The heckling needs to stop! Educators wouldn’t allow this in a classroom but here in the DA it’s condoned. Whatever, anyway I did buy a car without reading the contract, and you know what it mostly turned out okay!..
Yes, imagine a world where unionists were allowed to speak and honestly debate our contract. Imagine a world where the UFT staff members who we pay to protect our rights didn’t try to tear down working teachers for having even the slightest critical thought. Ha! on your car... DA Votes yes to Send out Contract without a Copy: UFT Delegate Assembly – 6-13-2023 - comments
They are unanimous in their hate for me—and I welcome their hatred. --- FDR, 1936 Madison Square Garden speech, what Nick Bacon may be thinking about Unity slime.
I love Nick Bacon --- delegate from MORE exiting the DA
Sunday, June 18, 2023
I
was leafleting at the end of the emergency Delegate Assembly on Tuesday
as people emerged. After hearing the stories about the two days of
Unity heckling Nick Bacon because he wanted to see what he was voting
for, I was loudly calling for a "stop the Unity bullying campaign."
Unity Caucus is more and more becoming the Trump party of the UFT. And like Trump, they have no shame, which at one time they at least seemed to have. They've reached the stage where for the first time I am doubting they would run an honest election. Their desperation to hold onto all power is calling on them to resort to desperate means. To me, their increasing undemocratic tactics is a sign they feel they are losing control.
As you can see, while the bullying may energize the union hacks, there are independents who are turned off. I heard even some Unity were turned off. The attacks also energize the opposition. I hope they keep it up - they are organizing for the opposition.
The Unity Caucus machine has ramped up attacks on critics - not just on the contract, but on any criticism at all. Don't dare say something bad about the tie Mulgrew is wearing. You will be vilified. For some in the opposition, these type of attacks is working to make them somewhat gunshy. But for Nick Bacon, it is fuel.
Now, I loved these attacks when they came at me. It shows they are feeling the pinch. All authoritarian regimes revert to bully tactics when they have no real answer to critics and feel a threat to their control. Just watch the dirty tactics to come in chapter elections next year and in the 2025 general election.
Nick received an ovation from 25 oppo people on Tuesday when he emerged from the UFT Delegate Assembly at 6PM - he was heckled and booed at the 2PM contract committee, the 3PM Exec Bd and the 4PM DA -- the trifecta. And this after facing the same reaction from the Unity serfs on Monday at the 4PM contract committee and 6PM Exec Bd meetings. Nick set a 2 day record for Unity hatred with this Pentafecta.
Nick, a Unity defector two years ago, seems to irk Unity slugs more than anyone in the opposition. Fundamentally, he is being attacked for his outrageous demand to be able to read beyond a UFT/Unity press release on the contract. He asked for the MOU and both Mulgrew and Barr lied and said it was online. It wasn't.
Nick noted in his notes: when will the MOA even be on the website? I ended up being the only
person allowed to speak against, though many other hands were up, and
that paragraph is towards the bottom.
Nick is purposely being allowed to speak to help make him a target and also to keep him from making his often cogent points.
Here is his full statement:
Sorry to even be in a position where I have to speak against this, but I’m on the negotiating committee, the executive board, and the DA and have not seen this MOA. We don’t even know when it will be on the website for our members to see. You don’t buy a house based on a PowerPoint the realtor showed you, or a used car based on the PowerPoint your used car salesman showed you. You look at the contract. There were issues with the last PowerPoint – not because anyone was trying to lie, but because it’s hard to see fine print in a PowerPoint. We need to see the fine print before we tell our members this is a deal worth voting yes on. *Around now, being heckled by UFT staffers* It’s OK, I’ve been being heckled all day, mostly by UFT staffers. We’ve also mostly heard from UFT staffers about why we should vote for this contract. They haven’t read the MOA either, and they also don’t have to live with the consequences. Working teachers – and other titles – will have to live with the consequences. We need to know what’s in this contract before we vote on it.
Here's where we really miss James Eterno's real time DA minutes because the burden falls on Nick to be active and take notes.
One of the more outrageous comments came from UFT VP Mary Vaccaro, who misused James Eterno's history of opposition to Unity by claiming he trusted the leadership. If not for James' condition, that would be an LOL moment.
Here's an example of James' trust for the leadership re: the 2018 contract:
UFT MISLEADS MEMBERS AS RAISES IN PROPOSED NEW CONTRACT WON'T BEAT EXPECTED INFLATION PROJECTIONS
Here is an excerpt from a UFT bulletin trying to sell the proposed new contract by saying raises will beat inflation.
New salaries: Raises of 2%, 2.5% and 3% produce a three-year compound rate of 7.7 percent, above expert predictions of inflation of 6.2 percent (Federal Reserve Bank) and 6.8 percent (International Monetary Fund)
UFT spin, spin, spin=mislead, mislead, mislead.
Arthur shows how trusting UFT leaders ends up:
A
no vote sends a strong message to leadership on healthcare. It sends a
reverberating message that our rank and file want it improved and not
diminished.
A comment from a delegate - corrected- 
I was at the DA meeting over the phone. This is what I DIDN'T hear being talked about:
1. Healthcare.
2. Why our raises don't meet or exceed current inflation.
3.Why they added 25 minutes to the instructional workday. It was 6 hours and 20 minutes and in the tentative contract at a glance it says it is 6 hours and 45 minutes. Mulgrew said there were no givebacks or concessions. This doesn't look like what he said.
4. Fixing of Tier 6. I'm tier 4 but I feel for Tier 6 and believe it needs to be fixed.
I already know I will be voting NO.
The UFT bureaucracy’s avoidance of strike-readiness undermines the union’s bargaining power.
Other unions seem to get it:
More links:
UFT Contract PSA: Beware of Distracting ‘Perks’
UFT Tentative Agreement Online (Mostly) – Not as Rosy as Mulgrew’s Presentations
Examining the 2023 UFT contract draft – a ‘tentative’ analysis
Return to the Bargaining Table with a Strike Plan
Vote "No" on the UFT-DOE tentative agreement, and call on the union to leverage its power for more
As expected,
the agreement veils pay cuts with sub-inflation raises and
non-pensionable bonuses, and improves only a narrow range of
non-economic issues. Therefore, I encourage us to send the Negotiating
Committee back to the bargaining table. The Mayor sits on enough money to concede more.
When they arrive at your school, vote “No” on your ballots. Persuade
your co-workers that there’s room to augment the gains in the tentative
agreement. Convince them the UFT should renew its contract campaign with
transparent demands and a plan for strike preparation, because only
strike-ready unions threaten employers enough to grant costly
concessions.
