgrew has a weighed vote on healthcare at the MLC using our total members as leverage, as if we actually have a say. Politicians believe him -- that members are OK with these changes. We can force a referendum on health care related changes by using

• BRING DEMOCRACY TO THE UFT: SIGN THE PETITION CALLING FOR A VOTE ON HEALTHCARE CHANGES

• UFT Leadership to Members: CityMD Copays should be $400; we’re better off without the right to strike. Notes on the 3-15-2023 Delegate Assembly. -- NICKNOTES@NAC

The Unity assassins were out celebrating the Ides of March at the Delegate Assembly with plastic knives. As we speak, union officials are combing through ancient UFT scrolls blacking out the word Strike. 

"In 1967, UFT members went on strike extended the summer vacation by two weeks. They did the same by 3 months in 68." 

Reminds me of Florida new curriculum where Rosa Parks was not black and was asked to go to the back of the bus because she didn't have a ticket.

HOW DARE YOU TAMPER WITH OUR PERFECT RESOLUTION ON UFT HISTORY WHERE EVERYTHING WE WON CAME FROM BEGGING AND PLEADING, AND MENTION THE DEADED S-WORD --- UFT/UNITY CANCEL CULTURE AFTER CONSULTATION WITH RON DISANCTIMONIUS

NYC Educator on Mulgrew

Ethics-Shmethics--The Mike Mulgrew Story - *Chapter 21--I Scuttle Health Care for Members*

Nick (New Action) and James (ICE) have the DA dope:

• UFT Leadership to Members: CityMD Copays should be $400; we’re better off without the right to strike. Notes on the 3-15-2023 Delegate Assembly. -- NICKNOTES@NAC

• LIVE BLOGGING FROM MARCH 2023 DA --- Eterno@ICE

  If I am not the president, the next president will have a big say in how this is done. Aetna saying they have the best Medicare advantage program in the country. They are excited about it....Michael Mulgrew, Mar. 15, 2023 DA
  

And UFT members are  equally excited about Mulgrew not being president. Is he sending a signal? Let the Unity hunger games begin. Mike Sill made his move at the DA by lauding the history of the UFT, which has never had a strike.

Sunday, March 19

James Eterno called me to say MORE used the old Norm tactic at DAs of amending Unity resos. I used to get the floor by calling out "speaker against" on resos they thought no one would oppose. "I'm against this pablum joint Unity/New Action reso because it sucks." They were shocked. And I was approached by a union official afterwards that Randi complained my scornful approach didn't show proper respect. I had mocked their "we plead" context at Bloomberg goons instead of telling them to go fuck themselves.

 

I was spared the mahem on Wednesday by staying outside the DA, as usual, handing out a leaflet calling for the above referendum on healthcare issues. I had some interesting conversations. One guy seems to have pretty much bought the Mulgrew line. The perception is that retirees are the ones affected and people don't look too far into the future. Medicare will be gone by the time most of them reach 65, with a plastic knife in the back from Et Tu Mulgrew.

 

Retiree Advocate had a good leaflet, as did New Action.

 

And Kate Conners from MORE was handing out info on the NY Health Act. She and I talked about the segment Brian Lehrer did with State Senator Gustavo Rivera who explains how that's the real way to save money, not MulgrewCare. 

She said she would raise the issue with Mulgrew and she did by asking him to talk to Rivera. He refused.Mulgrew's commitment to higher costs through privatized healthcare is firm. I hear he made some comment that hinted he may not be running for president again. Maybe that board position at Aetna is looming. 

Nick reports:

Kate Connors had an extremely interesting exchange with Mulgrew over the NY Health Act, where he bizarrely hid behind the need for a reso to support it, despite the UFT DA already having passed such resos twice.

Rules, schmules.

It was cold on Wednesday - how are we letting them get away with not letting us give our lit in the lobby like we'd done for decades? Or not allowing us to observe the DA from the 19th floor? So I left at 5 and went into Whole Foods to get some hot soup. 

It was only when I got uptown to my apartment when I started reading accounts of the DA. A MORE member used an old tactic I used to use by amending a mom and apple pie reso on UFT history by suggesting the UFT origin story and growth of power were based on strikes and strike threats in the 60s. ( I was on the 67, 68 and 75 strikes - but too young for the 60 and 62. )

 

Note the vote totals for opening up Taylor Law discussion, despite LeRoy Barr misleading obfuscation.

 

Here is Nick's report on that part of the meeting.

Michael Sill: Honored to support the resolution speaking in favor of UFT’s anniversary. Asks founders of union to stand for a round of applause (standing ovation). 60 years ago, we faced off with the DOE on contract. That had never happened before. 1960 may seem like an abstract concept. Many teachers we meet elsewhere don’t have collective bargaining rights. They might have consultation rights, but can’t do anything on salary/vacation days. Teacher I spoke to makes 30k; at end she’ll make 35k. She pays a premium for healthcare. That’s life without collective bargaining. Our founders looked around them and saw tons of groups, divided by subject, age, ethnic background, vision. They wanted to bring these groups together. They built a whole wing onto the house of labor. Without them, maybe the Florida teacher might have seen my salary and thought I had it bad. These aren’t mythical creatures. Standing ovation.

James Cole: Rise to make an amendment. Adds one whereas about the key role of the strike, without which we couldn’t have formed. Also resolved to fight for right to strike, now illegal. 1960 wasn’t just a vote that brought us together – there was a strike. And in doing so, we were able to win collective bargaining rights. Over the years, those have been codified in law, but with draconian anti-strike clauses. Strikes brought us real raises – not 3%. Currently there are legislators who are working to amend the constitution. We improve our collective bargaining but winning the right to strike.

LeRoy Barr: Rises in opposition. Acknowledges who were here. With respect to amendment, if case where contract was going to go away, would you go on strike? Gives some other examples. There are reasons we would go on strike, break the Taylor Law. This union was built on the strike we had in 1960. If we didn’t ask to get rid of Taylor Law. Without the Taylor Law, we would have lost the contract. Can romanticize going on strike. Understand what you’re asking for – people will go on strike.

Maggie Joyce: Taylor Law protects our contract. Other districts HAVE to go on strike. Chicago went on strike to get what we have. Remember when we were about to go on strike? My husband can support me, but I have paras who support their entire families. A lot of people here live paycheck to paycheck.

Nick Bacon: speaks in favor. This amendment DOESN’T ask to repeal the entire part of the Taylor Law, just the anti-strike clause. We’ve been affected by this clause. We got an email during the beginning of COVID that we had to go in – not take sick days – or we might lose the automatic payment of dues. That’s the Taylor Law. This reso doesn’t mean we’re going to strike – it just asks the UFT to push for our right to be able to do so if we need to. Others have said that we’d strike if issues were big enough, but right now we have the opposite issue – we’re getting so little (from collective bargaining), such as 3% raises, that our members feel the opposite of mobilized to take actions. Let’s join many other unions in this country in simply having one more tool in our union toolkit – the right to strike.

Question called on amendment. Yeses: 271; Nos: 363; Room: yeses: 37; nos: 148. 38% yes, 62% no. Failed.

Eterno report:

Honor UFT for 63rd birthday.

Mike Sill speaks in support of honoring the UFT on its 63rd anniversary. Honors founders. Look elsewhere in the country to see collective bargaining rights don't exist in many places. Some only have consultation rights, some nothing. Teacher makes $30,000 a year and maxes out at $35,000. Premium for healthcare. That was reality before 1960 in NYC. 106 groups represented teachers. Brought groups together. Built wing on house of labor. 

Amendment to add that we went on strike to get those collective bargaining rights and we want to negotiate to get that right to strike back. Strike to get real raises. State assembly and state senate people are working to get amendment passed to legalize right to strike for public sector workers. Honor founders by passing this amendment.

Leroy Barr opposes the amendment. Grateful for what our founders have done and continue to do. There are reasons we would go on strike in spite of the Taylor law if they tried to take away the Taylor Law like if they cut our pay in half or we had to work Saturdays.  Another Unity person agrees with that. Hard to get people on board with striking in 2020 with COVID. Says strikes are for the privileged.

Nick Bacon says that there is a problem with the Taylor Law. We are only trying to push getting rid of this part of the Taylor Law prohibiting strikes, a fundamental human right. We have to have the right to strike. We need that one union tactic  back to be able to strike. We haven't had a strike since 1975 and this is not calling for a strike.

Vote to close debate on all matters passes. 

Vote on amendment:

On Phone 271 to 363 No

In the Room I can't hear numbers.

38% vote for amendment.

38% in a DA often translates into 10% higher with general members. The UFT leadership attempt to distract from any chance to raise the issue is indicative of how they see the Taylor Law anti-strike provision as protection for themselves from even having to raise the issue.

In the meantime, Nick just posted this:

Why doesn’t UFT leadership want us to have the right to strike?

And I saw that Transit Workers are calling for changes in the Taylor Law. 

And this from Europe:

PETITION LINK: https://hcpetition.educators.nyc/?fbclid=IwAR1hTyDOdJKYuEcOW1CIUxjsFnFRkqTV-pACb3PHX9mVJ5vjr397YnrSKbU

 

 

 

Unity/UFT Ends Decades of Tradition of Open ended questioning at Oct. 24 Ex Bd as Questions Attempt to hold leadership accountable

Opposition doesn't come from a naive place. We have educated opinions that differ from leadership's.... Melissa Williams, CL OT/PT Chapter at Oct. 24 UFT Ex Bd

I'm done with anything Unity does anymore. Not joining the healthcare committee. Probably gonna leave contract. Waste of my time and validates them falsely. Done giving them credibility that they aren't partisan. I'm just sad. I'm sad that unity stooped this low. I really am. I was optimistic about working together to some extent. That died today..... Comment from activist who had intentions of working with Unity

Healthcare savings are nothing but givebacks.... James Eterno

United for Change defeated Unity by 500 votes in the high schools to elect the 7 high school reps to the ex bd. There are 20 thousand high school teachers.  They deserve a voice.

Autocrats threatened with losing control, always react with suppressing democracy which actually energizes the opposition. (See Iran).

If you can't find the time to put in two hours every two weeks at an Ex bd meeting, go find something else to do. 

Links to Oct. 24 Ex Bd meeting notes from Nick and James:

• New Action – UFT Union leadership votes to disenfranchise high school executive board members – Executive Board Minutes – 10/24/2022 -
• ICEUFT Blog LIVE BLOGGING FROM OCTOBER 24, 2022 EXECUTIVE BOARD MEET

Tuesday, October 25, 2022

Something broke last night at the UFT Ex Bd meeting, becoming reminiscent of the divide between Republicans and Democrats. We know who the Republicans are. Fundamentally, the UFT/Unity leadership has the mentality of the Republican party - privatizing, voter suppression and anti-democratic. Mitch Mulgrew.

I heard Amy [Arundell] yelling at the top of her lungs when we brought up the length of the president’s report [at the DA] and asking who makes the agenda "it’s our TRADITION," she yelled. Last night she gutted decades of tradition By cutting the question period •limiting it.... Her oath to loyalty over principle may now mean I’ve lost all respect for her unionism......we lose all respect for your unionism when oath to caucus loyalty comes before a modicum of principle. Limiting & silencing questions by rank and file because they make you uncomfortable... Educators of NYC

I admit I was sort of surprised that Amy, who many oppo people have had respect for in the past, led the way on limiting the question period, but I guess she has to demonstrate what a loyal foot soldier she is as her star has fallen somewhat in the leadership hierarchy. 

We watch positioning in the UFT along the lines people watched the Chinese Communist Party where Xi Jinping kept his back turned while his predecessor was escorted from the room. Unity should televise their next Party Congress. Will we see Mulgrew escorted from the room the same way?

Just watch the faces of the Unity Ex Bd and see either blank stares or frustration that they actually have to put up with questions and resos from those who disagree with them. You see, in Unity you don't question. You just follow orders. So actually seeing people ask questions must cause them some culture shock.

 

Last night a line in the sand of sorts was drawn. I wonder if they are taking this comment from Arthur Goldstein, who has been a Unity supporter for years:

Unity is not thinking ahead. This plan is exactly why they won this year by the lowest percentage ever, and exactly why they could lose the next election... The MLC Medicare Advantage Plan

More Democracy is threat to autocrats in Unity Caucus:

If UFC ever really gets it together - which is always problematical -- the retiree vote will move further away from Unity and once the healthcare loses take full effect, the membership will move away too. If I live to see the 2025 election, it should be interesting. If I don't, keep me informed anyway by posting comments on this blog.

 

The standard reaction of autocracies faced with threats to their control (think Lucashencko, Putin, Xi, Mulgrew) is to double down on repression. 

 

Democracy issues were front and center at the EB meeting last night.

Unity puts time limits on EB question period - expect further restrictions on democracy

 

October DA Reinforces United for Change allegation (Complaint #21) that the UFT/Unity Caucus Shuts UFC Out at DA - Unity Denies DA Plan

Sunday, October 23, 2022

The UFC Committee alleges that the UFT has violated the LMRDA with a range of conduct relating to the conduct of the Delegate Assembly, the UFT’s representative legislative body. These allegations are broadly divided into three categories: (a) alleged violations of Roberts Rules; (b) procedural inadequacy; and (c) procedural changes made in conjunction with the election... UFT Election Complaint #21

For decades some Unity Caucus people have been telling us how Unity and the leadership prepped for Delegate Assemblies through what they call their "Speakers Bureau". People get assigned roles. They even rehearse. They held two rehearsals for a recent DA so Mulgrew could get it right. Mulgrew even has seating plans. People are set up to ask certain questions that allow Mulgrew to expand on his already way too long opening report. They have designated plants to speak on leadership backed resos and people known as "call the question" plants to end debates. One former Unity told me a clue is when Leroy Barr removes his glasses. Which makes this report Leroy gave at the Oct. 3 Ex Bd hilarious:

UFT President Michael Mulgrew does not determine who is called on based on caucus affiliation...Concerning the allegation that no delegate not affiliated with the UC has been permitted to present a resolution and no UFC candidate member has been recognized during the new motion period of the Delegate Assembly, this is false. While the UFT does not track caucus affiliation for attendees or speakers at Delegate Assemblies, UFT rejection of UFC Complaint #21 - LOL

While I don't expect the Department of Labor or the AFT to rule against the UFT on the way they run the Delegate Assembly, we need to keep pointing their behavior. Last year's - a UFT election year - the behavior by Unity was the worst as Mulgrew shut out voices of the opposition at last years' DAs after the opposition had won or came close on some resos. 

Unity shuts out opposition voices by controlling the 10 minute New Motion period by inserting its own motions and making it look like they are random. 

Ex Bd UFC member Nick Bacon exposed the continuing behavior in his report on the Oct. DA:

No time for opposition: 

Mulgrew called on one opposition member all night – H.S. executive board member, Ilona Nanay (MORE), who asked a good question (and got a bad answer) on changes to the city council administrative code. It was no accident that Mulgrew called on a known opposition member during the question period, but not during the new motions period. During a question period, it’s easy for Mulgrew to regain control of the room. He can spend lots of time answering a short question, and making it clear that his perspective is the right perspective. 

During a new motion, opposition has far more space to convince the audience. Mulgrew knows that, so we haven’t been called on since last November, 2021 to raise one (and that’s when I was technically still a member of his Unity caucus). It’s also worth noting how obvious it was that Mulgrew knew who he was picking in advance. One of the people he called on, Maggie Joyce, is someone he calls on frequently to raise new motions. She is a familiar Unity face to him, often present at UFT functions. Another of the people he called on was raising a motion he noted before it was even raised (on migrant children).

Nick points out how Unity prevented UFC from presenting a strong healthcare reso to protect the members (rejected in a strict party vote at the UFT Ex Bd - Oct. 3: 

Our healthcare reso didn’t stand a chance. We didn’t even get to the business of motions on 10/12’s agenda. We lost all that to the most brainwashing filibuster Mulgrew has ever given. I’ll give my same advice again – if you want to see diverse union perspectives, come to executive board meetings where you have any chance of actually seeing them.

Unity put two "message" resos on the agenda - on immigrants and support for Iranian women - and watch them attack us for calling them out on this as an attack on the substance of the resos - not true - they could have been added as special business and not taken away from the normal 10 minute new motions. 

This tactic is intentional and happens time and again when they are threatened with a strong oppo reso and we will raise this tactic with the Department of Labor, though I don't think they will get what we are talking about.

Leadership sponsored resos are presented to the Ex bd and then put on the regular agenda of the DA. The ten minute time had been used by the opposition for decades to raise new motions. So especially since Mulgrew took over the UFT, Unity has coopted this time period to raise "late" resos, often handed out unlabeled as to sponsors. Now I understand that stuff may come up last minute -- so my suggestion is to allow them to do this but not count it against the 10 minutes. And if Mulgrew doesn't filibuster for an hour this would be easy.

Adding to the hilarity are the examples they cite of calling on UFC candidates at times before UFC even existed. The funniest was this:

At the November 17, 2021 Delegate Assembly, eventual UFC Executive Board candidate Nick Bacon made a motion regarding potential health care plan changes, which was voted on and defeated;

Nick, who did not become a candidate for UFC until January 2022, pointed out at the Exec Board meeting he was still in Unity in November 2021. In fact, my guess is that Nick was turned off to Unity due to their behavior at the DA. In fact, over the past 25 years, a number of people who were neutral delegates were pissed off enough at the DA to move toward the opposition.

And on this one from the UFT report:

At the November 17, 2021 Delegate Assembly, eventual UFC Executive Board candidate and member of the Educators of NYC (EONYC) caucus Daniel Alicea had a motion listed on the agenda as a special order of business, regarding the UFT’s position towards mayoral control of New York City public schools, which Mr. Alicea withdrew from consideration;

Daniel, who a year before the election was still fairly neutral about Unity - in fact he voted for Unity in the 2019 election - tried to get a mayoral control reso on the agenda in the spring of 2021 but found himself thwarted at every turn and withdrew his reso after its relevance had expired. That they used this example at a time when UFC did not exist and Daniel was not associated with the opposition - yet - makes their response even more of a farce.

In my opinion the thwarting of his attempt to get a discussion going on mayoral control at the DA was what helped open his eyes. When Daniel raised the point that many of the speakers at DAs are UFT employees on the payroll Unity went ballistic on him - he became public enemy #1.

Below is the complete section of the UFT report:

Complaint #21 – The Allegations Do Not Demonstrate Violations Of The LMRDA