ScabCalling: UFT District 25 Rep Lamar Hughes Accuses Me of Crossing Picket Lines 1968 UFT Strike - Why He's Wrong? Why did he even raise a 53 year old issue?

Unity is clearly shaken by our alliance of opposition groups. Check out the District Rep for District 25 making up a story online and on Facebook wrongfully charging longtime dissident leader Norm Scott with being a scab. ...If a Unity District Rep who is an employee of the UFT is making up nonsense about opposition leaders right after United for Change just announced a joint slate, you know they will do and say anything to keep their power, their jobs that pay close to and over $200,000 per year, and their double pensions. It's not about supporting members; it's about their perks. The lies will probably get worse as election season gets closer...  ICEUFT Blog

Sorry about the bullshit that some UFT reps spout out. They are an embarrassment to many in the UFT.... Unity Caucus member

Word is out that after the Oct. DA announcement of opposition groups working together and the announcement of United for Change at before the Nov. 17 DA, Unity held high powered pow wows and went into DEFCON mode, ordering all its highly paid officials to head out to the schools to defend their failed policies, something the opposition is praying for since most of these people don't have any real answers to the rot pervading the 60 year Unity Caucus. 

There are even whispers that some Unity people are very unhappy with Mulgrew and would welcome someone else to run for President in this year's election. My guess is they are just whispers from a few, though we do hear some Unity retirees are not very happy over the healthcare mess Mulgrew has made.

But Unity trolls and hacks were also turned loose to attack voices of opposition. Thus, 

Lamar Hughes has left a new comment on your post "DA UPDATE: Class Size Amendment Passes Over Unity Oppo, Mulgrew ballistic over retirees listening outside, UFT/Unity Staffers on payroll challenged":

‪Report seemed a little childish. Just tell the story. Keep the snide comments to yourself.

You don’t hear anyone coming up with nicknames for Norm after he crossed the picket line in 1968.‬

‪Oh, y’all didn’t know??? Norm Scott crossed the picket line in 1968.‬

Hmmm. A highly paid union employee, District 25 (Queens) Lamar Hughes, someone I've never met and wouldn't know if I fell over him.

It's not easy to get into other people's heads and examining what goes on in the brains of highly paid UFT officials is like untangling dried out spaghetti. Apparently Lamar was offended by my mocking his fellow high paid district 7 rep colleague Bill Woodruff for his increasingly boorish behavior when I referred to him as "Ruff Ruff". 

[When Ruff Ruff goes into schools in his district, some light barking will be appropriate. Or when he speaks at DA, some ruff ruffs from delegates to cheer him on.]

Poor Lamar Hughes - he called me a - SCAB - except it's entirely untrue, but nothing new for Unity Caucus hacks who always assumed everyone opposed to Unity Caucus in the late 60s crossed the 1968 picket lines.  

As I wrote yesterday, UFT/Unity in DEFCON Mode and no holds barred. Word is they are doing desperate oppo research to dig up some dirt on Educators of NYC organizer Daniel Alicea who has become a prominent voice in the opposition despite having voted for Unity in 2019 --- Unity has to be worried that he is not the only defector.

The problem for Lamar and the truth is that I was not an activist until late 1970 when I began to hang out with some people who did cross the line and even opened up closed schools during the 68 strike -- guilt by association, I guess.  

My worst transgression in the 68 strike was still living with mommy and daddy and not really needing the 98 bucks a week take home pay. Not did I have any political ideology to make me go in to teach as a second year ATR assigned to the same school the principal let me go from just a few months before. I was actually overjoyed there was a strike so I could spend some time on the picket line before were told to go home around 11 because there were no teachers going in. I don't even remember kids going in - I think the principal closed down the school as being unsafe - the 68 strike was also a hidden strike by supervisors, who were the  most threatened by community control. 

I stopped going pretty soon and then a colleague asked me to teach middle school with her at a church for 3 hours a day at 20 bucks a day -- two more than I was taking home from the DOE. I think that gig ended after a few weeks. Then it was back to basketball and golf. So when the strike ended - crap - back to hell - and a longer day too and working xmas vacation at double pay - except I had booked a trip to Florida I couldn't cancel. At that point I intended to complete my two year commitment to teaching by June 1969 and go back to grad school. But fate intervened - in February 1969 I volunteered to take over a class vacated by the only teacher who had actually taught during the strike (he was sent to another school) and fell in love with the kids - it was like a lifetime flu.

I recognized the Lamar Hughes attack from the 70s when Unity hacks often attacked oppo people as scabs. I was at the AFT 1975 (pre-75 strike) convention with two buddies who had crossed the line in 68 handing out The Case Against Shanker when I was called a scab by a top union official and yelled back that I had never crossed a UFT picket line - she actually stopped in surprise and we had a chat. So I'm imagining that there is still a culture in Unity about oppo people having crossed the lines.

Camille Eterno claims every conversation I have begins with a noun, verb, followed by a discussion of the '68 strike. So thanks Lamar, for giving me a chance to bring up  my favorite subject.

In the early 70s I began to learn about their reasons for crossing the line and many of them made sense. But I always argued that even if you opposed the strike, it might have been more fruitful over time to honor the strike while fighting against the people in the Unity leadership who perpetrated the strike. And over the years I further learned that there were some muddy waters on both sides, with anti-union forces pushing their version of community control which had to weaken the UFT in its very concept.

I've been in study groups on UFT history discussing the 68 strike and when I debated Leo Casey on the Leonie Haimson/Daniel Alicea hosted WBAI Talk Out of School, we did touch on the 68 strike. (Norm Scott and Shanker Inst Head Leo Casey - Insid...)

Fact is the 68 strike does not fit into the normal category of strikes - like the other two I participated in 67 and 75. Most UFTers are not informed about the complexities, the preface and the after effects. The UFT claims it was about illegal firings - which were actually illegal transfers and seniority issues. What is the usual response of a union? Grievances, courts, etc, not a 3 month strike. Even Randi wouldn't defend the strike, especially when she killed seniority and created the ATRs. 

There are so many more violations going on today, but we don't hear the Lamar Hughes types in Unity calling for a strike, but offering instead a whimper.

My pals at ICEUFT and DOENUTS defended me.

http://iceuftblog.blogspot.com/2021/11/united-for-change-in-chief-unity.html

UNITED FOR CHANGE IN THE CHIEF; UNITY DISTRICT REP REACTS BY LYING ABOUT OPPOSITION LEADER

NYCDOENUTS

 http://nycdoenuts.blogspot.com/2021/11/verbal-attacks-by-paid-union-employees.html

Verbal Attacks By Paid Union Employees Must Stop -Now

Unity is clearly shaken by our alliance of opposition groups. Check out the District Rep for District 25 making up a story online and on Facebook wrongfully charging longtime dissident leader Norm Scott with being a scab. 

If a Unity District Rep who is an employee of the UFT is making up nonsense about opposition leaders right after United for Change just announced a joint slate, you know they will do and say anything to keep their power, their jobs that pay close to and over $200,000 per year, and their double pensions. It's not about supporting members; it's about their perks. The lies will probably get worse as election season gets closer.

Telling Comment on How UFT District Reps Favor Principal Friends Over Membership

In the world of totalitarian Unity Caucus even one voice of dissent is worrisome and they put lots of energy into deflecting and marginalizing these voices.

Are UFT/Unity Caucus non-elected District Reps the most insidious people in the UFT hierarchy? This comment was posted by Anonymous on your post "Commentary: Suppressing Democracy at the UFT:

All part of the story of our lazy stupid apathetic membership. We have a very decent CL, Unity affiliated, but asking a lot of questions. It is so pitiful to watch the District Rep come into the building and toss the CL under a truck, even right in front of members. The UFT leadership is trying to push the CL out with taunts and challenges from the friend of a highly placed UFT official. Said UFT friend, is a handsomely paid ($15,000 to 20,000 a year) shill for a principal who buys loyalty with DOE cash. When it came time to pick SLT people, our stupid beyond belief staff voted for this person. You can tell someone not to step off he curb in front of a speeding car, but when they deliberately choose to ignore you, they sort of deserve what they get.

There are so many bad stories about UFT District Reps. These are the key middle management people who ride herd on the chapter leaders in their district to keep the membership in line and undermine any opposition roilings in the schools. They are the key components of the Unity machine. Before 2002 they were elected by the chapter leaders in the district. Unity managed to control this process well enough as to have all DRs in the caucus - until the Manhattan HS teachers revolted in 1990 and elected long-time Chapter Leader Bruce Markens, who was re-elected time after time until he retired in 2000. Bruce was like a giant burr in Randi's paw and as soon as she could she eliminated the possibility this would ever happen again.

DRs hold meetings every month with the district CLs who are mostly cowed into pushing the leadership agenda. Even opposition people seem to avoid confrontation at these meetings. Now some DRs are more skilled than others at keeping order - they tell opposition people one thing while slashing at them behind their backs. In the world of totalitarian Unity even one voice of dissent is worrisome and they put lots of energy into deflecting and marginalizing these voices.

If you are a CL don't take it any more. Don't let them totally establish the agenda. Make them deal with issues in your school that are not addressed. Don't assume all the other CLs in the room who are quiet are happy. Reach out to them and see if you can establish alliances. Even set up an alternate district meeting of even a few where you can address issues of concern.

UFT/Unity District Rep Spills Beans to Chapter Leaders: Just Shut Up and Shove Our Policies Down Their Throats

My monthly Chapter Leader meetings are for me to give you important information....It is not the place nor the time to get on a soap box and speak about what you want to speak about.  The information that I present ..is information passed down from our leadership to you so that you can act as the conduit of information to the membership in your school. We present the information, not to be filtered by you or to be changed in any way, it is to be presented to your members as you have heard it from me or any of the leadership in this union.... UFT District Rep in letter to Chapter Leaders in district

Apparently there's no interest in the passing of information from the rank and file  slaving away in classrooms. I have sad news for the people running out union. Chapter leaders do not work for them or in their interests (unless they are Unity Caucus.) They actually are supposed to work for the people in their school who elected them. The hierarchy in the UFT doesn't see it that way, especially since Randi killed district rep elections in 2002. I know the old pre-2002 system elected Unity people too but they were at least subject to some accountability to the chapter leaders in their district and could not be so cavalier in their attitudes.

As many signs are leading to the UFT caving in on the evaluation issue (they want to make E4E happy, don't they?) by Jan. 17 -- it is just not in their DNA to resist I guess --- and the postponement of the UFT elections may be for the purpose of giving them time to work the members over --- but I'll leave this for a follow-up ---the revealing letter from a Unity District Rep to the chapter leaders that has been circulating has received a bunch of comments from various bloggers. James Eterno published it on the ICE blog and NYC Educator wrote a scathing piece (UFT Democracy), though I was surprised he was surprised that the union has this view of chapter leaders as their servants.

It was a chapter leader associated with ICE who last week challenged his district rep to deal with the issues of concern to the membership instead of force feeding the Unity Caucus agenda on ed evals by treating chapter leaders elected by the schools and functional chapters as union employees required to push union policy down the throats of the people they supposedly represent. The chapter leader sent out this:

At the dist monthly chapter leaders meeting our dist rep did his unity/scum caucus duty by elucidating as to the wonders that Mulgrew and company were accomplishing vis-a-vis the new teacher termination(evaluation scheme). When I and 2 other chapter leaders began to raise questions and to attempt to shift the discussion away from unity spin and closer to reality he became upset. After all how dare we question and deviate from the script???

The e-mail from the DR was send out later that day. A former CL echoed this sentiment:

This is what surprised me most when I became a chapter leader. I had thought the district chapter leader meetings would be a place for chapter leaders to discuss what was happening in their schools and how we could and should respond. NO, NO, NO.....there was a list of items to TELL us. Any discussion was quickly snuffed out. I was often yelled at by my DR...."whose meeting is this", he would yell at me! Unfortunately the other chapter leaders would support him, but over time they often came to me after the meeting to find out more information since he did not give any background to what he said.

The leadership has rarely, if ever, evidenced concern for what the members really think -- see MORE's report of the Dec. DA, Unity Votes Against Democracy, where they voted NOT to allow the members to vote on an evaluation deal that will change the contract in terms of the way teachers are rated, a violation of the UFT constitution.

This line below has to be the funniest line in the Dist Rep's letter. As if the Unity Caucus which the DR belongs too is not one and the same as the union leadership.

I do support my union and the leadership of this union, however, I do not preach where I stand in terms of the caucus that I belong to or don’t belong to, I do not bad mouth the leadership even if I don’t agree with what is being done.

Given that Unity Caucus chapter leaders have agreed to pushing the union line down the throats of the teachers in their schools -- the very people that elected them ---- since the advent of the caucus 50 years ago, the UFT is not trying to Unityize the rest of the chapter leaders by claiming it is their responsibility to enforce union policy.

If Unity could get away with it they would appoint the chapter leaders like they appoint the district reps. I mean, what a drag to have to recruit a new batch into Unity every time there's an election for CLs. Here is another gem from the Dist Rep's letter.

I support them because they are the leadership of this union and trust that they have the best interest of our members in the forefront of every decision that is made.

How has that trust worked out for the teachers in NYC over the last decade and a half? What he really means is:

I trust the union leadership because they got me this great gig as a district rep where I teach one period a day, earn a 6 figure salary and get a double pension.

Here is the MORE response followed by the letter itself.

Unity Doesn’t Want to Hear from You

9 Jan

An incredible letter is making its rounds. It was an email written by a District Representative of the United Federation of Teachers to the Chapter Leaders in his district. The email is posted on the ICE-UFT blog:

This letter crystallizes very clearly and honestly the leadership philosophy practiced by the Unity caucus. We are being led by a group who believe our union is a top-down affair. This is what corporate unionism looks like.

The final sentence of the letter says “I support them (our union leaders) because they are the leadership of this union and trust that they have the best interest of our members in the forefront of every decision that is made.” MORE believes that our union needs to put the mechanisms in place to ensure that our union leaders have “our members in the forefront of every decision that is made.”

Unfortunately, when our union leadership describes the job of a chapter leader to be “the defender of our contract and to represent, support and guide our members, but also to pass down the information given as was presented to you”, then it is obvious that we are a long way from having the tools as union members to hold our leaders accountable.

Not only do chapter leaders have to faithfully pass down all information from Unity to the members, they cannot “speak about what you want to speak about” at the monthly district meetings with their District Leaders. That means there is absolutely no way to meet with our DLs as a district to highlight common problems and ensure they take steps to address them. Combine this with the fact that members no longer can vote for their District Leaders, since they are now appointed by Unity, and you can see that our union leadership, from District Leaders on up, are totally insulated from the will of the membership.

All we have is faith that Unity is working on our behalf. They represent us in name only, since there is no way for us as members to ensure that their priorities are our priorities.

The first step is allowing membership to elect their District Leaders again. When that happens, district meetings will no longer be a one-way transmission of information and orders from the top-down. Chapters will be allowed and even encouraged to bring up the issues that matter to them so our leaders can act upon them.
But district meetings are not the only places priorities are set. The main forum for this is the monthly Delegate Assembly. As of now, Unity keeps a tight rein on the parliamentary workings of the DA. Everyone knows how Unity wants members to vote and they usually get their way. Some District Leaders have gone as far as to pressure all of their chapter leaders to sit with them at the DA as a way to monitor which way they vote.

MORE believes that any organized UFT meeting should be open and democratic with chapter leaders, delegates, and all members given the opportunity to raise issues of their constituents’ concerns.

Join our chapter leader e-mail list by request at more@morecaucusnyc.org

 --------- Full letter below

UFT Committee on District Reps Meets Under Cone of Silence

Why would we expect anything different from the UFT. Look at the make-up of the committee - mostly UFT employees. The lone voices of the opposition are ICE's James Eterno (who has supported the election of DR's by chapter leaders) and ACT's Joe Mudgett (who supports the election of DR's by the members in the districts, which is where I stand). But their voices have been muzzled. There will probably be some compromise floated that will try to get them to sign on and then Unity can say how democracy is in force. Since it all is taking place behind closed doors, they will not be able to float proposals for public comment and we won't know or have any input into the process. Is this a way to conduct business? Should the opposition be part of this for fear of being accused by Unity of not taking part in the "democratic" process?

Some democratic process. I have been in a distinct minority in ICE in my position that we should not waste our time on these bogus UFT committees. Better to use the time to organize people. Want to force change in the way district reps are elected? Organize a mass petition campaign. If people in the schools don't give a shit then don't waste your time on committees. If they do give a shit, then Unity will be forced to take notice. But by any means do not get involved in the process under a cone of silence.

I say, "who cares what they say?" No one is listening out there as proven by the almost 80% of the people who did not vote in the election. I view Unity the way Weingarten views the people at Tweed: assholes who can't be trusted. Does the opposition play the same game as Weingarten who wants a seat at Tweed's table so desperately by hungering for the same thing- a seat at Unity's table?

The time for engaging in the "democratic process" of the UFT is coming to an end from my point of view. 8 members of the Ex Bd are from New Action with 9% of the vote of working teachers and 0 members of the Ex Bd come from ICE/TJC with 20% of the vote. What better illustrates the point? Read my account of the last DA. Weingarten has so subverted the process at the DA where even the "New Motion" period, the lone opportunity to take an action, has been played around with so as to make it practically unusable. In all the years of Shanker and Feldman this was one thing they never touched. But then again they weren't' afraid that something might come up they couldn't deal with. Unlike Weingarten who must control every aspect. Look how she came apart when Nick Licari (see my account in the April 26 post) started heckling her at the last DA? What Nick did should be more of a model for action. Let them vilify the opposition. No one is listening. And if they were, I bet a lot of rank and file teachers would be very happy to see some action being taken other than the same old thing.

Posted on the UTP blog:

Say It Ain't So, Joe!

The following has been lifted from Top Secret UFT files and memos, as well as the ACT site.

District Representative Selection Process Committee Convenes

The Committee to investigate the selection process for District Representatives, established by resolution of the Delegate Assembly on November 8, 2006, met for the first time on March 26, 2007. Considering that it took four months to convene the initial meeting, I don't expect any quick resolution to this important issue. Nonetheless, I will attempt the Herculean task of convincing my fellow committee members that a completely transparent democratic process, where members directly elect their representatives, is in the best interests of the union.

Why Herculean? Consider the makeup of the committee: chaired by President Weingarten (who has been appointing district reps since 2003), members include Secretary/Chief of Staff, Mike Mendel, Senior Assistant to the President, Jeff Zahler, a half dozen district reps, at least one borough representative, one or two other UFT officials, a gentleman from New Action, James Eterno from ICE, and myself, representing the Alliance of Concerned Teachers and the viewpoint of the Unified Teachers Party.

Much as I would like to share the details of the deliberations with my readers, I cannot, since all committee members were asked to keep the proceedings in strictest confidence. But rest assured I will publish a complete report once the committee has completed its mission and the cone of silence is lifted.


2 Comments -

Anonymous said...

Gee, sounds like you and James are a bit outnumbered. Want to bet the results have already been decided?
4/25/2007 7:13 PM

NYC Educator said...

How is it working under that cone of silence? I've heard talk it's defective.

UFT District Rep "Election" Committee

Joe Mudgett from ACT has posted a report on the UTP blog regarding the District rep election committee. Guess who's chairing? Why Randi of course. Why would she trust the idgits surrounding her to be able to do anything without her? And of course there's the Unity Caucus head and red-baiter himself, Jeff Zahler. Better not tell him you are on the board of the NAACP, Joe. Take a look at the rest of the members, a typical UFT Committee stacked with people on the UFT payroll. Want to bet it's all been decided already and this is just a show? I would put my money on some bogus plan that has the appearance of democracy. Poor James and Joe.

Unity Caucus members of the committee on the way to the meeting.

Joe wrote:
"Consider the makeup of the committee: chaired by President Weingarten (who has been appointing district reps since 2003), members include Secretary/Chief of Staff, Mike Mendel, Senior Assistant to the President, Jeff Zahler, a half dozen district reps, at least one borough representative, one or two other UFT officials, a gentleman from New Action, James Eterno from ICE, and myself, representing the Alliance of Concerned Teachers and the viewpoint of the Unified Teachers Party."