What’s So Funny About Peace, Love, and Democracy at the UFT Delegate Assembly?

Whoever controls the agenda, controls the debate... old adage

I was there it was awful so much bullying and yelling from unity they look so weak.. Comment on ICE blog

The suppression of UFC Candidate Camille Eterno by Unity Caucus led Michael Mulgrew at the February 2022 UFT Delegate Assembly and the subsequent

distortions by Unity Caucus hacks on social media has resulted in some deep dives.

Unity seemed to think they had a slam dunk, but the event has sparked a lot of analysis of how the DA is run and how it should be run. 

Camille speaks up for herself on the UFC site:

• A Statement on the UFT Delegate Assembly from Camille Eterno, UFC Candidate for UFT President

Cl Nick Bacon, elected with Unity in 2019 but now running for UFC HS Ex Bd gets 2 whacks with his article at  New Action – UFT

• Unpacking the February DA - The February DA was a farce, but not for the reasons our leadership would have you think. United for change has a problem: we haven’t been called on durin... and a podcast: Ep 29: What REALLY Happened at the February DA, feat. Nick Bacon. (Check out other great episodes:   Professional Development: The New York City Teacher Podcast)

 James posts on ICE blog: 

• CAMILLE CALLS FOR EQUAL TIME FOR OPPOSITION AT DA BUT IS REBUFFED BY BULLYING ONE SIDED DEBATE

I posted:

• UNITY Caucus Modus Operandi: Oppose debates and Attack Female Pres Opponents, Moms Camille Eterno and Julie Cavanagh on DA Attendance   

A Major analysis of the DA

But today the star of the show is a deep dive on the DA by a very knowledgeable UFT member with a deep understanding with a magus opus on the DA -- which I was going to write, so thank goodness I was spared -- though I still may torture readers with a follow-up.

It appears on the UFC blog: https://unitedforchange.vote/whatsofunny/  and I'm reprinting it in full.

What’s So Funny About Peace, Love, and Democracy at the UFT Delegate Assembly?

Experienced Chapter Leader February 23, 2022 News

“The Delegate Assembly shall have the power to legislate all matters except those pertaining to the admission, suspension or expulsion of members of this organization.” UFT Constitution – Article VII, Section 6

It is a favorite bon mot of UFT President Michael Mulgrew that the Delegate Assembly is the highest decision-making body in the United Federation of Teachers. Unfortunately, there is very little truth to that phrase. There is also a popular bon mot among followers of politics in general, that whoever controls the agenda, controls the debate. That is true in the Congress of the United States, and it is true in the United Federation of Teachers. Form your own opinion as to which one is more dysfunctional.

On paper, the Delegate Assembly of the UFT is a body of elected union representatives that meets monthly during the school year to consider and debate resolutions on union policy. But in practice, there is little real debate at UFT Delegate Assemblies. Rather, the Assembly is structured to function as a rubber-stamp for policies that are pre-determined by a small group of union officers from the ruling faction of the UFT. That faction, since the inception of the union sixty years ago, is the Unity caucus. Union officers from that faction, along with a few un-elected appointees and a coterie of paid political consultants, are the people who control the agenda, control the debate, and determine the policies and positions of the 180,000 member UFT.

How is this control exerted? Look at the agenda of the Delegate Assembly and you will see that each meeting is divided into five sections: The President’s Report; Report from the Secretary; the question period; the motion period, and the resolution period. Each DA is scheduled to meet for one hour and forty-five minutes. The first two sections are open ended. They may go on for as long as the President and the Secretary care to speak. (And the President cares to speak quite a bit.) The question period is limited to fifteen minutes, and the motion period is limited to ten minutes. The resolution period is not time-limited but its length is necessarily determined by the length of the open-ended periods that precede it.

The President’s Report

Here’s how it works. The President will make his report. Typically, he will go down a list of current issues that he deems relevant to the union on the Federal, State, and local levels. He may also use this time to make personal acknowledgements, invite guest speakers to the podium, and generally blow some wind. This is where the manipulation of time begins to come into play. If there are hot-button issues that the President wants to avoid – as there often are, particularly in a union election year – he will limit the amount of time that an out-of-favor faction can be heard by dragging his report on, and on. And on. He has been known to filibuster for over an hour. This will limit the resolution period at the end of the meeting, so that only items that were placed at the top of the agenda by the President’s faction will get the chance to come up for debate.

Report from the Secretary

The Secretary’s report is usually very brief. It consists of notices of union events, acknowledgements of dedicated service by union members, and moments of silence for the deceased – that sort of thing.

The Question Period

Then comes the question period. It is limited to fifteen minutes, and this is where things can get a little tricky for the Prez. Union delegates have lots of questions. Some are about narrow, school-specific issues, and some are about general policy. Some questions are easy, and some are hard, but each question is, for the most part, of deep concern to the individual delegate that is asking it. The President wants to show that he is respectful of the delegates and desperately wants to get through this 15-minute period without facing any uncomfortable questions that will cause him to become unnerved. He wants to avoid any questions that will force him to justify union positions that are unpopular with the membership. He wants to prevent the opposition from asking something difficult that might embarrass him or give them political purchase in an election year. And so, he will employ an imperfectly choreographed dance in which the speaker’s microphone will only be handed to the askers of safe, softball questions. The Delegate Assembly is like a small town. There are a lot of people there, but everyone knows each other on some level. The President has a good idea of who is who and knows which questioners to skip over to avoid controversy and embarrassment. Members of his own faction – with softball questions in hand – will be sprinkled throughout the hall, so he’ll have friendly faces to call on if a buffer is needed. It’s not a perfect system. He doesn’t know everybody, and he does make the occasional mistake, but he’s usually able to slide through without much damage. He does from time to time feel obligated to call on an opposition-identified delegate to display a minimum show of democratic propriety, but he is an experienced enough politician to be able to answer most questions with a meaningless word salad, and he knows how to pivot before a follow-up is asked. If something does slip through that gives him real discomfort, he may get pissy and chastise the questioner, which doesn’t look pretty, but that’s who he is. Sometimes he will come very close to a meltdown, which is entertaining to some, but which leaves most delegates feeling embarrassed and a little dirty. But time is on the President’s side. Fifteen minutes ain’t that long of a time, and the end of the question period is always right around the corner, offering the President a safe harbor from the gales of debate.

The Motion Period

The motion period is strictly limited to ten minutes. This is the only time when individual delegates may introduce motions to add items to the agenda – items that weren’t pre-approved by the Executive Board in advance of the Assembly. Because the time for motions is so limited it is easily manipulated by the chair. As in the question period, the Chair will use its parliamentary discretion to call on familiar, pre-seeded members of its own faction to introduce safe, time-killing motions. Typically, and by design, these motions will be for the addition to the agenda of uncontroversial, non-policy affecting resolutions. These motions will most often be proclamatory in nature. They will ask for union strong resolve in support of things like saving abandoned puppies, or in acknowledgment of the sporty haircut and jaunty gait of one of the founders of the union. These motions are intentionally designed to face little opposition in debate and to use up a lot of time, as they must be introduced, spoken For and Against, and then placed to a vote. Two of these creampuffs will easily eat up the entire motion period, which will then close without any members of the out-of-favor factions having been able to introduce any motions whatsoever; motions which typically are on the more controversial side of things and may (shockingly!) involve substantive policy issues that the ruling faction would rather not discuss.

Robert’s Rules

You can probably see how this agenda structure, this time manipulation strategy, can be frustrating to those delegates whose voices are not in favor with the ruling faction. To make a political point, or a policy point, or any point at all, opposition delegates may feel compelled to pause the proceedings with a parliamentary inquiry. The Chair is usually not well prepared for these. Adherence to Robert’s Rules of Order is not the strong suit of the ruling faction and is a real annoyance to them, particularly when they are caught being wrong in the implementation of those rules. But it doesn’t really matter because a stock response is always at hand. The Chair will simply rule any inconvenient parliamentary inquiry out of order. And if the inquirer feels slighted and puts up any kind of a fuss, that is to the advantage of the Chair, who will then claim the right to deduct that fussy time from the allotted times for inquiry and debate. (It’s what we in the trade call a lose-lose.)

Running Out the Clock

Here I’m going to digress for a moment to illustrate a point regarding the absurdity of the time manipulation strategy employed at Delegate Assemblies. It happened earlier this school year, last December, that the President’s report grew so long with his filibustering effort to run out the clock and prevent the opposition from speaking, that the adjournment deadline of 6:00pm arrived just as the resolution period started, thus triggering the automatic end of the Assembly, and forcing the delegates to sulk from the union hall without conducting any union business at all! This was especially absurd given the Unity faction’s current election-year campaign slogan that they “do the work.” (Which is true if the work is preventing union voices from being heard, and union work from being done.) The saving grace to the thudding end of the December DA was that the important union work that wasn’t accomplished that night was the passing of resolutions in support of haircuts and puppies (none of whom, fortunately, were hurt in the making of this farce).

Amendments

There is one other way that delegates have an opportunity to engage in what passes for debate at Delegate Assemblies, and that is by the introduction of amendments. Any delegate may make a motion to amend a resolution that comes to the floor by either striking, adding, or changing some of the language in the resolution. There is very little that the chair can do to prevent an amendment from being moved. Once moved, an amendment must be debated and voted on to determine if it becomes part of the resolution in question. If an amendment comes from a delegate of an opposition caucus, the chair will be annoyed. Debate will be quick. The Chair will call on one speaker For and one speaker Against the amendment. (Or maybe two, three, or four speakers For, or maybe two, three, or four speakers Against, depending on how emphatically the Chair wants the vote to go a particular way.) One of those speakers will invariably be an officer of the union, and whichever side they speak to, For or Against, will serve as a signal to the ruling faction’s members to vote in step with the faction’s desires. This Orwellian process, by the way, is adhered to in all votes that come before the body.

Covid Rules

This year has been a little difficult for the Unity caucus. Because of temporary Covid rules adapted early on, most delegates are participating remotely in this year’s hybrid Delegate Assembly. By doing so, their votes take place anonymously, outside of the watchful eye of District Reps and union officers. Therefore, members of the Unity caucus are freer to vote their conscience than they would ordinarily be inside Shanker Hall. If they were to be seen, under the unflattering glare of the union hall’s fluorescent lights, to be voting against the tacit or expressed wishes of their faction, they would be liable to expulsion from their caucus, and thus implicitly ineligible for all the perks, large and small, that come with card-carrying membership in that tightly wrapped club. (These perks include part and full-time union jobs, paid junkets to labor conventions, weekend trainings at semi-posh hotels, and lots and lots of free food.) This new-found, hybrid anonymity has caused an historically great – though still very small in absolute terms – number of motions to succeed against the wishes of the Unity faction. When Unity members have a chance to vote their conscience unobserved by their handlers, they will vote their conscience (and keep their food). That is why the time manipulation exploits at this year’s Delegate Assemblies – which have always been a feature of the monthly meetings – have risen to such absurdly acrobatic and anti-democratic extremes.

The Resolution Period

The final block of time on the DA agenda is the resolution period. The resolution period is for the deliberation of resolutions which have been successfully moved for debate. The resolution docket is pre-populated with items that have been pre-approved by the UFT Executive Board and added to the agenda in an order determined by… no one really knows. Maybe by a sub-set of the Executive Board, maybe by an administrative employee on the 14th floor, or maybe by a random officer of the union in consultation with a Magic 8 Ball™. No one really knows. But since the order of business is determined by the ruling faction, the few resolutions that the out-of-power factions can sneak through are simply placed at the very bottom of the docket where they languish unheard and undebated for month, after month, after month. Nice system, right?

That’s how Delegate Assemblies go, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Why shouldn’t more debate, more points of view, more small “d” democracy be welcomed within the UFT? It can be achieved without election or insurrection. Simply change the structure of the DA agenda and more union democracy will follow.

Time for a Change

First, time-limit the President’s Report, or move it to the last item on the agenda, or both. A half-hour should be more than enough for oral presentation. No one would miss anything. Email the long version of the report to the delegates or hand out printed versions in the union hall. While you’re at it, just email the entire report to every rank-and-file member of the union. Why shouldn’t we all see it? It will be printed in the official minutes anyway. Then you could schedule five minutes for the Secretary’s report, twenty minutes for questions, twenty-five minutes for motions, and twenty-five minutes for resolutions. Even better, simply extend the meeting to 6:15pm and make the Assembly two hours in duration (as it once was) and use the extra fifteen minutes for special presentations or more debate. I don’t think two hours a month would kill anybody, but it would certainly allow for more debate and democracy. Also, there should be a transparent, rational, and open process for adding items to the agenda. It shouldn’t be a mysterious process and tool of single-faction control. Who knows? Maybe a resolution to restructure the DA agenda in just such a way is in the works. Maybe it will come from one of the alternative caucuses, or from an independent delegate, or from the United for Change coalition that is running against the Unity caucus in the upcoming UFT election. Ideally, for the sake of the union, such a resolution would be put forward by Unity. That would be the right thing to do, because if someone else tries to do it, it will never see the light of day. Then it will take an election or an insurrection to bring more democracy to the UFT. I’m not in favor of insurrections, nor is the UFC, but I know how to vote, and when I get my ballot in the mail this April, I will check the slate box for United for Change and know that I did the right thing for both Union and democracy.

• A Statement on the UFT Delegate Assembly from Camille Eterno, UFC Candidate for UFT President

UNITY Caucus Modus Operandi: Oppose debates and Attack Female Pres Opponents, Moms Camille Eterno and Julie Cavanagh on DA Attendance

What Really Happened at the February '22 DA with Nick Bacon, UFC Candidate for HS Ex Bd  - superb and not to be missed.

https://www.spreaker.com/user/14957478/ep-29-what-really-happened-at-the-februa

...to expect a young mother to teach a full day, tend to her infant child, and travel to meetings without fail is ridiculous at best, and misogynist at worst.... Arthur Goldstein, NYC Educator, March 24, 2013- Should Working Mothers With Sick Babies Attend the DA?

Julie Cavanagh --- I certainly do not need to defend my attendance at Delegate Assemblies. While I do attend, often, DAs are not a democratic forum. As I am sure the commenters on the ICE and MORE blogs know, and as all Unity folks know, for most chapter leaders, the first DA in October is their last. Why? Because, the room is not even large enough for all of the CLs and delegates to be seated and when you do go and sit, you listen to Mulgrew practice his stand up routine for an hour or so, after which you *might* have the chance to ask a question or bring a resolution to the floor if Mulgrew recognizes you. Regardless, it is an effort in futility because it really doesn’t matter what you say, ask or bring to the floor; the ruling Unity caucus will disagree with it or vote it down, since they control the DA. If the UFT leadership actually held Delegate Assemblies each month that were informative and provided fair and ample time for discourse and discussion, I would be there in a New York minute....

instead of relaxing while my baby takes a nap, I am writing this in response to comments on the ICE and MORE blogs attacking my commitment as a unionist and chapter leader and questioning my worthiness as a candidate for UFT President. All of this because I, and the caucus I represent, had the nerve to insist that Michael Mulgrew engage in a forum or debate with me 

UFT Presidential candidate Julie Cavanagh, March 2013

February 21, 2022

The recent attacks at the Feb. DA by Unity hacks, led by the wailing of Leroy Barr and the bullying of Mike Sill, assaulting UFC Presidential Candidate Camille Eterno over her DA attendance record reminded us that they did the same to brand new mom Julie Cavanagh when she ran against Mulgrew in 2013. Of course Camille, due to Unity acceptence of fundamental ed deform that led to closing schools based in UFT supported high stakes testing, the end of seniority and the creation of the ATR pool, has had to shift over the past years from school to school, so attending the DA until recently was not an option, especially during the pandemic. Plus the fact that Camille's credentials were not sent in time for any of the DAs this year so she could attend in person.

Perhaps seeing the UFT under Mulgrew and Unity is a locked box, Julie went another route and became a supervisor. She is now one of the most respected (by teachers and other UFT members) principals in the city. Last week I met a teacher at her school who told me she felt blessed to find herself working for Julie.

They are not even creative enough to come up with something new. While you'll get a dry partial story on some reports from the DA you will get the full story by Nick Bacon, who was actually elected running on the Unity slate in 2019, but now in New Action and running for HS Ex Bd with UFC:

New Action – UFT Unpacking the February DA - The February DA was a farce, but not for the reasons our leadership would have you think. United for change has a problem: we haven’t been called on durin... 

And James:

ICEUFT Blog UNITY ATTACKING CAMILLE'S UNION RESUME AS THIN SHOWS THEY CAN'T EVEN DO OPPOSITION RESEARCH HONESTLY - This post is for the Unity Caucus people who have made their line of attack on Camille Eterno that she doesn't have the experience needed to lead the lar...

You can hear Camille on the Matt and Abie podcast - https://open.spotify.com/episode/5AsrTYY5hoboFYHU96Y4fI

Back to 2013 -  Sunday, March 24, 2013 NYC Educator post:

Should Working Mothers With Sick Babies Attend the DA?

There's a small ruckus on the MORE blog about whether or not UFT President Mike Mulgrew should debate his sole opponent, Julie Cavanagh. While the respondents are often more civil than the juvenile ravings that haunt the ICE blog comment section, their arguments are bizarre, to say the least. As it happens, candidate Julie Cavanagh has an infant son, and the best argument they can seem to muster against her is that she doesn't attend the DA frequently enough.

The implication that she would neglect her duties, as a result, is beyond offensive. With all due respect, Mulgrew is not a full-time teacher. It is one of his primary responsibilities to conduct the DA. Cavanagh's primary responsibility is to teach her classes. If she couldn't be bothered doing that, we might have something to discuss. Or, depending on the circumstances, we might not. But to expect a young mother to teach a full day, tend to her infant child, and travel to meetings without fail is ridiculous at best, and misogynist at worst. 

UFT members deserve to hear the ideas of those who'd presume to lead us in a free and open forum. If, in fact, Unity's ideas are so much better than those of the opposing caucus, it behooves them to demonstrate it.

The notion that the DA is remotely a substitute for free and open debate is preposterous. It is an insult to the intelligence of teachers everywhere. Anyone who contends the DA is a suitable forum for a debate between candidates is disingenuous and misleading, qualities I wouldn't seek in a chapter leader, let alone a union employee. 

and a follow-up on Mulgrew refusal to debate Julie: Saturday, March 30, 2013

Who's Afraid of Julie Cavanagh?

I think we saw at the Feb. 22 DA, nothing much has changed from this report 9 years ago - in fact the lack of democracy is worse.

James reported back in 2013

Thursday, March 21, 2013

• DA REPORT: PERSONAL ATTACKS INSTEAD OF DEBATE ON SCHOOL GOVERNANCE; UNITY VOTES NO TO UFT PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE DEBATE

 and here he prints Julie's response and challemge to Mulgrew to debate her.

• MORE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE JULIE CAVANAGH TAKES ON HER UNITY CRITICS

Wow. While having breakfast with my husband and almost nine month old son (who is finally on the mend after more than a week of a fever ranging 102-104 every day, during the same time my best friend’s 18 month old daughter was in the hospital, who by the way is also a teacher and a single mother of two young children) I picked up my phone to see a mention on Twitter from Arthur Goldstein (teacher and chapter leader in Queens). I frankly couldn’t believe what I was reading. Usually a mention from Arthur has me in stitches, not this time.

Now instead of relaxing while my baby takes a nap, I am writing this in response to comments on the ICE and MORE blogs attacking my commitment as a unionist and chapter leader and questioning my worthiness as a candidate for UFT President. All of this because I, and the caucus I represent, had the nerve to insist that Michael Mulgrew engage in a forum or debate with me so that our members can be fully informed and engaged when it comes to their voting choices in the upcoming election.

First let me say that I do not feel I need to defend my role as a chapter leader. Nearly every UFT member in our school, signed my petition for UFT President, and many of my colleagues are actually running in this election with MORE. 

Second, I certainly do not need to defend my attendance at Delegate Assemblies. While I do attend, often, DAs are not a democratic forum. As I am sure the commenters on the ICE and MORE blogs know, and as all Unity folks know, for most chapter leaders, the first DA in October is their last. Why? Because, the room is not even large enough for all of the CLs and delegates to be seated and when you do go and sit, you listen to Mulgrew practice his stand up routine for an hour or so, after which you *might* have the chance to ask a question or bring a resolution to the floor if Mulgrew recognizes you. Regardless, it is an effort in futility because it really doesn’t matter what you say, ask or bring to the floor; the ruling Unity caucus will disagree with it or vote it down, since they control the DA. If the UFT leadership actually held Delegate Assemblies each month that were informative and provided fair and ample time for discourse and discussion, I would be there in a New York minute. As this is not the case, I attend as many delegate assemblies as I can, but sometimes other events such as a childcare issue, my son being ill or an important meeting in my community to bring a new partner into Red Hook to service children and families with disabilities will take precedence. I do not need to go to the delegate assembly to prove who I am or that I am committed to my union; I act every day in a way that highlights why I should be president of the UFT.

I am a mother and a teacher. I have been a teacher for thirteen years, and have been working with children with special needs and their families for even longer. I have stayed in the same community and school since moving to NYC in 2001, because I am committed to the process of leading school change and improvement from the school level. I became chapter leader at the request of my colleagues a few years ago and have worked hard with them, our parents, and our principal to make sure our children and our teachers have the best learning and working conditions possible. I fought for my school during the dictatorship that my union handed to the mayor, during a co-location of a charter school in my building that my union didn’t adequately help fight (which is difficult since the UFT leadership chose to co-locate its own charter), while our class sizes rise steadily and our budgets are slashed, while teacher’s choice was eliminated and insultingly reinstated to cover no more than a few boxes of pencils, while ATR’s rotate in and out of my building- some of whom have approached me on the brink of tears desperate for someone to listen to their struggle, during a time of a tidal wave of assaults on our children, our schools, and our profession. 

Throughout this time, I not only worked in my own school community, I worked with parents and union members across the city and the country to fight back. You can find links to some of my work here, but I will list a few highlights: I co-wrote/edited/produced/and narrated a film that stood up to corporate education reform, a film that has been seen by hundreds of thousands of people in every state and on every continent (except Antarctica); I have appeared on several TV and radio programs and written several articles where I have spoken out forcefully against corporate education reform and for the schools our children deserve -- and I was invited or asked in every single case to participate, so while those in Unity caucus pretend to not know who I am or what I have done (but yet "know", falsely, that I am not at DAs) apparently the national media does; I have also worked with other union members in the city and nationally -- I helped organize a conference, and attended and facilitated, in Chicago in the summer of 2011 with other teacher union members; I helped lead the solidarity efforts with Verizon workers at the end of that same summer. I have sued, with a parent and a student, Mayor Bloomberg for the right to protest school closings and co-locations on his block and successfully organized and co-led that protest. I was the only teacher petitioner in the effort to stop and overturn the appointment of Cathy Black and also recently the only teacher on record to join with parents in sounding the alarm of student and teacher data privacy issues regarding SLC/inBloom data systems (Randi Weingarten, by the way, sits on inBloom’s advisory board). I say all of this not because I think anything that I am or that I do is so special, I share this information to highlight the outlandishness of the attacks from people whose usual line is there should be no attacks on union folks because we are under attack from outside forces and therefore need ‘unity’. I also share this because these are the things the president of a union should do.

Beyond of all of this, if Unity caucus can attack me for the number of times I went to the DA (this year I believe I have been to four DAs), the number of grievances I have filed (none), the number of UFT trainings or committees I have attended (none), then I wonder why they nominated Randi Weingarten as their presidential candidate, since she never attended a DA as a chapter leader, was never a chapter leader, and therefore never filed a grievance, attended the trainings etc.  

I personally do not think any of those things are what makes someone qualified to run our union. What matters is leadership. What matters is vision. What matters is the philosophy by which one will govern and represent the membership. I believe in a union that is member led and member driven. When I, or a candidate from MORE caucus, become president of the union, you will not have to attend a DA and sit idly and listen. The DA will be yours. When we take over leadership of our union, we will organize, support and build fighting chapters at the school level with elected district representatives who are trained organizers.  When we run the union, leadership and staffers will make salaries equivalent to the teachers we represent -- there will be no extra perks, no double pensions.  When we lead our union, you will not go more than three years without a contract, at least not without organized job actions and a fight. 

When Unity’s stranglehold of the leadership of our union ends, the members will have representation that believes in solidarity with other unions and in the power of our collective action. You will have a union that educates, mobilizes, and organizes our members and the public and who organically partners with parents and young people. You will have a leadership that truly understands that our working conditions are our students' learning conditions, that a harm to one is a harm to us all, and that we must stand side by side with deep roots in the communities we serve to fight for social, racial and economic justice in our schools, in our city and across the country.

I am more than ready to share who I am with the members of the UFT and I am happy to answer their questions. In fact, that is precisely the reason I sent the email below to Michael Mulgrew. I believe a union membership with a less than 30% voter turnout needs to be engaged and exposed to open discourse and conversation between the two people who seek to represent them.

Mr. Mulgrew, I am still waiting for a response. 

My email to Mulgrew:

Sent: Mar 14, 2013 8:01 PM

Michael,

I hope this email finds you well.

While we have differences and disagreements concerning education policy and union democracy, we both are committed to our union and the children we serve. In that spirit, we should be able to engage in an open conversation during election season so we can ensure our fellow members are informed and engaged.

To this point you have ignored outreach regarding your participation in a debate or question and answer town hall with me. I would like to directly and formally ask you to participate in such an event.

I believe that our members deserve the opportunity to ask questions of their presidential candidates and I strongly believe this kind of open and honest discourse strengthens our union: an educated and engaged membership that is listened to and participates makes us stronger.

There is precedent for an event such as this between presidential candidates during election season.  As you know, Randi has participated in presidential debates in the past: one in 1999 and again in 2001.  

I am open to a debate format with a third party moderator or a town hall question and answer event with the membership. My only specific asks are that the event be filmed and/or livestreamed so that we can maximize member participation, that the date, which I am open to any, be agreed to a few days in advance, so that I can secure child care and that the date be as close to April 3rd as possible, so that we provide a fair amount of time for members during the election timeframe.

I look forward to your response.

In solidarity,
Julie Cavanagh

 

Video: CROC Valentine's Day Protest MulgrewCare - A RUMP Group - Retirees United for Medicare Preservation

RETIREES' VALENTINE TO MAYOR: DON'T BREAK OUR HEARTS WITH HEALTHCARE SWITCH

Hello CROC supporters, 

Thank you for endorsing and joining us at our Valentine's Day event at City Hall, at which we insisted that Mayor Adams disavow the plan to move city retirees to the so-called "Medicare Advantage Plus" medical plan.  Our message was loud and clear!

And thank you, Prudence Hill for creating this wonderful video of the event.

Please enjoy and share widely. The link is below. 

 

https://vimeo.com/679276160 

CROC DEMO FINE CUT from Martin Lucas on Vimeo.

 

Link to story text and video clip (about 2 minutes long) about the 2/14 rally against Medicare Advantage Plus:

https://pix11.com/news/local-news/as-deadline-looms-nyc-workers-protest-controversial-benefits-change-they-say-could-ruin-their-health/

 

 =========

Learn how the UFT took a secret vote to put us into a Medical Advantage plan. Marianne is the woman who led this whole movement and got us a top-notch lawyer.

It's a long video, but very informative on why Medical Advantage isn't Medicare!!!
 

Watch the first few minutes to learn her background.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCff3LFtosU

Preview YouTube video NYC Unions negotiated away Retiree Health benefits held in past practice for over 40 years

 

#UFTElections - Petitions - What we can learn about the upcoming election - Part 1

With the UFT election petition campaign coming to a close. I've gotten a good read on the potentials in this election from the petition campaign. I can actually predict some vote totals from certain schools based on the success of petitioning and the effectiveness in organizing in that school. In this and followups I will share what I can without stepping on too many toes. We are keeping a spreadsheet with numbers submitted and from where they came from. If I get my proposal for school level percentages of voting to be reported I can check the spreadsheet against those numbers and I bet I will be pretty accurate.) I also have been getting a lot of reports on the state of the attitudes in schools regarding the Unity leadership -- it seems more people have heard of the existence of Unity caucus than in the past.

This is the 6th petition campaign I have helped run  - 04, 07, 10, 13, 16 and I've learned from my mistakes in each one. This time I think we ran a flawless campaign due to the support of the amazing crew from Retiree Advocate who have given up 3 Wednesdays plus another one today and this past Sunday to assist, plus the in school people led by Lydia from Solidarity (a wonderful partner0, Mike from MORE who worked as a liaison, the Eterno clan, and of course my main partner in crime Jonathan Halabi who I worked with so well in the 2016 election.

Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022

Rice Pudding at diner signing

This Friday is the deadline for petitions to be turned in to get on the ballot for the UFT elections when ballots go out on April 8. After weeks of work as the point person for the United for Change coalition, I'm shlepping 2 suitcases of petitions with thousands of pages (an entire forest) to 52 Broadway this morning to meet up with others from Retiree Advocate to try to finalize everything and turn them in today so I can go home with empty suitcases.

Why two days early? I live by the words: Shit happens. I can imagine going in on Friday and I get sick or in an accident. Unity runs unopposed, which I'm sure would make them happy.

Well, anyway, I survived an intense 4 weeks and a possible divorce over forgetting to get chocolates for Valentines Day --- my excuse of being preoccupied didn't work and it cost me a day of silent treatment and no dinner. But today I hope it is freedom day. We want to turn in at 2 and then hang out for late stragglers before the DA and then the petition store is closed. (I am still getting stuff in the mail but yesterday's mail is the last I'm turning in.)

Big turnout at Bryant Park

There are about 400 people running with a few late comers coming on board. We started out aiming for 700 but handling that number seemed too much and I urged people to stop recruiting. About 130 are retirees and we could have had 300 due to the Medicare situation but I don't believe we should run so many retirees compared to working members. People could have signed up dozens in their schools but the strategy of having so many people from one school isn't all that effective. Theories abound that most opposition votes come from schools where there is an active and proficient organizer to get out the vote. 

But petitions are an indicator of the effectiveness of the organizer and as the point person I have a good read on where votes will be coming from. Of course today we are handing over all that info to the UFT membership committee. Would it be beyond Unity to take a peek to see where our strengths lie? Some in the opposition argue that we should hand in the minimum as a strategic move but most of us feel that would be a betrayal of the process. So instead of handing in 900 officer petitions, we will hand over 3000. Late arrivals at the DA will be brought up to the office at 4:30.

Bobby, Bennett and me Sunday at 40th St 

library after a full day of work

Delegate 

We will try to listen to the Assembly while waiting.

Gotta get ready to catch the ferry dragging my suitcases. I will be back tomorrow with some petitions stories that might be early election indicators.

Retirees Valentine Day Rally for Medicare at City Hall - Plus video of rally

Video of WPIX 11 News Report of Todays Rally at City Hall

https://youtu.be/4JZYUPLkZq4

Jumaane Williams Speaking today-Tell Adams- No Privatization of our Medicare

 

 

Media advisory: City retirees to protest healthcare switch TODAY near City Hall

RETIREES' VALENTINE TO MAYOR: DON'T BREAK OUR HEARTS WITH HEALTHCARE SWITCH

Scores of retired city workers will gather near City Hall on Monday, Feb. 14, at noon to tell Mayor Eric Adams he's breaking their hearts with his plan to change their beloved Medicare coverage.

Rally organizers will unscroll a Wall of Broken Hearts signed by 1,800 municipal retirees who want Adams to reconsider moving a quarter-million Medicare beneficiaries into a controversial new Medicare Advantage plan by April 1. To keep their current coverage, retirees would need to pay stiff new premiums, unaffordable for many. Adams recently endorsed the plan, begun under the de Blasio administration and still tied up in a lawsuit brought by retirees.

Speakers, including a physician, will address the devastating effects of the plan, which would limit access to doctors and services. Retirees holding giant Valentine cards will collect more signatures. Scroll and cards will be delivered to the mayor at the end of the event.

Organized by the Cross-union Retirees Organizing Committee (CROC,) the rally is endorsed by other organizations, including the District Council 37 Retirees Association, the New York Public Library Retirees Association, and the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees.

WHEN: Monday, Feb. 14, 2022, noon to 12:45 pm
WHERE: Broadway and Murray St., near City Hall

Contact: retireequestions@gmail.com
or Sarah Shapiro, sarahmorah@gmail.com 

The Hits Keep Coming for Mulgrewcare - Pre-Authorization - Patients Harmed

A Third of Docs Saw a Patient Harmed by Prior Authorization

— Treatment delays have led to permanent damage, disability, and even death

Pre-authorization is a hot item in the Medicare vs MedAdv debates. An old friend and former UFT activist who supports single payer and medicare for all doesn't have an issue with this switch because she always had HIP and when she turned 65 took a MedAdv plan rather than taking the 80/20 split of public vs private and has issues with the way we have gone after Mulgrewcare. One thing she points out is that Medicare also has pre-authorization and she sent an article claiming that 85% of the pre-auth in Adv plans are the same as those traditional Med requires. But what about the 15% that are not required by Med? And someone pointed out the article was sponsored by people connected to the health care industry. So be careful out there as to what you are reading, including this rag.

The Unity attack dogs are claiming we tell lies but every day we get knew info.

The language is inexact:  It´s not the pre-authorization that is the problem, but would seem to be the delay caused by the demand for pre-authorization, or the refusal of a pre-authorization.  Presumably, that is what they mean.... RP

So here is an article about pre-authorization. And the point made by RP is right on. I know of a few cases of UFTers on HIP who in the process of diagnosing they had cancer, were delayed in getting to the top of the chain because they had to go through the "steps" required, thus delaying them for weeks. Both died.

 

https://www.medpagetoday.com/practicemanagement/practicemanagement/97167?xid=nl_mpt_DHE_2022-02-12&eun=g1168261d0r&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily%20Headlines%20Top%20Cat%20HeC%20%202022-02-12&utm_term=NL_Daily_DHE_dual-gmail-definition

This note came from Amy R:

Please note that this article emphasizes the harms of prior authorization to working patients and to patient productivity at work (diminished by prior authorization's eating up of time and damage to health outcomes). Employees by definition are younger and healthier than retirees, and have a professionally staffed human resources (HR) department with people who are paid to advocate for them, against their insurer, full-time. Retirees are older, sicker, more isolated, and more disabled, and have no HR department or employer watching out for them. Medicare Advantage (MA) companies know this full well, and their political power (shown in the 80% of members of the U.S. House of Representatives signing a recent letter of support to this cruel and dangerous form of health insurance) is likely connected to weak regulatory enforcement traditions for MA plans, compared with traditional Medicare plus comprehensive Medigap. The latter is a safe and effective form of medical insurance, as long as you avoid Direct Contracting Entities.

Best regards,

Amy

 

 

Practice Management

A Third of Docs Saw a Patient Harmed by Prior Authorization

— Treatment delays have led to permanent damage, disability, and even death

by Shannon Firth, Washington Correspondent, MedPage Today February 11, 2022

 

A prior authorization form

One in three doctors said prior authorization led to one of their patients requiring hospitalization, being permanently disabled, or worse, according to a survey conducted by the American Medical Association (AMA).

In the sample of more than 1,000 practicing physicans, 24% said that a prior authorization led to a hospitalization, and 18% said a prior authorization led to a "life-threatening event" or an event that "required intervention to prevent permanent impairment or damage."

Another 8% saw one of their patients experience a disability or sustain permanent bodily damage, a congenital anomaly, a birth defect, or even death.

For physicians treating patients between the ages of 18 to 65, the majority said a prior authorization interfered with a patient's ability to do their job.

"Health insurance companies entice employers with claims that prior authorization requirements keep health care costs in check, but often these promises obscure the full consequences on an employer's bottom line or employees' well-being," explained AMA President Gerald Harmon, MD. "Benefit plans with excessive authorization controls create serious problems for employers when delayed, denied or abandoned care harms the health of employees and results in missed work days, lost productivity and other costs."

The AMA urged employers to ask insurers more questions about their plan requirements and to solicit feedback from employees about their own experiences with the insurer tool.

Rep. Suzan Delbene (D-Wash.) echoed Harmon's message in a press release: "The data is clear that the prior authorization status quo delays care, worsens health outcomes, and is an additional barrier for seniors, families, and medical providers."

Delbene urged passage of the Improving Seniors' Timely Access to Care Act , a bill she introduced and is pressing House leadership to advance. She argued it will "streamline" and "standardize" Medicare Advantage plans' prior authorization programs and require greater oversight and transparency of the requirements.

Multiple states including New York, Texas, Illinois, and Indiana either introduced or passed laws restricting insurance plans use of prior authorization.

Other grim feedback from the AMA survey found:

93% said prior authorizations were linked to delays in patient care

91% said prior authorizations had negative impacts on clinical outcomes

82% said prior authorizations can at least "sometimes" lead patients to abandon recommended treatment

30% said prior authorization criteria is "rarely" or "never" evidence-based (despite 98% of health plans claiming to use evidence-based studies to design their programs)

Only 7% of survey respondents said prior authorizations had no impact at all on patient outcomes.

On average, physician practices complete 41 prior authorizations each week -- accounting for more than two full business days of additional work. Two in every five physicians said they employ staff whose job it is to exclusively work on prior authorizations as well.

"Now is the time for employers to demand transparency from health plans on the growing impact of prior authorization programs on the health of their workforce," Harmon urged.

The survey was conducted online in December 2021 and completed by 1,004 practicing physicians drawn from the M3 Global Research Panel. All participants currently practice in the U.S. and provide at least 20 hours of patient care each week.

author

Shannon Firth has been reporting on health policy as MedPage Today's Washington correspondent since 2014. She is also a member of the site's Enterprise & Investigative Reporting team. Follow 

NYC selects Anthem for retirees’ coverage — after feds sue over alleged Medicare fraud - NY Post

"I'm not a crook." ---  - Many options

 NYC selects Anthem for retirees’ coverage — after feds sue over alleged Medicare fraud - NY Post

https://nypost.com/2022/02/13/nyc-selects-anthem-for-retirees-coverage-after-feds-sue-over-alleged-fraud/

The healthcare insurer that the city recently chose to provide medical coverage for 275,000 retired workers is being sued by the US Justice Department for overcharging Medicare by millions of dollars.

The Manhattan US Attorney’s Office brought the civil-fraud suit against Anthem in March 2020, and the case is still pending.

But that didn’t stop former Mayor Bill de Blasio from selecting Anthem for local-government retiree coverage this past fall — or now-Mayor Eric Adams from signing off on the deal last week.

The fraud suit against Anthem alleges that the company did not clean up faulty data rendered by hospitals and other medical providers in its reimbursement claims submitted to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

“By ignoring its duty to delete thousands of inaccurate diagnoses, Anthem unlawfully obtained and retained from CMS [Center for Medicare Services] millions of dollars in payments under the risk adjustment payment system for Medicare Part C,” a press release accompanying the suit said.

UFT Pres. Candidate Camille Eterno with Daniel Alicea: WBAI Saturday, 1 PM; Halabi calls for Unity to Replace Mulgrew, Election petition return day

The UFT’s leadership has an opportunity to make the union stronger. Will they do the right thing?... Over the course of the pandemic members of our union have seen our union leadership in different situations and different ways than before the pandemic. Policies affected us directly, in what were truly life and death situations. Members who never paid attention paid attention. And now that members were paying attention, what did they see?..... Jonathan Halabi

This is a wonderful explanation of how teachers were thrown under the bus. All other city workers union stood up for their workers for as long as they could. Mulgrew said he didn’t try because he knew he not win, so why did we vote for you. Try, try and you may succeed. I am sick of this mess, teachers are left to fend for themselves. Kudos to you. double thumbs up.... Comment on New Action blog. Dear Michael Mulgrew, We’re Overworked!

SOUTH BRONX SCHOOL

Why You Should Vote for Camille Eterno - This is not going to be a wordy post. Just want to get right to the point. I could go on an on about how Camille Eterno will be there for the members of ...

There's a lot of anti-Mulgrew talk out there. Jonathan Halabi touches on a crucial issue -- the activation of people in the UFT who had never been active before.

A high school teacher who has not been active in UFT politics but is running with us for AFT delegate, at one of the biggest high schools in the city sent this:

I've been reaching out to everyone I know in the elementary schools since that seems to be where we need most support. Spoke to 4 elementary school teachers at 4 different schools. All friends of mine. At least 2 of them indicated they were already supporting UFC. I encouraged them to spread the word at their schools. The other two seemed to lean UFC as well - UNITED FOR CHANGE - UFT: HOME - 

• Get UFC Swag
  

These are the kind of rumblings I haven't seen before. I went to a petition signing party at a home on Long Island last Sunday expecting to find 5 people. Instead there were 25, mostly from Queens elementary schools happily signing 400 petitions. This is an area rarely penetrated by the opposition and an indication of a shift of sorts. One woman in her 50s was so excited and said she ordered a UFT sweatshirt which she will wear around her school.

The day before MORE held a signing event at a bar in lower Manhattan for 70 people. I tried to imagine a merging of the Sat MORE event with the Sunday Long Island event and my head began to swim. Yet here we are -- two signing parties with such a contrast but for the same candidates. I couldn't have imagined that happening even 6 months ago.

Hear the alternative to Mulgrew, Camille Eterno: From Daniel-

Join me, Sat 2/12 at 1pm on @WBAI 99.5 FM  as I chat with @NYCSchools educator & parent, Camille Eterno about the state our our city schools and her run for president of @UFT. We will discuss smaller class size, mayoral control, health & safety, evaluations, ATRS, more!--

Jonathan Halabi wrote a scathing blog obliterating Mulgrew on his record. His call for Unity to replace hm at the top of the ticket for the benefit of the union. In fact if Unity were to replace Mulgrew, their odds of doing better in the election go up.

While the internal leaks of unhappiness with Mulgrew inside Unity stopped once the UFC coalition was announced. reports come filtering in of hidden Unity support for UFC and backroom offers to assist. I won't believe that until I see it. 

Those are signs of Mulgrew lack of popularity internally. Jonathan Halabi blogged about just how bad Mulgrew is and asks:

JD2718

The UFT’s leadership has an opportunity to make the union stronger. Will they Do the right thing?

He is asking Unity to replace Mulgrew at the top of the ticket to save the union. I guess from the perspective of hoping UFC will win, the worst thing that can happen is Mulgrew not running. But not to worry - Unity has no mechanism to make Jonathan's wish come through. Unity is a pseudo feudalistic system which requires Shakespearian-driven solutions. Mulgrew will be running for president against Camille Eterno. The choice can be no clearer. But if you are in doubt, go read Halabi filet Mulgrew under the following headings of transgressions:

• Policy, Pandemic, Conciliation
• Running Meetings Poorly, and Being Obnoxious About It
• Endorsements
• In the Field

And the deepest cut of all, Medicare Advantage / Mulgrewcare.

Retiree votes make up 40-50% of those who vote in UFT elections. I would say the major threat to Mulgrew and Unity is the potential loss of enough of those votes to cause real damage to Unity.

 

Go read through them and think of whether you want Mulgrew as president for the next 3 years. https://jd2718.org/2022/02/10/do-the-right-thing/

 

Jonathan, who is running for HS VP on the slate but is urging Unity to do the right thing to save the union even if it allows Unity to stay in power.

He says:

...while I do not support the reelection of this leadership, it is still OUR union. I am fiercely proud of our union. I want it stronger, better.

So United for Change has a better (still slim) chance in the election because Michael Mulgrew is at the top of the Unity ticket.

But the UFT is weaker, has less support from members, with all the negative attention Michael Mulgrew has garnered. We all suffer with him in the lead.

We (United for Change) cannot do the right thing here. It has to be Unity. Make our union better. Shore up support from members whose confidence in the union has been shaken through the pandemic. Even though it hurts my election chances, I am asking, pleading with Unity, do the right thing. Remove Mulgrew. Replace him with someone, anyone. Promote him to some position where members don’t see him.

Because in the end, no matter who wins, we all lose if members are turned against our union, against the UFT.

I'm not sure we don't all lose if Unity wins without Mulgrew. The Unity machine has been in charge since the UFT's inception over 60 years ago and that is the problem. Mulgrew being pulled would only lead to another leader who would distract us. I saw that happen when Randi was becoming unpopular and Mulgrew took over. "A breath of fresh air" proclaimed an opposition supporter who quickly jumped on the Mulgrew bandwagon and is now a full time UFT employee. Other Randi haters came on board too. 

 

Mulgrew may be toxic and often inept but so is the Unity machine where loyalty is prized over competence. Besides, there is no mechanism inside Unity where a coup could take place.

 

And who is on that Unity bench to be taken seriously as a UFT leader? I used to think it might be Evelyn de Jesus but Randi snatched her away for AFT Executive Director and potential heir apparent.

In many ways this all a fantasy and Jonathan knows that and is making a point about just how bad Mulgrew is. 

This past Wednesday, Unity met to sanctify its slate. There are supposedly petitions with Mulgrew's name as president that are due next Friday, though no teacher has actually seen these petitions in schools. I think the UFC election committee, of which I am a member, should ask to see these petitions. 

But if the opposition wins high schools and challenges in middle schools and makes a big leap in elementary schools and oppo retiree vote climbs to around 40%, I would bet Jonathan will get his wish before the next election. Which is why even if you are Unity and don't like Mulgrew you should vote UNITED FOR CHANGE.

And here's a little secret - many Unity people are actually saying they will, some even offering to campaign for us in their schools. 

I'm still in middle of the petition campaign for UFC, along with Jonathan, and this weekend is "turn in and collating time". Today in Bryant Park from 1-4PM near the ping pong tables and tomorrow a team is meeting nearby to put all ths reams of paper together. 

It's going to be 60 degrees today so stop by at Bryant Park and even if you don't have a petition, I will have one for you to sign.

We should have had  a system of electronic signing so entire forests didn't have to die for the UFT petition campaign. 

• UFT Exec Bd Vote Opposing Electronic Voting: Mike Shirtzer and another are Lone Dissenters, 13 Reasons For Electronic Voting as Unity Echoes Republican Vote Suppression, MULGREW SAYS PRIVATIZED HEALTHCARE ISN'T PRIVATIZED

Adolph Reed - The Marxist Who Antagonizes Liberals and the Left - The New Yorker

Mention Adolph Reed to a certain segment of the liberal/left and watch the wild look come into their eyes. His son Toure Reed gets a similar reaction. White people with his views on race and class are branded as racists by whites in the virtue signaling crowd. They can't handle a black scholar who grew up in the south. Reed is very popular with the Krystal Ball/Matt Taibi anti-identity politics crowd. I would say that the left wing of the ICEUFT crew fundamentally lines up with the Reed family analysis. And that has led to ideological rifts with some others in ICE and outside. ICE as a group seems to be able to handle differences of opinion quite well because we keep talking and don't bury issues. An ICE founder sent me this article. I was surprised he hadn't heard of Reed. At some point soon, we will do some ICE zooms and delve deeper into these issues.

The Marxist Who Antagonizes Liberals and the Left

The renowned Black scholar Adolph Reed opposes the politics of anti-racism, describing it as a cover for capitalism.

 https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-inquiry/the-marxist-who-antagonizes-liberals-and-the-left

By Benjamin Wallace-Wells

January 31, 2022

Photograph by Eric Sucar / Courtesy University of Pennsylvania

• 
  

Within the world of racial politics, Adolph Reed is the great modern denouncer. His day job, for forty years, was as a political scientist. (He is now emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania.) But by night he has maintained a long-term position, too, as a left-wing lambaster of figures he believes are selling some vision of race for political expediency or profit. In Harper’s, the Village Voice, Jacobin, and smaller factional outlets, not all of them still operating, Reed has called out Barack Obama as a “vacuous opportunist,” and the scholars bell hooks and Michael Eric Dyson as “little more than hustlers, blending bombast, cliches, psychobabble, and lame guilt tripping in service to the ‘pay me’ principle.” For Reed, class is what divides people, and far too many political actors treat race as an all-explaining category.