UFT Teacher Contract Passes 75-25, OT/PT, nurses, audiologists vote NO -

.... teachers overwhelmingly voted to ratify – albeit with a much smaller ‘yes’ margin (under 75%) than in 2018 (87%) and a smaller margin than 2014 (77%)..... Nick Notes at NAC...

New Action – UFT2022-2027 UFT Contract Approved: An Analysis 

 

Monday, July 10, 2023

I'm going to get to the healthcare news with another rally coming on Thursday. But the breaking news is the contract vote. 

As we reported earlier today with this account of the vote count. UFT Contract Vote Count: Report from the Front Lines - Judi C. the UFT released the outcomes of the contract vote. We were watching some ballots pass through the machines on Thursday and made rough estimates of 70-75%. We used batch counting where I counted yes votes up to 30 and someone else counted No votes and we saw numbers like 30-12 which gave us a clue. Despite being not happy with the way were kept from observing, we knew that it wasn't going to be close enough to raise any issues at this time but we want to ensure better observation in the future. We expect to hold a follow-up meeting to make recommendations since I have no doubt that if an important election looked close, Unity is not to be trusted. Think LukaMulgrew in Belarus.

There are multiple contracts and as they did last time, the OT/PT/Nurses voted no again. Here are some comments on Nick's post:

Teresa Maher July 10, 2023 at 1:33 pm

Please cover the story of why OT/PT’s and nurses voted down the contract. During COVID, nurses were in the field working long and late hours. OT/PT’s were live remotely way before teachers who just posted work in the google classrooms. PT’s are not compensated for their doctorate degrees. The DOE gets back millions for our services through the , but also fails to collect millions due to not following policy requirements. We still get a 30 min lunch and no sabbaticals……

Reply

• BaconUFT July 10, 2023 at 1:36 pm

  Absolutely, and I’ve seen a copy of the email UFT leadership sent to you all following the no vote. It looks like they’re blaming you, not recognizing that you voted no because you deserve better.

And here is the email sent to the chapter by the UFT, where Rich Mantel has regrets they voted down the contract, an act of militancy that should be celebrated:

I regret to inform you that the contract covering occupational and physical therapists, school nurses, audiologists and supervisors of nurses and therapists was the only DOE-UFT contract not ratified.

While we talk about one tentative contract agreement, it is, in fact, an amalgam of more than 12 separate contracts. The ratification of each contract requires the approval of more than 50% of the votes cast by members of that bargaining unit. Overall, three-quarters of the nearly 96,000 UFT members who cast ballots voted "yes" on the tentative agreement, according to the tally by the independent American Arbitration Association. But your contract was voted down by a vote of 1,129 against and 782 in favor.

As a result, all the new contractual benefits, including the pay increases and the $3,000 ratification bonus, will not be available for the therapists, school nurses, audiologists and supervisors of nurses and therapists covered by this contract. You will continue to work under the terms of the previous contract.

We will hold a virtual meeting for occupational and physical therapists, school nurses, audiologists and supervisors of nurses and therapists on Thursday, July 13, at 3 p.m., to discuss next steps in the difficult road ahead. You will receive an email invitation to register. We encourage you to attend. Sincerely,

Richard Mantell
UFT Vice President

There is almost glee in announcing they won't get the bonuses. Will the UFT drag its feet to teach them a lesson? Remember, Melissa Williams from the oppo was elected CL two years ago and Unity is not happy. With an election next year they may try to place blame for the vote --- but hell, this is a pretty big number and shows support for Melissa's fight with the leadership for better contracts.

Closing with Nick's comment:

while a number of irregularities characterized the voting/mailing process, thus prompting the High School Executive Board to pre-emptively seek out chapter-specific data, the surprising turnout numbers and margin of ‘victory’ were enough to suggest that the results (ratification) would not have been different. UFC affiliates were also present during day-time portions of the count to observe what they could of the process, but didn’t see any concrete malfeasance resembling what DC37 officials were caught doing to rig a ratification vote back in the 90s.

This contract, despite its faults, is now our contract. Indeed, it will be for some time.

 

July 6 - UFT Contract Vote Count in the Catacombs and Retiree Court case rally at Thomas Paine Park

Join me at the UFT contract vote count Thursday - 

• Rushed UFT Contract Ratification Process Leads to Integrity Questions

 
Join www.nycretirees.org for help make a donation and subscribe to their newsletter

 

July 5

 

Tomorrow, July 6, two events are taking place related to the UFT.

 

Resisting Mulgrewcare: Party time outside the retiree law suit

The deadline for opting out of the Medicare Advantage Plan was extended to July 10 - let's see if the judge has anything to say about that, given that some doctors are not even aware of it and people don't have the info they need. My immediate sense is there are a hell of a lot of people willing to waive their benefits - in some cases ten grand - to stay in Medicare -- the city benefits by not havign to pay -- I'm not letting them get away with that so I will not be opting out.

Thomas Paine Park is an appropriate spot for meeting up in an era of UFT/Unity leadership of increasing suppression of democracy in the face of attacks on critical voices.

So 90 degrees won't stop us boomers - actually, I'm a pre-boomer, having breathed the same air as FDR for the first month of my life. I will also be going to.....

 

The UFT contract vote  is also tomorrow and members have a right to observe -- I'm intending to go if I can find out where it is - I have attended contract vote counts as an observer a number of times in the past.

Do I expect the increasingly oppressive UFT leadership to toss obstacles in the way? I do. They see information as an enemy, to be attacked and they engage in the Trump tactic of shouting "fake" news.

The likely suspected places to observe are either at the American Arbitration Association at 120 Broadway, the UFT at 52 or some arbitrary subway catacombs. 

We pretty much expect the contract to pass but by how much is the issue.

And what about the snafus pointed out here:

Rushed UFT Contract Ratification Process Leads to Integrity Questions

Mistakes were made, never by the UFT leadership but by some gremlin. Maybe Chat AI. Did some packages mailed by schools get to the AAA or get lost? I'd like to see a list of schools that were returned and those that were not? 

Here is the letter sent by the 7 UFC Ex Bd members on June 27 - with as far as I know, no reply:

 

June 27, 2023

From: Ronnie Almonte batresalmonte@gmail.com Nick Bacon, bacon.nick.a@gmail.com
Ed Calamia gonzojour2002@aol.com
Alex Jallot alexjallot@gmail.com

Ibeth Mejia i.rosiomejia@gmail.com
Ilona Clara Nanay icnanay@gmail.com
Luli Rodriguez rodriguez.luli1@gmail.com

High School Representatives to the United Federation of Teachers Executive Board To: Hiro Kawahara

AAA Director of Elections, 120 Broadway 21st Fl, New York, NY, 10271 AAAelectionsdirector@adr.org

Cc: Ken Egger, AAA National Vice President of Elections, eggerk@adr.org
Michael Mulgrew, President, United Federation of Teachers mmulgrew@uft.org
Melinda Person, New York State United Teachers President, melinda.person@nysut.org Randi Weingarten, American Federation of Teachers President, rweingarten@aft.org

You are no doubt aware of the challenges in the UFT contract ratification process regarding delays in ballots arriving at schools and challenges with return mailing labels for ballot packets.

Many chapters did not receive ballots until Thursday or Friday June 22nd or 23rd, resulting in rushed balloting on the last two days of school on the 26th and 27th and potentially affecting turnout.

Even more worrisome, the mailing labels sent out for the return of ballots from schools had to be corrected and re-sent three times, in successive emails on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, June 21st-23rd. The last email informed chapter leaders that some post office personnel were not accepting the new return labels and they instead had to be sent via a self-service kiosk (which is not available at all post office locations). We have received reports that this has resulted in difficulty in chapter leaders returning their ballot packets, and may have resulted in some packets not being received at all by AAA.

The integrity of the contract ratification process is of utmost importance to our members as it will determine the working conditions in schools and learning conditions for a million New York City school children for the next four years.

We would like to request that the AAA record and publish the number of ballots returned from each school chapter in each category (teacher, paraprofessional, secretary, guidance counselor, lab specialist). This would allow chapter leaders who mailed their ballots with the faulty labels to determine if their ballots actually arrived at the count, allowing the union to understand the scope and scale of the lost vote.

We hope that the actual impact on the vote of these problems will be minimal, but transparent and public accountability will be key in retaining the trust and confidence of our members in this process.

Thank you for your time and consideration of this request. Please feel free to contact us at the email addresses listed above.

Sincerely
Ronnie Almonte, Nick Bacon, Ed Calamia, Alex Jallot, Ibeth Mejia, Ilona Nanay, Luli Rodriguez

 

Op-Ed: Thoughts on the 2023 UFT Contract STATEMENTS, UFT SOLIDARITY NEWS

An interesting point of view from Eric Severson comparing salaries over the decades and showing how UFT members have relatively lost ground when inflation is taken into account. He focuses on starting salaries. I would like to see a comparison of salaries after 23 years and how those compare based on inflation. I retired in 2002 at 70k a year but a contract was signed weeks before my retirement with retro and my salary jumped to 76k. That was after 34 years. 

Let me remind people that in 1995 the top salary was at 20 years and the first contract was voted down mainly because it raised it to 25 years. The NO vote forced a renegotiation and they came back with 23 years, so we lost 3 but gained two from the NO vote. When Unity slugs tell you there are never givebacks, remember that one and this time just VOTE NO --- and ignore the threats that you won't get a contract. History proves you will do better. But even assume that the contract is ratified, the bigger the NO vote the better long term it is for you because it sends a message to the leadership and the city. - Norm

 

solidarityuft.org/?p=11421&frame-nonce=711ce9dc38

 

As we mull over the tentative contract agreement, let us consider some historic trends to let us know where we currently stand salary and benefits-wise.

 

I am just finishing my 17th year at the DOE, which means that when I first joined the UFT my salary was $41,172 a year. When we plug that into the CPI inflation calculator, we can see that a $61,712 would be the bare minimum to keep up with inflation, and the current first year teacher salary falls just short of that coming in at $61,070. In other words, before this current contract we are slightly behind just in terms of keeping up with the cost of living generally, and New York City is known known for getting less expensive over time.

 

So, a first year teacher entering the profession now is making slightly less than I did back in September 2006 when inflation is factored in. That first year teacher also has a more expensive Tier VI pension which they will need to pay into until the day they retire if they make it that long. They also have a workday loaded with five teaching periods and one C6 assignment, an arduous and stressful tenure process involving jumping through hoops to meet every Danielson criteria, and a $30 copay to see any medical specialist. Even if the salary increases in the 2023 contract do keep up with inflation over the next five years, any new or recently joined teacher has it worse than I do, and things needed significant improvement in the not quite as bad old days of 2006!

 

So far UFT leadership is pushing a narrative similar to the one we heard in 2014, that this contract is a raise without givebacks and a victory for members. Last time Mulgrew and Company pushed that narrative we ended up with worse health care coverage and ‘common planning time’ that we don’t really have control of, so I am awaiting details before fully forming an opinion. At best, this is a contract that barely keeps up with inflation assuming the Fed’s 2% target is met soon. At worst, the devil will be in the details and we’ll give up rights, benefits, or autonomy even more than we already have. Even in the best case scenario we’ll be better off than with no contract as we were in the Bloomberg years, but let’s not allow those in power in our union to call this a victory when at best it’s avoiding even further setbacks.

About the Author: Eric Severson is a veteran Special Educator in a large Brooklyn high school. He has ran for office in the 2016, 2019, and 2022 UFT elections with UFT Solidarity Caucus and United for Change.