Written and edited by Norm Scott:
EDUCATE! ORGANIZE!! MOBILIZE!!!
Three pillars of The Resistance – providing information on current ed issues, organizing activities around fighting for public education in NYC and beyond and exposing the motives behind the education deformers. We link up with bands of resisters. Nothing will change unless WE ALL GET INVOLVED IN THE STRUGGLE!
Jamaica High School - James Eterno Against Closure -- Dec. 17, 2009 - 700+ Protested Against New York City's Attempt to Shut Down Jamaica High School, Queens. James Eterno, the UFT (teachers' union) Chapter Leader & member of ICE-UFT speaks to outraged crowd.
In
May of 2023, James Eterno, beloved retired educator and union activist,
suffered a major stroke. James is recovering and currently needs
24-hour care.
James has been a consummate fighter for his family, his union family and the City of New York.
He will prevail in this latest fight!
Please help the Eternos during this challenging time. Pray for us and donate.
The news came on a Saturday morning in early May as I was having breakfast with Arthur who had just handed me hundreds of signatures for the healthcare petition. I even told Arthur, as the phone rang with James' name, "This is James calling to bug me to have an ICE meeting." But it was Camille with the devastating news.
.... 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...
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:
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……
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.
Nick Bacon came under vicious heckling and attack Monday and Tuesday from the Unity Caucus slugs for daring to ask to read details on the contract aside from the Unity propaganda of selling a used car with a bad engine. When he emerged from the DA, a crowd of opposition gave him a standing ovation - OK -we were already standing. I gave him a few boos to remind him of the scum he just left. Unity is fast helping turn Nick, who was in Unity as recently as a year and a half ago, a folk hero.
And note -- they are hiding the health care givebacks - as usual - Norm.
There’s a tentative contractual agreement between the UFT and the DOE that will soon be sent out for ratification. Before I give my complete take on it, I’ll need to actually see it.
I can’t yet of course. Even though I’m on the much touted ‘500-member
negotiating committee,’ the executive board, and the delegate assembly,
neither I nor the other members of those bodies have been afforded a
copy. All we’ve seen are the contract at a glance and a PowerPoint,
and only the latter was ready in time to actually be read before those
aforementioned votes. Both documents have a purpose – they’re part of a
pitch to convince members that the contract would be a good deal if we
approved it. To that end, we should read them, but read them critically
and with more than a grain of salt. Because there’s no actual tentative
agreement yet to which we can compare the presentations, we must be
particularly weary about omissions. Indeed, the sales pitch in 2018 left out some serious givebacks on healthcare and salary. There’s precedent to be worried here.
Still, not everything is omitted from these presentations. Some of
the potential contractual changes are reported. So, salt in hand, let’s
look at some of what UFT leadership and staff have told us so far, and think about some possible ways that fine print could matter.
Money: Here is the pitch on money, and the new predicted salary schedules. Yes, as expected, it’s the same bad pattern as DC-37. That matters, because when adjusted for inflation, 3-ish percent annual increases solidify a pay cut. The
‘raises’ are below what workers on average are getting in the U.S. –
and most workers are not unionized. Indeed, our raises pale in
comparison to what was achieved by unions like UTLA, who used their strike-readiness to their advantage and got more than double the wage increases that we’re getting. If we look at the details of how we’ll get the economics of our pattern into our pocket should we accept this deal, we see some further annoyances.
There are ‘bonuses’ that call out as deal sweeteners, but which are
in actual truth carved out of the same pattern. In other words, that
money could just as easily have been a part of our raises. Instead, in
perpetuity, a portion of our income will be in the form of these
bonuses, and therefore will not be pensionable. Let’s be clear – that makes the so-called ‘bonuses’ a giveback.
We won’t get any of this money until September, so despite this
contract being thrown at us at the last possible minute so that we
‘won’t have to wait til after summer,’ we won’t see any money until
Fall, anyways.
Some raises are delayed. For instance, we don’t get the 3% raise for
2023-2024 until January of 2024, meaning we actually get less than a 3%
raise for next school year. That’s somewhat buried in fine print,
making the UFT’s take on the pattern look better than it actually is.
There is nothing mentioned about healthcare here. That’s big,
because the worst giveback in the last contract was our commitment to
finding hundreds of millions of dollars in healthcare savings. That ‘backroom deal’
has led us to Medicare Advantage for retirees (and future retirees) and
a mysterious in service plan for which RFPs sought 10% in savings. What
little we got in raises this year could easily be eaten up by new
member-facing healthcare costs of which we won’t be notified until after
this deal goes through.
There is nothing on joint lobbying for Tier 6
pension reform. Tier 6ers like myself will still be stuck contributing
large percentages of our salary for life, despite getting much fewer
benefits than our peers in Tier 4 and below.
Time: Here is the pitch on time, -- continue reading -
There was a closed to non Ex Bd people meeting last night where there was not contract. The contract committee met at 4. Now there is a contract.
What changed during the night? Probably nothing.
The Passover last 2 days are restored and a day off the day after Easter from reports and some deal on remote learning. 5 years, includes last year. Raises are 3, 3, 3.25, 3.25. A 1k per year bonus.
UFT called an ex bd meeting for 3PM - since so much of the board are UFT staffers, there should be no problem in getting a quorum. DA is to follow. Contract committee meets at 2.
This just popped up with more details:
I'm going to try to meet up with some UFC folks to hand out a leaflet. I'm also going to be pushing the vote on health care petitions. See ya later. I will update this post tonight.
If Mulgrew is serious about class size implementation and
enforcement, he’d support a class size guarantee in our next contract.
The United For Change coalition is calling for one as part of their BIG 5
contract demands. -- Educators of NYC
Sunday, May 21, 2023
United for Change (UFC) is pointing to 5 big must haves in the upcoming contract: Fair pay, Healthcare, Class size, Working conditions, and a host of other issues.
The UFT leadership is anxious to wrap up the contract by hook or crook before the end of the school year - so they can focus on screwing retirees on healthcare when their move to Aetna takes effect on Sept. 1.
But rest assured, changes are coming to working teachers on healthcare AFTER they vote on the contract. Unity is selling the idea we can't negotiate on healthcare but Mulgrew can through the MLC. The UFT constitution calls for a vote on all contracts but Unity has been violating this constantly.
There is another big rally on healthcare at city hall this Wednesday at noon. I will be there.
That is why we need to keep circulating our petition calling for a vote on healthcare.
I will have a follow-up piece on the gaslighting from the faux 500 Unity Caucus dominated negotiating committees (bet on their voting to ratify even if there's dog shit on the contract) and the upcoming "let's call an emergency DA, give people 10 minutes to read the contract and vote, then a big push to threaten the rank and file with dire consequences if they vote no" campaign.
We have already seen Unity attacks and scare tactics about a NO vote. Remember the NO vote in the 1995 contract which originally raised max years from 20 to 25 years, the main reason people voted it down? Sandra Feldman said we must be smoking something if we think we will get something better. Yet we did -- knocked down the max to 22 years, still a loss and a giveback but not as much. Even in the 1975 strike which Shanker lost for us, he still claimed that by striking instead of losing 15k jobs we only lost 13k. Wowser! The OT/PT unit turned down the last UFT contract and won some improvement in the follow-up. So there is a history of winning a better deal by turning down the first one.
In 2005 ICE and TJC (New Action was then aligned with Unity) led a NO vote and almost pulled it off with 40%. That contract still haunts us today as it killed a lot of seniority protections and opened the doors for Bloomberg to closed schools and created the ATR situation with no guaranteed regular jobs. The rank and file were aware and rose up to a great extent but just not enough. If they could have re-voted two years late that contract would have lost.
Now for the last 50-something years until I retired and could not vote, I always voted NO because there was no improvement in class size. The union would not even negotiate it. But the UFT claimed the big lobbying "victory" on a recent law on class size and I was yelling at my colleagues on the negotiating committee to demand class size be included because the contract protects us against fudging with the law and even reversals when there is a budget crunch.
So lo and behold I wasn't surprised to see this from our esteemed mis-leader:
"Meeting
the new class size standards is going to require a real plan -- and so
far, the DOE hasn't managed to create one. This document is missing a
strategy for
implementation and a targeted proposal for where and when new seats
should be built. The state passed the small class size law and increased
funding to New York City public schools to pay for it. We will work
with the state to make sure the New York City Department
of Education fulfills its obligations and complies with this law" -
Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers
Leonie Haimson of Class Size Matters eviscerated the Adams/Banks administration, which opposed the class size law and is working actively to gut it.
On Friday, DOE posted what is purported to be their draft five- year
class size reduction plan, in accordance with the new state law. As I
was quoted in the Daily News, “It’s a big nothing burger. There is no plan. They’re hoping
just to coast on enrollment decline until it’s too late to do anything
real.”
There is nothing in the plan about providing more space
or staffing to lower class size, or capping enrollment at very
overcrowded schools. There is nothing about creating space by using
more creative strategies, e.g. by possibly moving more PreK seats out of
elementary schools to CBOs which have thousands of empty seats. There
is nothing at all about how the benchmarks will be achieved in the out
years, especially given how DOE intends to continue cutting school
budgets and has proposed to slash the capital plan by $2.3 billion and
22,000 seats. In fact, there is not a single mention in the proposed
Feb. amendment to the capital plan, released six months after the
Governor signed the class size bill into law, that even mentions the
mandate to lower class size.
I will keep saying this - Class size has not been lowered in the contract for over 50 years -- codify the state law.
Now the UFT is calling for rallies this week on Thursday and UFC is supporting these rallies even though some of us see them as staged to give the impression that they can influence the contract -- like Adams will be influenced. OK. I'll go along. Some cynics think there is already an agreement and the UFT is staging events and holding off to squeeze the issue into the final two weeks of June to try to circumvent a No vote campaign. I'm shocked, just shocked -- (Yes I watched Casablanca again last night for the 100th time.).
The United for Change coalition (New Action, Retiree Advocate, MORE, Solidarity, ICE, EONYC) began meeting again with the pressure of the new contract and has produced a fabulous leaflet which we handed out at the DA last Wednesday.
While the UFT leaders "sell" the 3% pattern --- I even heard at a recent ex bd meeting the chief negotiator say we need to keep fighting for that pattern since we haven't attained it yet. As a social security recipient I'm getting 8%. It pays to be old. Did you notice the wins of other teacher unions? How about Oakland? Sam Seder interviewsVilma Serrano of the Oakland Education Association (OEA). The contract includes a historic raise for all full-time teachers and stipends for specialty educators and staff.
Daniel Alicea of Educators of NYC has been the architect of the campaign, showing his many talents.
And HS Ex Bd member Nick Bacon has been on the case. Let me point out that two years ago Nick was in Unity and Daniel was looking to work with Unity (both voted for Unity in 2019). These are not the usual oppo suspects (like me). It says something about the waning of internal power and influence of Unity. Daniel and Nick make a dynamic duo.
UFT: Let’s Fight for the Contract We Deserve
With the first tentative agreement likely to be presented within the next few weeks, every last action matters. Reposted from the New Action blog at https://newaction.org
On Wednesday, May 24th, our union will hold what islikely to bethe UFT’s final organizing action for the 2023 contract. Members will assemble at five sites (one in each borough) to rally for a fair agreement. I am hopeful that attendance will be good – not just by staffers, but by regular rank-and-file teachers, paras, and related professionals. And yes, I plan to attend, and have encouraged members of my chapter to attend. I encourage you to attend too.
Sure, I have some reservations about whether the specifics of this event are good enough to get us the contract we deserve. I think it’s a mistake that our union’s leadership is so committed tokeeping working teachers from having the right to strike. I think that their over-reliance on bureaucratic ‘Taylor Law’ tactics underminesthe potency of our organizing. And, I worry that if UFT leadership is relying on the threat ofPERBrather than the culmination of good organizing (i.e. the viable ‘strike’ threat), the City has little reason to react to the limited organizing it does see.
But strike threat or not, the more of us that show up to contract actions, the more of a reason the City has to listen to us. So, I’m showing up. I’m showing up, because, like it or not, this is the official organizing we have. It’s what we’ve put our entire union’s dues, staff efforts, and volunteer work into producing.
Here is a copy and paste for those wanting to share with their staffs.
OUR BIG 5 UFT CONTRACT DEMANDS – OR WE MUST VOTE ‘NO’! We need a truly fair contract that we, our families and school communities can live and thrive on. Anything less - means we must vote ‘NO”! Take the BIG 5 pledge: http://big5.unitedforchange.vote
DEMANDS WHY? 1 FAIR PAY WITH RAISES WE DESERVE AND PAY PARITY - We demand raises for all UFT members that match or outpace the skyrocketing cost of living in the NYC area. Paraprofessionals should be paid a living wage. Occupational therapists and physical therapists, with entry level masters or doctoral requirements, should have pay parity with other educator titles. We should be close to top pay much earlier in our careers. We live in one of the most expensive cities in the world and inflation has hit us hard here. With numbers at 6% and cost of living at 9%, none of us can afford 3 or 3.5% raises. Some of our titles are being hit particularly hard. Paraprofessionals, for instance, form the backbone of our schools. They have some of the most physically demanding jobs, but are not paid a living wage. They deserve pay that reflects the reality of their hard work. There are also some titles that make less than UFT-represented positions with comparable labor/education requirements. Occupational therapists’ and physical therapists’ salaries top out at $81K while other titles with similar degree requirements top out near $120K. They deserve to be fairly compensated for their work. We all do!
2 PREMIUM-FREE, QUALITY HEALTHCARE - We demand that our choice and quality of existing healthcare plans be expanded and improved - not diminished or replaced with inferior options. If significant changes are proposed, they must be fully disclosed to us and put to a vote by members. Voting on such collective bargaining items is our right. (See healthcare referendum petition: http://hcpetition.educators.nyc) Our healthcare, and the healthcare for our families, should not be leveraged in salary negotiations. Healthcare is a mandatory subject of collective bargaining that to our detriment has been greatly diminished, especially in the last 2 contracts - 2014 & 2018. In 2018, the City and Mulgrew agreed to “cost savings" of $600 million dollars every year, in perpetuity. Since then, retirees have been forced into an inferior privatized Medicare Advantage plan. In-service members have seen increases in co-pays, dental, eye and mental health care deteriorate, and our entire plans are about to be changed. This was done without member consent. Changes were not fully disclosed at the time of contract votes. Let us have informed votes on significant changes.
3 SMALLER CLASS SIZE GUARANTEE - We demand that new NYS class size caps for grades K-12 be contractually guaranteed. We need enforceable mechanisms to ensure that the City follows the new law. The newly passed state law that sets lower class size caps must be fully implemented by 2028. However, the City is already balking at implementing the law and not fully funding schools or capital building investments to this end. Also, there are at least four existing loopholes in the law that will result in the lack of enforcement of the new caps. Our existing contractual class size caps are over 50 years old. We have a golden opportunity to codify the new law contractually. Putting the new class size limits into our contract adds needed teeth to a law that otherwise might go unenforced. Give us the ability to grieve oversized classes, so that our students get the small class sizes they deserve.
4 REAL TEACHER AUTONOMY, ALONG WITH REDUCED CASELOADS We demand an end to micromanaged professional periods and unproductive PDs. Teachers are the best judge of how to use our non-teaching time. Let us decide how to use it. The caseloads of IEP teachers, related service and guidance counselors must be contractually capped. Day after day, teachers are pulled to work meaningless C6 assignments that have nothing to do with their instruction. What could be an extra period to plan, assess, and collaborate, becomes yet another moment of meetings and paperwork. Every Monday, this is compounded in long ‘professional development’ periods that take over an hour of our time for meetings no one needs. As a result, teachers end up doing much of their work at home, which eats into their personal and family lives. The same can be said for IEP teachers, counselors, and related service providers, whose uncapped caseloads force them to bring their work home. Give us our time back. Cap caseloads and eliminate unnecessary meetings/C6 assignments.
5 IMPROVEMENTS TO TENURE, EVALUATIONS, PAID FAMILY LEAVE AND TIER 6 PENSIONS - Tenure and pensions are under attack. Evaluations are out of control. Paid family leave is insufficient. The City must agree contractually to lobby the State for reforms and changes. We’ve made agreements like this in the past, and they’ve worked. It’s due time we do so again. The Danielson rubric has been weaponized against us, instead of being supportive. Tenure is being denied for 8 or 9 years, leaving new teachers without due process and forcing them to leave the system. Under Tier 6, teachers will need to be teaching nearly 40 years to retire! We should have 25/55 offered to this tier. Paid family leave for most New Yorkers is 12 weeks. Educators deserve the same. Union leadership has chosen to tell us a half truth when it comes to these issues. We’ve been told that we can’t negotiate these issues because they are linked to state laws and other regulations. Nonetheless, they fail to tell us that we can, indeed, get the City to commit to lobbying the state to make or approve needed changes. In some cases, the City itself can make the changes. We’ve successfully done so in previous contracts.
Watch the interview Sam did with Vilma Serrano, the Oakland Teacher.
In contrast to Chicago and Los Angeles’s teachers unions, New York
City’s United Federation of Teachers (UFT) has partnered with the Adams
administration to move its retirees from Medicare, the only public
health-car option, to a privatized Aetna Medicare Advantage plan. An
amendment at the union’s Delegate Assembly calling for the UFT to lobby
to remove New York State’s ban on public-sector strikes led union
leaders to denounce the move with arguments that ranged from the
obscure to the ridiculous. Recent headlines on an opposition blog
captured the moment: “Why doesn’t UFT leadership want us to have the
right to strike?” Why have teachers unions in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York taken
such divergent paths? What is New York City losing by having a neutered
teachers union that eschews militant grassroots organizing in favor of
insider politicking?--- Norm Scott in The Indypendent
I was asked to write an article for The Indypendent on the differences between the left wing teacher unions in Chicago and Los Angeles compared to the UFT. I didn't have the space to a deeper dive. Fundamental politics is that the left unions line up with the Berrnie Sanders wing of the Dem Party - clearly a minority vs the UFT lining up with the Dem Party center/corporate wing. What better example than the UFT leadership support for privatized Medicare Advantage and undercutting Medicare, the only publicly controlled option for healthcare? I also didn't get into the deeper reasons of a union controlled by one party for 60 years and how that helps distort the opposition forces and their ability to function. Let me also say right out, the opposition over the past 50 years has not been blameless but often tries to shunt off blame on the leadership. As part of that opposition for 5 decades I don't shun an analysis of what has not resonated with enough of the membership to topple Unity. I also didn't get into United for Change future prospects. Are teachers in Chi/LA so different from NYC or is it a combo of leadership (no Unity Caucus in those cities) and oppo failure or are there deeper issues? I will follow up.
On April 4, former Chicago public-school teacher and Chicago Teacher
Union (CTU) organizer Brandon Johnson was elected mayor of Chicago. His
opponent was Paul Vallas, former CEO of the Chicago school system and an
adamant foe of the CTU who staked out tough-on-crime positions that
were expected to give him a clear path to victory. The long and tangled
history between Vallas and the CTU made this victory especially sweet.
Vallas was the favorite of The Chicago Tribune, pro-charter
school billionaires, the police union, Republicans in general and
corporate Democrats, including the Obama wing of the party.
The rise of the leftist Caucus of Rank and File Educators (CORE),
founded in 2008 and taking power in the CTU in 2010, galvanized the
nation’s labor movement with a 2012 strike that embarrassed Chicago
Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the Obama administration shortly before the 2012
presidential election. To pull off the strike, the CTU hired organizers,
including Brandon Johnson, to spread its message. Street actions,
including demonstrations at banks, were part of the strategy. The
union’s power and influence in Chicago have only grown.
I'd also recommend reading the review I co-wrote of the Shanker bio which gets into some of the issues.
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
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
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.
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.
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.
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……