Sophomoric, Bullying Attack Memes on Oppo Para by High Salaried Unity/UFT, as Hacks, Slime, and Slugs, Slither Their Way to Infamy

One of the leaders of the UFT bullying attack mob is District 21 Rep Adam Shapiro. In addition to his teacher salary which is well over 100k (for teaching one period a day), he also makes 120K at the UFT. Not a bad haul for a guy who spends his days designing attack ads on those opposed to Unity.  Hell, I do that to Unity for free.

 

 

It is particularly ironic for over 200k Shapiro to attack a 50k para who does not make a living wage because of Shapiro's inept Unity Caucus' inability to secure paras a living wage 50 years after the founding of the para chapter while we've seen other urban unions like Los Angeles make large gains for paras in recent contracts.

 

Shapiro even let down his own caucus in the recent TRS campaign where Unity went hard at turning out the vote and gave the Dist reps the assignment. Dist 21 had horrendous turnout. Adam was too busy writing attack memes.

While he fawns for LeRoy’s approval, Shapiro would rather continue to collect two pensions, not Fix Tier 6 and abuse paras working 2 jobs trying to keep up with the out-of-control costs of living in NYC, without a living wage. Shapiro and his Unity fraternity even voted against a resolution to come up with a comprehensive, robust collective bargaining plan to fix para pay in March of 2024. 

Just as egregious is that UFT second in command and the head of Unity Caucus, LeRoy Barr, liked and shared the Shapiro post. LeRoy wants to look like the good guy so he lets Shapiro be the hit man. The next time LeRoy claims he represents the UFT, not Unity Caucus, LOL - Loudly. 

Tuesday, May 28, 2024

 

The thing to know about Unity Caucus is that they don't like even tiny minorities of representation on elected positions in the union. They want the whole enchilada. And as the party in power they use every advantage to suppress critical and alternative voices. 

 

Arthur has been writing about the Unity machine with a focus on Mulgrew as the head, but he fully understands that whoever comes after Mulgrew may have a different less aggrieved style but fundamentally exhibit the same pattern of control. They will stop at nothing to dominate, even personal attacks. In recent posts they focused on the para and the retiree election with attacks on Marianne Pizzitola and para oppo exec bd member Migda Rodriguez. Arthur took issue with both attacks but today I will focus on Migda and deal with the attack on Marianne another time. 

 

Arthur writes:

There is no bottom for these self-serving bastards.... I know of at least two more Unity members who merit my poison pen this morning. I’m going to spare them because they are not important. They’re just cogs in the Unity machine. Mulgrew is the head... When he goes, another will take his place... personal attacks for their own sake aren’t really necessary..... to point out the hypocrisy of their stooges, most or all of whom are on salary.... The Unity machine has to be taken down.... Arthur Goldstein, Mulgrew's Unity Caucus Personally Attacks A Working UFT Paraprofessional

 

Arthur Goldstein, former UFT executive board member and candidate in the Retiree Advocate slate calls out the savage bullying of rank and file members, especially women, by Mulgrew and Barr’s Unity caucus patronage machine — causing some Unity members to question their allegiance to their union leadership after a barrage of unfounded attacks and disinformation.....Educators of NYC

I'm not going to spare anyone ... Ed Notes

Ed Notes reported on last year's special para election in which 5 paras had the nerve to run against the Unity machine. Two of them won. One is Migda Rodriguez. On April 15, 2023 I posted:

• Corruption @UFT in Para Election: Full-time patronnage jobs -- Unity is more interested in Unity than its membership,

Which followed up on the April 12, 2023 piece:

• Contentious UFT Para Chapter Election - Does Unity Cheat? I Know, you're shocked!

In one of his final posts, James Eterno also reported on the election in this April 15, 2023 post where he quotes one of the candidates:

• UNITY CAMPAIGNS IMPROPERLY IN PARA ELECTION

This is from Marie Para (Wausnock) showing Unity cheating at an official UFT event. The video is on Facebook.

Spotlight on Truth: You can’t say you didn’t….cause ‘ya did!! Lets look at the video tape!

Let’s pay attention to the rules of the UFT.  Let’s be clear on a few things….the UFT is our union, Unity is a caucus within the union.  Just as there other caucus’, such as MORE, ICE and SOLIDARITY.  Unity has been the controlling caucus within the union.  Whenever there is a function that the UFT pays for, NO caucus can campaign at these events.  If they did allow this, all candidates should be given the same space, time, and expense of campaigning on the UFT’s dime…or should that be on YOUR UNION DUES.

Even when Unity loses, they use their machine to attack and degrade the winners. If Retiree Advocate should actually win the chapter election on June 14, expect the attacks to begin in June 15. Unity would destroy the chapter if needed to take back control. In this year's para election, Unity changed a few rules, requiring at least 7 candidates to be a slate. Fix Para Pay found 9 and then Unity offered their chapter leader candidate a job and got him to quit the slate.

 

Unity Caucus, after over 6 decades of control of the UFT, senses danger to their monarchic empire when even a few people stand up and oppose them. They react like any threatened monarchy - attacks and repression of democracy. 

 

Let's focus on the para story.

 

After a barrage of unfounded Unity Caucus attacks and disinformation, Arthur has focused on Mulgrew in his commentaries while also pointing to the Unity enabling machine that is so reminiscent of the Trump lemming crowd. 

 

 

 

Arthur did a great explanatory piece on the attacks on a non-Unity para exec bd member  who had beaten a Unity member in last year's special election. 

It’s quite another to attack Migda Rodriguez. Migda simply cannot make a living on a paraprofessional salary. I’m sure I couldn’t either. So she has a second job to provide for herself and her family. Thanks to Unity’s long-time failure to negotiate a living wage for city teachers, I worked two jobs for decades, and I understand the strain of doing so.

Many paras have to take a second job, the reason Migda could not attend para exec bd meetings where most of the members are Unity and have extra jobs at the union. Going back to Arthur who tells the full story:

Migda, along with some friends, decided to help herself. She decided that Unity was not making her economic survival a priority. A raise that does not meet cost of living, like the ones in the most recent contract, is not a raise at all. In fact, it’s a pay cut. And occasional bonuses do not obscure the fact that UFT paraprofessionals need a raise, not a tip.

Migda and her friends ran for UFT office. Migda was elected second vice chair by her fellow paraprofessionals. The last person to hold that position, a Unity caucus member, was given a full-time union job to perform his duties. After all, where on earth is someone working full-time as a paraprofessional, let alone working two jobs, supposed to find the time to help members? Unlike teachers, paraprofessionals are programmed all day, with only a break for lunch.

Mulgrew’s Unity Patronage Cult runs the UFT. While the members chose Migda, Mulgrew chooses only people loyal to him. So there was no job for Migda. There was no office space. There was no time off. There was no email list for Migda to contact those who chose her. In fact, Unity did not even give Migda Rodriguez a stinking UFT email address.

Make no mistake, just like they did to the non-Unity OT/PT leader, Melissa Williams, they froze out Migda. They deliberately made it impossible to do her job. Then, when she chose to continue to support her family rather than attend meetings, they decided to humiliate her publicly.

I’ve been to the Unity page. People with Unity jobs are saying Migda should have stepped down if she couldn’t attend the meetings. In fact, when Melissa Williams did just that, stepped down, they ridiculed her for doing so. She was useless, a phony, or whatever juvenile nonsense the stilted minds at the patronage mill could muster.

 If you’re opposition, Unity will come after you no matter what you do. They’ll do anything to protect their privileged positions. Unity has no consistency, no integrity, and say whatever they can muster to suit the moment and protect their privileged status at the patronage mill....

Mulgrew's Unity Caucus Personally Attacks A Working UFT Paraprofessional: There is no bottom for these self-serving bastards.

I reported on the campaign against Melissa Williams on August 4, 2023: Dissecting UFT/UNITY's Dirty War Against Therapist...

 

Since those posts even current and former Unity and union officials have been disturbed. I'm not allowed to post screen shots from the web page so I will paraphrase:

A former Unity/UFT official pointed out to a Bronx district rep who was attacking Migda that the UFT did not give her a job like they did to all previous 2nd vice presidents and would not even giver her an email to do the job and said it was unfair to attack her when she didn't show up at meetings where everyone else was being paid on the UFT dime.

On the Unity FB page, which I can post from, another 200K a year slug arrogantly replied that these jobs are not part of the election process and no one is entitled to a job - except Unity, of course. In case you didn't know, the Fix Para Pay Slate lost its chapter leader candidate after Unity bought him off with a job. Bill Woodruff is fine with that. Fact is these jobs ARE part of the election process and many people run with Unity for those jobs. 

In the UFT there are plenty of jobs using our dues available - if you swear allegiance and promise to keep your mouth shut.

Here's one more back and forth with another high salaried Unity Bronx Dist Rep who says he is concerned about someone not attending meetings required for the job, again ignoring the fact that the Unity people get paid -- by the way like they do to attend DAs. He says she should apologize to the members who voted for her when in fact Unity should apologize for denying her voters the services she could have delivered if they treated her like they would a Unity person.

A Migda supporter asks whether high salaried staffers like him who are paid to "do the work" should be asking underpaid paras to apologize for prioritizing their 2nd jobs and therefore not partaking in unpaid work (unlike the Unity paras in the same position).

I will address the equally insane attacks on Marianne in a follow-up.

 

---
AfterBurn

Call me uncivil. When they go low, we go lower.

WE WON! AGAIN! Came through as RTC Meeting Began, Mulgrew Refuses to Read my "Lies" - er - Leaflet Exposing Aetna

Michael Mulgrew can't handle the truth.

Today I head back to the city for the DA where I will give out the same leaflet I handed out yesterday based on the Wendell Potter article on Aetna/CVS plans to shun members they can't make enough money on

It got a good reception. 

But not from Mulgrew.

When I attempted to hand him some truths about the company he has been pushing as the greatest thing since pumpernickel he refused to take it saying "I don't want more of your lies." The bad news on Aetna exposes the misinformation coming out of Mulgrew. A guy got up at the meeting yesterday to point to how he found out something in Emblem that has saved him thousands of dollars. He didn't accuse them directly but before the meeting he told me he had tried to tell the UFT about what he found  - deaf ears. A woman pointed out that with MulgrewCare it would cost her $8000 more in drug costs. 

Mulgrew's reaction indicates his state of mind - as does the general Unity state of mind - desperate to hold onto power and threatened for the first time with 3 Consequential Elections. TRS is over - sort of. With so many violations of the law, there may be protests from both sides. The para and retiree chapter elections are on full bore.

Arthur update:

• The Elephant in the Room: MICHAEL MULGREW AND UNITY WANT YOU TO: A: BE STUCK IN AN INFERIOR ADVANTAGE PLAN, OR B: PAY EXTRA FOR THE PLAN YOU NOW HAVE.

Wednesday, May 22, 2024

I reported on the upcoming Retired Teacher Chapter meeting yesterday:

• Today - Retired Chapter Meeting, Unity Exec Bd REJECTS Call to oppose Tier 6 Architect

The big news as the meeting began was a major win (and loss for Unity leaders) on healthcare.

Just before the meeting began we heard about the win in court. Someone got up before Murphy started the meeting to announce the court win -- to some applause but not much, given the Unity crowd. I called out - "info you won't get from the leadership at this meeting." Boy, did the Unity gang look like they had egg on their faces.

As usual, the meeting was loaded with fluff. There were about 230 people who signed up in person -- though it looked like less had shown up --- still a heavy Unity crowd. And about 1200 on line. Murphy loaded the meeting with speakers, as usual, to avoid having to face the music on healthcare. LeRoy spoke and they had some City Council members do filler. They also gave out free Biden/Harris tee-shirts and I took one for my wife.

I had my hand up for much of the meeting but Murphy made sure to avoid me. Oh the look on his face when he looks my way. At one point a woman in the back row called out, "Why won't you call on him. He comes to every meeting and raises his hand." When Mulgrew talked about the reforms to Tier 6 I wanted to yell out "point of information" to ask why the UFT endorsed Micah Lasher the architect of the Bloomberg campaign for Tier 6. But I was being civil.

 

Murphy accidentally called on me once and then realized his mistake. I got two words out and he said, "What's the question?" And they want civility. 

At the end he said he would take a few for the Good and Welfare part of the meeting, where you can say anything you want. But not in Murphyville. He declared you can only announce an event. So I had my hand up to announce an event: right after the meeting I would be outside to read my leaflet out loud. But Murphy adjourned the meeting. It was 2:15 and the meeting was supposed to last until 3. Oh so much civility. 

Here are reports on the court case, which we note that in the court the UFT lawyer consulted with the city lawyers, so no matter what they say watch what they do. They oppose the court action.

Late breaking: The city will try a final appeal but they have to have the court say it is OK, which I feel they will do. And Mulgrew and the Unity gang will be along to pray we lose so they can institute they plan to offer us a pay for choice plan.

Free is better.

 

WE WON! AGAIN!

Today, the Appellate Division, First Department, of the NYS Supreme Court unanimously affirmed the retirees’ victory in the class action case of Bentkowski et al. v. City of New York.   This is the so-called nuclear option case dating from July 6, 2023, in which Judge Lyle Frank ruled that NYC municipal retirees are entitled to Medicare and supplemental medigap coverage, fully paid for by the City of New York. The full statement of the ruling can be read here. What's Next? Marianne Pizzitola, founder of the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees, the group that initiated the lawsuit, posted a Facebook interview with Jake Gardener, the lead attorney on the case. Asked what the City's next steps might be, Gardener speculated: The City could seek permission to appeal to the Court of Appeals, which is the highest court in the state. But because the decision of the First Department was unanimous, very detailed (10 pages long as opposed to the more usual 1 or 2 pages), and thoroughly considered (over 2 months to make a decision as opposed to the more usual 2 or 3 weeks), he thought permission would likely be denied. The City could ask permission to reargue the case before the First Department. This is a move that is only rarely taken, and seems unlikely given the weight of the court’s decision today. Still to Come Two other cases are still pending. NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees v. Renee Campion: Judge Lyle Frank ruled that the City’s attempt to force retirees to pay for their own medigap coverage was a violation of NYC Administrative Code 12-126. This case is currently in the Court of Appeals. Margaretann Bianculli et al v. City of New York Office of Labor Relations et al.: The City tried to levy a copay against retirees for each medical encounter. This case is currently before both the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals. Now What? On the Facebook video, Marianne, Gardener, and our other stalwart lawyer, Steve Cohen, emphasized that the real power behind all these cases is us. We the retirees have done our research, sent in affidavits, testified before City Council, turned up in court, turned out in the streets. We have donated out of our own pockets (and must continue to do so!). This fight is not just for ourselves alone, but for future City retirees – and for all those facing the financialized behemoth that is Health USA.

 

New York Appellate Division Affirms City Retirees’ Right to Promised Medicare Benefits

Today’s Ruling Bars City From Forcing Retirees off of Traditional Medicare

NEW YORK, May 21, 2024  — Today, the New York Appellate Division issued a unanimous decision holding that the City of New York cannot force its roughly 250,000 elderly and disabled retired municipal workers off of their longstanding Medicare insurance and onto an inferior type of insurance called “Medicare Advantage.”  Unlike Medicare—a public program that has protected City retirees for the past 57 years—the City’s proposed new Medicare Advantage plan was a private, for-profit endeavor that would have limited retirees’ access to medical providers, prevented retirees from receiving care prescribed by their doctors, and exposed retirees to increased healthcare costs.

The Court confirmed what retirees have been arguing for months: that they are entitled to the healthcare they were promised for over 50 years.  These retirees built their lives around this healthcare promise.  As the Court ruled today, denying retirees this healthcare would imperil their lives and violate the law.

The decision is available here.

Jake Gardener, a partner at Walden Macht & Haran LLP, counsel to the retirees, says, “We are grateful to the Court for recognizing the healthcare rights of retired City workers.  Because of the Court’s thoughtful, well-reasoned decision, hundreds of thousands of senior citizens and disabled first responders will be able to receive the medical care they desperately need.”

Marianne Pizzitola, President of the New York City Organization of Public Service Retirees, one of the lead plaintiffs, states, “Retired City workers dedicated, and in many cases risked, their lives for the City for relatively low pay.  In return, they were promised certain basic healthcare benefits when they retired.  The City’s attempt to break that 57-year promise is shameful and, as the Court ruled today, unlawful.”   

Steve Cohen, a partner at Pollock Cohen LLP, also counsel to the retirees, says, “The City owes these retirees a debt of gratitude for their service.  Instead, it has been trying to deny them the healthcare they were always promised.  Fortunately, retirees fought back and they won.”

 

Is Unity suppressing retiree vote, Today - Retired Chapter Meeting, Unity Exec Bd REJECTS Call to oppose Tier 6 Architect

Unity plays hardball and the oppo tries plays by marquess of queensberry rules. -- James Eterno

Point of order, Mr. Murphy. Where is the Motion period for today's meeting, as required by Roberts Rules? In fact there has been no motion periods at any meeting this year.

Tuesday, May 21, 2024

Oh, I'd love to make that motion today, but have been overruled by my colleagues and I'm a team player. But James' point about how the oppo tries to play nice is more pertinent than ever. And how about the Unity crowd claiming to oppose Tier 6 while endorsing an architect? Makes one want to be uncivil.

RA and Unity are in GOTV faze - contacting all UFT retirees to make sure they get their ballot and vote -- which requires actually going to a mail box. I will speculate on the outcome in a day or so. Unity is focused on getting out their vote while the main threat to them comes from those who usually don't vote. So why not make it harder for them?

 

Ok, I've got to catch the ferry to the city for the May retiree chapter teacher meeting where we can hear Tom Murphy and maybe Mulgrew and even today possibly Randi pontificate on every issue but healthcare. With the chapter election on, expect lots of gaslighting. I'd love to be positively uncivil.

 

I didn't make it to the UFT  Exec Bd last night to see the predicted outcome of our reso calling for the DA to vote on the Tier 6 champion, Micah Lasher endorsement, as I reported yesterday:

• Another Unity/UFT Sellout - Backs Micah Lasher, Bloomberg pro Tier 6, Charter School, Student First Acolyte - for State Assembly

Nick has the gory details in his report:

at the NYSUT assembly, every delegate we send is a member of Unity Caucus. There is no proportional representation, certainly no independents, and all positions are elected at large (high school members don’t even get to elect their reps, or I’d be at the RA too). In other words, Lasher, with his history of anti-UFT activities, only got an endorsement because every NYC teacher in the room was a member of Unity. Your average non-Unity teacher would not have voted yes to Lasher. Good luck fighting for Tier 6 if we’re sitting there deciding to send our COPE dollars to elect one of its architects. We must reform the endorsement process, as, again, I argue here.

• Why the UFT endorsed an architect of Tier 6 – UFT Executive Board Minutes 5/20/24

Nick points to the perils of winner take all, as is the retired chapter election. I wouldn't want our side to have total control either. But at least if we win, our 300 DA candidates have a variety of views and no caucus discipline. Since UFC got about one third of the total vote, in a proportional system we would have had over 200 NYSUT and AFT delegates, a better mix for the benefit of the UFT. But Unity doesn't care about the betterment of the UFT.

Unity actually had the nerve to claim Lasher has reformed and now supports public schools. Which is why the charter and Bloomberg crowd are pouring in money. Sometimes I smack my head when I hear Trumpies repeat FOX mantras. Unity is actually worse.

Is it time to be uncivil?

 

Unity has been attacking Retiree Advocate for being uncivil, which I find funny since I fight in the RA organizing group to be more uncivil and am in the minority. My colleagues seem to go out of the way to be civil, which is maddening to me. Like they worry about Unity heckling while I say fuck Unity. To me the Unity campaign to keep the oppo under control works, as my pals are convinced that making too much noise will cause us to lose votes. I say, the people objecting are Unity and we can be tame pussycats (which we are) and they won't vote for us. I think the oppo tails the anger of many in the rank and file who want to see more fire from the oppo. When New Action was on the UFT Ex Bd 25 years ago I was often disturbed at the way they responded - or didn't respond - to Unity attacks.

The late, great James Eterno, who when in New Action was the most aggressive, used to repeat endlessly -- Unity plays hardball and the oppo tries to play by marquess of queensberry rules.

 

I'm particularly pissed at the actions of the Unity controlled election committee which denied us other than 1 rep while they pack the meetings with 4 Unity. The latest is that at the June 14th vote count we will not be able to observe directly but through a barrier. Until recent elections we had full access. That is not observing. I also object to the delays - we pay AAA a fortune and they can't run more scanners, which break down constantly and delay the vote. In elections in years past we had faster results. I intend to make some noise at the count. I don't trust Unity and I don't trust the cozy relationship to the AAA. LeRoy Barr, the head of Unity Caucus, consults with them and claims he is representing the UFT, not Unity. Sure.

J'Accuse: Unity/AAA Delayed ballots suppress the vote

So we were told that ballots were to go out on May 10 but no one we know received their ballot until at least a week later and many haven't gotten it yet. Then when asked, AAA reported "on or about May 10." Really?

I asked a former colleague who is a snowbird and up in Boston now and he hasn't gotten his ballot and probably never will unless he contacts AAA and gets them to send to his summer home. I expect we will have loads of people who ask the AAA for replacements and they do la, di, da and it takes a week to get one and another week for it to get back to AAA? If I were on the election committee I'd demand they extend the deadline for ballots received to a few extra days to make up for the delayed mailing. 

 

But of course that will be rejected, as Unity is all about vote suppression. They are the Republican Party of the UFT.

Now we know by their actions, that Unity is nervous, as Jonathan chronicled: The UFT Retiree Election and “Unusual Activity”.

At today's meeting Retiree Advocate will be handing out our standard leaflet, but I am handing out a supplemental leaflet based on reporting by Wendell Potter damning Aetna/CVS and the impact on Mulgrewcare. Read the entire article here. I modified it for today's meeting.

 

Arthur has some thoughts on the retiree and TRS election (which I will update you on tomorrow.

• Make SURE to VOTE: Your vote strikes fear into the cold, dead heart of the UFT Unity Noise Machine

• Trying Times at the UFT Unity Patronage Mill. --By Arthur Goldstein -- The unofficial TRS election survey results are in; UFT to still file lawsuit against NYC DOE asking for re-run of the election

Educators of NYC comments on the Unity spin on Lasher last night:

Once again @UFTUnity has been loose with the facts. Yesterday, they voted down a UFT exec board resolution that would bring the @nysut endorsement of @MicahLasher to a more direct vote by @UFT delegates. (The UFT has endorsed him via proxy essentially thru a NYSUT vote.) One argument that Unity apparatchiks made is that he is ANTI-CHARTER schools, now. This simply isn’t true. His politically expedient change of tone is not a change of heart. While he no longer heads the charter school PAC, StudentsFirst NY, nothing in his career or his current positions as a candidate for state office in the last 8 years indicates this. While he has called for more *accountability of charters*, such as special education and other areas, you won’t find a SINGLE instance where he says he is against charter schools. Because he isn’t. Lest we forget during his most recent 3 year stint as director of policy for @GovKathyHochul, we see her administration called for lifting the state cap entirely last year and when rebuffed by the state legislature, Hochul worked out a deal to bring back 22 zombie charters statewide — 14 in NYC. Hochul is pro-charter. And you bet your bottom dollar — so is Lasher. The donor money he’s beginning to compile in his run for AD 69 is starting to have privateer Bloomberg fingerprints all over it, too. Lots of former Bloomberg administration folks, and most prominently, Emma Bloomberg and her husband, Jeremiah Kittredge, who used to run the maligned charter lobby operation, Families for Excellent Schools, before it was caught up in scandal. 

Source. https://politico.com/states/new-york/albany/story/2016/09/lasher-puts-distance-between-himself-and-charter-schools-105111

 

Another Unity/UFT Sellout - Backs Micah Lasher, Bloomberg pro Tier 6, Charter School, Student First Acolyte - for State Assembly

Mayor Bloomberg Announces Director Of State Legislative Affairs Micah C. Lasher Will Leave City Government:  Lasher has been a member of the Bloomberg Administration since January 2009, beginning as Executive Director of External Affairs at the Department of Education. He has helped lead the City’s efforts in Albany on many major issues, including reauthorizing mayoral control of the schools, lifting the cap on charter schools, a new pension tier for City employees - April 4, 2012...

Lasher in his unsuccessful 2016 campaign for State Senate and his present campaign for State Assembly received significant funding from individuals closely associated with the charter school movement and/or hostile to teachers and their unions.

Monday, May 20, 2024

 

The UFT/Unity gang seems to love the good old days of the Bloomberg era of closing down public schools and expanding charters. And remember how Micah Lasher gets credit for helping bring us Tier 6, which the UFT claims it opposes - NOW - but not very much in 2012.

 

There is no end to the perfidy from our erstwhile leaders, but this endorsement takes us beyond the pale, bringing back memories of the awful dozen years of the Bloomberg assault on public education, led by Micah Lasher in the latter Bloomberg years, who then became head of the despicable Student First, an organization that pushed to end tenure and to replace public schools with as many non-union charters as they can manufacture. Lasher proudly helped lead the parade. 

 

I maintain that by their actions, our UFT leadership is fundamentally anti-union. The Lasher endorsement is further proof. But just as bad is the process to avoid putting the Lasher endorsement in front of the DA by claiming NYSUT endorsed and the UFT is following, a bag of worms - not to insult worms. 

 

At tonight's UFT Exec Bd meeting, a reso calling for the endorsement to be voted on by the Exec Bd and DA will be made. Watch the Unity hacks scramble to avoid going on the official record as they hide behind NYSUT.

• Nick: The UFT has an Endorsement Problem 

Last night I was on a zoom with a much better alternate candidate, Eli Northrup, super impressive who supports the issues we care about. Northrup has criticized Lasher for his charter school support and also for his role in making Tier 6 a reality. Northrup wants to ensure public schools remain truly public and accountable, prioritizing adequate tools and support for teachers and students, including mental health resources in schools, protect and expand pre-K and 3-K programs, expand paid family leave, and move toward a vision for universal childcare. Northrup was a United Auto Workers member as a Bronx public advocate.

 

I believe the UFT should endorse Northrup, not a fringe candidate with no chance of winning – he comes backed by significant endorsers, https://www.eli4ny.com/endorsements. Here a few:

“The Jewish Vote is proud to endorse Eli Northrup for state Assembly.

 

 

Here is his website: https://www.eli4ny.com/

 

 

 

 

Resolution to Consider the UFT’s Endorsement for the 69th Assembly District

Whereas the UFT and NYSUT have apparently endorsed the candidacy of Micah Lasher in the 69th Assembly District, as evidenced by campaign literature and flyers mailed to members with the UFT logo on it;

Whereas, in the case of the UFT, this endorsement was made without any discussion or vote by the Executive Board or the Delegate Assembly;

And whereas the endorsement of Lasher is problematic for the following reasons:

• Lasher is the former head of Student First New York, the leading advocacy group promoting the expansion of charter schools in New York;
  

• Lasher served as Director of Policy for Governor Hochul during a period where her office proposed the expansion of charter schools in New York State;
  

• Lasher, as chief lobbyist for Mayor Bloomberg, actively promoted policies that were anti-teacher and anti-union;

• Lasher in his unsuccessful 2016 campaign for State Senate and his present campaign for State Assembly has received significant funding from individuals closely associated with the charter school movement and/or hostile to teachers and their unions;

• Lasher was a major force in lobbying for Tier 6

And whereas the Executive Board and the Delegate Assembly are entitled to vote on UFT endorsements;

Be it Resolved: the Executive Board shall vote on the issue of the 69th Assembly endorsement and forward its recommendation to the Delegate Assembly for its consideration.

Signed by:

Ronnie Almone

Nick Bacon

Ed Calamia

Alex Jallot

Ibeth Mejia

Ilona Nanay

Luli Rodriguez

Mike Schirtzer 

TRS Election Was Consequential - Results Are Out - Ben Gets Over a Third With a Minimal Campaign While Unity Went All Out

Massive Unity failure in GOTV

....Unity also has the school by school data and can tell which of their district reps and chapter leaders actually did the work. The outcomes were so poor for the Unity GOTV effort I bet the leadership is plenty pissed at their own people. Don't be shocked to see some heads roll.

Tuesday, May 14, 2024

 

The shock and awe of only the second ever TRS election for UFT trustee (the last one was over 30 years ago) to the UFT/Unity cult and to the DOE is still reverberating on multiple levels. The DOE clearly violated the law with its electronic voting plan and the turnout was very poor. I'm trying to get totals but roughly Ben got over a third despite a heavy Unity campaign for his opponent. The Unity failure may be the major takeaway from this election. No wonder they were so perturbed at being forced to run an unexpected campaign. They knew they were not prepared. And very upset that this is an election controlled by the DOE, not them. Which leads us to this:

The late breaking news is that UFT legal eagle, Rude Beth Norton, has contacted Ben and Daniel Alicea (the alternate) about joining a union complaint about the election.

An interesting development, given Unity won by two thirds.

Why protest an election they won? Lots of speculation, including the low turnout as a condemnation of the Unity machine which went all out. Do they want a redo?

I wouldn't be shocked to see the UFT use this election as a way to try to change the law in ways to tip future elections in their favor --  like maybe "offer" to take the running of the election off the hands of the DOE. Make sure electronic voting is NOT on the table. And how do they argue that in next year's UFT election they should continue to use the massively expensive paper ballots? And how about letting retirees vote in a TRS election?

 

Despite the Unity win, I'm not betting on there being joy at 52 Mudville today. Some oppo are already talking about doing it again next year.

Ben did quite well given limited resources and campaign

The most unique data we have is the DOE giving us 18 pages listing all schools and how they voted. (I will publish at some point). This is something I've been asking the UFT to do for years in the general election and they refuse but I bet they get that data from the AAA anyway and don't share it. The reason is I wanted to see how our own people did in getting out the vote. This time we can see how the GOTV worked in every school. Now many had zero votes or so few the data is meaningless. I'm betting that where Ben did well it was tied to schools that did petitions for him and it means some person in the building did the work. 

 

I give Ben Morgenroth top credit for the organizing he did and his extensive contacts in enough schools to give him a credible outcome. We all learned a lot about organizing on short notice and I hope we see a campaign every year for the TRS position - they are rotated in 3 year terms and one Unity pension rep must run every year. 

Also expect this election to help form a base for next year's general UFT election, along with the work being done in the para and retiree chapter elections, plus all the school based chapter elections which will lead to new leadership in many schools.

This is worth repeating:

 

Massive Unity failure in GOTV

On the reverse side, Unity also has the data and can tell which of their district reps and chapter leaders actually did the work. The outcomes were so poor for the Unity GOTV effort I bet the leadership is plenty pissed at their own people. Don't be shocked to see some heads roll. 

We are looking at the data for certain districts with big mouth DRs who attack the oppo -- so far it is not looking good for them.

I always argue with my oppo friends - any progress we make is not due to the organizing we do but in the failures of the organizing of Unity and the increasing level of incompetence at the top. They are the gift that keeps giving. 

 

Oh, if the oppo ever did really get organized.

 

The campaign TRS campaign has brought crucial issues to the attention of many UFTers, like:

• Tier 6 - Accelerating the campaign for changes
• Reduction of interest from 8.25 to 7% for UFTers only: Randi's 2009 folly cost me $22,000 this year.
• The rubber stamp role Unity reps must play due to dictates of the UFT/Unity leadership.
• The value in having at least one non-Unity choice to push back on important issues, like the fees paid, especially to private equity.
• The learning experience an ad hoc group of people who organized this campaign outside the usual caucus structure gained. 
  

 

When I got my last TDA statement I calculated that Randi's move to 7% cost me $22,000 last year. Randi will be at the retiree meeting next Tuesday and I'm tempted to hold up a big check for her to sign for 22k.

 

I'm still concerned about the state of the opposition and if there will be an organized opposition capable of challenging Unity seriously next year. (More than one slate running against Unity will be a disaster). UFC has not really operated other than some people working together on the Ex bd.  It is impossible to calculate the impact of the loss of James Eterno and the work he was doing on the ICE blog. Last night at the RA webinar (attended by almost 150 people) one person gave James a shout out.

 

Ad Hoc Campaign

That the idea to run in the TRS election, find a candidate, and create and execute a campaign came from a small group chat one evening and not from the active UFT opposition caucuses (though members of some caucuses were involved). 

 

The process has broader consequences for the way the usual suspects in the UFT opposition have functioned. As a member of that chat, I was impressed by the open method of dialogue and the free back and forth that took place over the next few weeks. 

After my experience of being part of the founding of 3 oppo caucuses over the past 50 years, I realize that the processes and rules inside of caucuses, with some rigidity, can temper a free flow of ideas. No caucus I know could have responded as quickly and effectively.

 

These informal chats also led to last year's health care petition campaign, the para election slate and other initiatives. Some had objected that the people involved weren't going through a UFC multi caucus process where each caucus could veto an action or delay by saying they had to go back to their caucus steering committee. That process is like death by a thousand cuts. I know, people charge that process is democratic and having small groups decide to take an action is undemocratic. Guilty. I'm too old to wait for messy democracy to unfold. But the process is actually democratic in the sense if the idea is good people will sign on and if not it will bomb. 

 

So far the process of open dialogue in small groups of compatible people seems to have worked out. When challenged, my response it "Build it and they will come." So far we have seen the caucuses see the value of the idea and join in supporting it without going through a cumbersome process like we had two years ago with UFC.

I can't tell what the future will bring, but the relative success of the TRS dissident election is a hopeful sign.

 

Below are commentary from Arthur, always valuable.

UFT Para Chapter Election: Fix Para Pay Town Hall Tonight 6:30-7:30

The para chapter election has not been getting the same play at the retiree election but even having an election in the para chapter is significant. Unity has engaged in some dirty tricks, including buying off the Fix Para Pay slate's candidate for chapter leader with a union job.

 

See Marianne's interview with two of the candidates last Friday.

 https://youtu.be/LpJkDy0l5rQ?si=SiUm_XY3TpAdN9X3

 

 

.

And this is happening tonight:

Fix Para Pay Town Hall TONIGHT 6:30 - 7:30pm

You can read more about the slate at their website and sign up to attend tonight's workshop here.

Ballots have been mailed to UFT paraprofessionals' home addresses. When you receive your ballot, don't wait! Mark and X in the "FIX PARA PAY" box and mail your ballot back ASAP. All ballots must be received by Thursday, June 13th. 

If you're an in-service teacher, talk to the paraprofessionals at your school! These elections tend to be low-turnout affairs and UFT leadership is not exactly energetic when it comes to getting out the vote.

Hundreds of TRS members with no ballots and the Alchemer survey company - TRS Election Issues -- Will There Be A Protest?

How and why is the UFT leadership sitting idly by on this matter and waiting for election results that we knowingly know is unlawful and that further  limits access to our democratic participation.

Monday, May 13, 2024

If you didn't get an electronic ballot in the TRS election, here is a possible explanation. As of this morning there are no results yet. I will post some comments later on why this election is consequential -- hint -- we can have one every year.

Daniel, who is running as the alternate, does some digging in the email he sent to:

Hundreds of TRS members with no ballots and the Alchemer survey company

"Beth A. Norton" <bnorton@uft.org>, "Dkazansky@UFT.org" <Dkazansky@uft.org>, LeRoy Barr <lbarr@uft.org>,
Michael Mulgrew <mmulgrew@uft.org>, Tom Brown <tbrown@uft.org>, Victoria Lee <vlee@uft.org>

Esteemed,

The NYC DOE just ran the TRS Pension Board election using their go-to third party email survey platform — Alchemer. They have been using this vendor for years for their internal survey needs. And with interactions with families. 

We are hearing that one big reason some TRS members did not receive their electronic ballots during the last 2 days is because if someone unsubscribed from a previous Alchemer/SGizmo campaign then they would not have been able to vote electronically using this platform, unless notified to resubscribe. 

This was never clearly communicated to members, beforehand.

Once unsubscribed from the Alchemer system, the person will not receive any more future email campaigns. It’s part of their federally compliant policy. Common with most similar big box platforms. 

As you can see, in the attached screenshots, there is an unsubscribe option at the footer of Alchemer survey emails generated for various DOE offices. 

This isn’t a way to conduct serious electronic elections. For example, with AAA, when they conduct digital elections, members of the given organization, like PSC-CUNY, get a paper ballot with a unique access code/electronic token that they can then go online with to cast their secure vote.

This trustee election affects the pensions of over 100k city employees and over 100 billion dollars in pension funds. Hundreds, if not thousands, of TRS contributors have been disenfranchised from this process. And city admin code 13-507 was not followed throughout its administration.

This latest development only strengthens legal arguments for this entire election to be re-run. 

How and why is the UFT leadership sitting idly by on this matter and waiting for election results that we knowingly know is unlawful and that further  limits access to our democratic participation.

This is a serious ethical and legal matter before you. We expect our union leadership to have been more vocal about what transpired in the last two days. And we’ve heard nothing.

We need to know that those we entrust to protect and defend our rights are doing just that.

Source:

https://help.alchemer.com/help/how-does-unsubscribe-work

In union solidarity,

Dan Alicea