UFT Elections: Illuminating Stats from the past

With ballots for 2022 going out today, it is worth looking back for trends. Here are some views - check out Jonathan Halabi from 2013 - Halabi in 2013 - https://jd2718.org/2013/04/28/changing-membership-changing-electorate

Halabi in 2016 - https://jd2718.org/2016/05/27/uft-election-2016-good-news-good-news-for-more-new-action/

Some thoughts from me in 2016 - https://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/2016/05/more2016-uft-election-vote-count-report.html

• UFT Elections - Mike Schirtzer on Why and How MORE...
• #MORE2016 UFT Elections: My High School Prediction...

And here is some analysis from MORE in 2019 - 

 

#UFTElection2022 - Unity doesn't want Turnout, Turnout, Turnout - With less than 25% returns - Help get out the vote in the UFT election -

No matter what the UFT leadership says, the reality is that a big turnout doesn't help them. So in subtle and not so subtle ways, they act to suppress turnout except in places they think they have a lock on the vote. They opposed electronic voting. 

Take a look at this rule I didn't notice till Peter Lamphere pointed it out:

Check out the voting instructions on the UFT website:

If you have not received a ballot by Monday, April 18, you can request a ballot from the American Arbitration Association by calling 800-218-5524 (Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. only) or sending an email to UlerioS@adr.org. Requests for ballots must be made promptly – no later than 5 p.m. on Friday, April 22.

So folks who don't get a ballot can ONLY make the request during spring break?!  A number of folks are going to be out of town, try to request when they return, and be disenfranchised.

Think of this rule. I do not remember getting replacement ballots being so restricted but memory may be failing. We will raise the issue with the election committee.

They actually brag about the low turnout as expected in union elections while ignoring high turnout in places like Chicago where they vote in the schools and have had 60% turnout. Maybe a union leadership that actually works leads to turnout. (The Chicago election is concurrent with ours and there are three slates running so that will be a test of sorts after a dozen years of CORE being in control - plus a new presidential candidate.)

MORE put out these great suggestions for GOTV -- 

Help get out the vote in the UFT election

UFT election ballots will be arriving in member’s homes next week!

Like any election, the UFT contest will be won or lost based on turnout.  It’s crucial that MORE members motivate our coworkers to vote - turnout in previous elections has averaged around 24% and increasing that number will help ensure that we win some of the key seats in play in the elections. 

1. Make a list of members of your chapter, and ask each of your colleagues to share with you when they vote in the election. This is the most fundamental thing you can do to help drive turnout. You do not need to ask who they voted for.

2. You can collect pledges to vote UFC by asking your co-workers to complete this digital form, (or use the paper pledge form and send photos or scans of completed forms to info@unitedforchange.vote so that we can add the pledgers to our reminder lists).

3. Have a ballot party where members bring their sealed ballots to school (copy the attached sample flyer). Take a group photo of the members with their ballots. If there is a mailbox close to your school, walk together before or after school to mail the ballots together. Please note that these parties should be non-partisan and open to all chapter members. There shouldn’t be a transaction of cash or item, including food, in return for completing a ballot.  However, MORE has funding available ($20 for small chapters with 40 or fewer members and more for larger chapters) to help pay for refreshments at these events - please fill out this form to request - funds are limited, so it’s first come-first serve. 

4. Fill out this form to request “I voted UFC” stickers  Give members the stickers when they report they have voted. Have members take selfies of themselves mailing their ballots and selfies and share to the chapter

5. Create a UFT election thermometer that tracks the percentage of UFT members who have mailed in their ballot (copy the template on the next page).

6. Create the base of a turnout tree. As UFT staff members self-report to you, add leaves to the tree with the name of each UFT member who has mailed in a ballot.

7. If you have already distributed the UFC trifold and MORE flyer, make copies of this UFC platform flyer https://bit.ly/voteufc (if you don’t have access to copies, please fill this form to request funds to help make copies).

Turn up the heat in the UFT election!

This thermometer shows  how many chapter members  voted in the election. 

Only 24% of UFT members voted in the last election

Let’s make sure everyone in our school votes this time!

Ballots are due to the AAA  Monday, May 9th @  8AM. If you have not received a ballot by Monday, April 18, you can request a ballot from the American Arbitration Association by calling 800-218-5524 (Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. only) or sending an email to UlerioS@adr.org. Requests for ballots must be made promptly – no later than 5 p.m. on Friday, April 22.F

Voting Party!!! 

Gather in the library on Tuesday 4/12 at  4pm - Bring your sealed ballot in the UFT Elections!

We will take a group selfie with the ballots, enjoy some snacks and refreshments, and go mail them together!

Ballots are being mailed to your home this week.  Only 24% of UFT members voted in the last election - let’s make sure everyone in our school votes this time!

Ballots are due to the AAA  Monday, May 9th @  8AM. If you have not received a ballot by Monday, April 18, you can request a ballot from the American Arbitration Association by calling 800-218-5524 (Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. only) or sending an email to UlerioS@adr.org. Requests for ballots must be made promptly – no later than 5 p.m. on Friday, April 22.

 

Reality Check - Handicapping the 2022 UFT Election: Part 2 - The Range of Possibilities

Let's face facts - If UFC were to win it all, it would be by a thin margin. And I'd bet my pension that Unity would protest and yell "Stop the steal." They are Republicans after all. Mitch Mulgrew.

In part 1 (Handicapping the 2022 UFT Election: Can United for Change Win? Part 1 - UFC Unique Coalition, Unity on the Attack, Will UFC Hold Together?) I talked about the UFC Coalition and how its every nature makes the oppo in this election different and also how the Unity campaign is different as an offset.  

I believe this election can range from slam dunk 80% win for Unity and nothing for UFC to a slim win for UFC, if not overall, then in certain divisions. Keys are turnout and GOTV efforts, both weak in the past. Retirees have the biggest turnout -- like 45% of the total voters, while working teachers are more like 25% or less. If both go up significantly it favors UFC. Unity knows that and will make GOTV claims but they really want low turnout. They actually brag that the 25% is actually great for union elections, ignoring that in Chicago, with in school  voting, they get 60% turnout. And don't forget -- they turned down all UFC attempts to use electronic voting. 

Let me recommend you read Jonathan Halabi with a realistic analysis of the possibilities in this election: The answer is “Mulgrew, Medicare, Pandemic”

Jon does a deep dive on the problems Unity and Mulgrew face, so go read it. His takeaway won't totally jive with mine, but here is his conclusion:

For people who follow elections, UFT elections are usually a snore. 12 officers, 95 executive board seats, 750 delegates, none of these are a contest. There is usually a tussle over the last 7 executive board seats. The high school seats. I held one of them for 11 years. But this year? At least those 7 seats in play, with a realistic chance for more, and an outside chance for the whole ball of wax. Observers and players alike are speculating about the margin. If Unity somehow loses votes from 2019 (83%), but stays at their 2016 level (76%), that will look like a huge victory for them. But I don’t think that is likely.

Will Unity lose some votes, or will they lose a lot of votes? Will they take a small hit but still sail in with 72%? If that happens, there’s no mandate for change. UFT members who want something different will be disappointed. Some Unity members among them. Of course UFC might win, and we should talk about that, a different day. But if the votes come out and Unity wins, but takes a big hit on the numbers – and that’s what I think will happen, will that send a clear message? Will Unity adjust some of its policies? Will they find a new leader?

I'd say anything over 70% for Unity is a win in the broader sense, even if UFC wins some Ex Bd seats -- especially as you go down Jon's list of Unity ills. If people ignore that in today's world, what would it take?

 

But if Unity gets into mid-60s or less, which would be an overwhelming win in normal elections, in the UFT that opens up real danger signs for Unity. UFC presents a real threat in the next election with a third or more votes and if it holds together (not a slam dunk there either - though any one caucus that thinks it should go it alone is committing suicide for the future of the opposition even if good for that individual caucus).

There are people in Unity who recognize that and this time, as Jon points out, Unity is taking this election very seriously - insiders tell me they expect to win it all - including the high schools. They are running a heavy campaign and let's not ignore that campaigns do work if done right. How they are playing out in the schools is something beyond me. 

And of course UFC is running a heavy, more far reaching campaign than I've seen - ever. Jonathan's view:

Broad Coalition: United for Change, the opposition coalition, is bigger and broader than anything we’ve seen in these last two decades. Maybe the coalitions is Unity’s biggest problem? You could make that argument. But I don’t think so. We had a pretty big coalition in 2016, and did win the high school division, but it wasn’t scary for Unity the way today is.

Jon goes on to address the issues that scare Unity but I think that this time doesn't compare to the 2016 coalition which was MORE/NA while Solidarity was out there very vocally even if not with slate status. And there was still some pushback against NAC which had been in coalition with Unity for a decade.

Plus the many new players who had never been involved before, some of them former Unity supporters.

The UFC coalition ranges from right of center to far left. 

 

Reminds me of the groups that have organized to run against tyrant Victor Orban in Hungry - they even are running a right winger for president. If Orban wins big is that a good sign for Unity? Orban vs Mulgrew for who has more control?

 

At least UFC didn't court the far right and has a well-supported Camille Eterno who appeals to many segments of the UFT. She was flyering in a school with a heavy Unity presence and got a great greetng from rank and file UFT members there.

Now you might read stories about the horrors of the MORE experience c. 2016-19 -- and they are not false. I experienced them first hand. So yes I was very wary of getting involved with MORE again -- especially with some people I knew all too well. 

 

But I found a new MORE - lots of new people. When I left there was a core of people who were active. I have found some wonderful people who I love to work with in this election and find myself in surprising agreement on a number of issues I had within MORE.

 

But I have a deeper understanding and so do many in MORE of the importance of coalitions. Remember - I and MORE broke over the ruining of the MORE/NA and potential Solidarity coalition in 2019 - it was my writing about that issue from some internal meetings that got me suspended -- the best thing that happened to me.

I can't tell you how many people who are center or even center left have told me they would never back a hard left group running against Unity -- and over the decades Unity has tried to brand the oppo as hard left but this year has had some problems, though some of their hacks have tried to make the UFC coalition look like a front group for MORE. 

 

That is the furthest from the truth. MORE certainly has the largest contingent and in the early stages of negotiations there was some concerns about balance, but despite some rough moments over candidates, things came together fairly well and all the groups have shown strength in various ways.

And I love how some people have emerged and how some have grown. Some serious talent in MORE, Solidarity (I brag all the time about how amazing Lydia has been) and New Action and Daniel Alicea with his outreach group.

I'm particularly proud of Retiree Advocate which has led a fight against Mulgrewcare and was instumental in bringing the UFC coalition together. Another sign of the failure of Mulrew who by his actions played a major role in the formation of UFC -- we can make him an honorary member.

I will dive deeper into the particulars of the election in Part 3-infinity where I will review the divisions and the potential outcomes for each.

Camille Eterno in The Chief -- Alford Speaks for UFT - A sign of Mulgrew's successor in case of election disaster for Unity?

I have faith in Camille Eterno running the UFT better than Mulgrew has. Insiders tell us he has even lost the confidence of many in Unity -- and even Unity retirees -- look at the opt out numbers -- 64k for all union retirees, probably many in the UFT. Will opt-outers who would have to pay almost $200 a month extra for what they were getting for free still vote Unity? A 50-50 split would be a win for United for Change. Word out of some Unity people is even they do not object to Camille as many know her. Look for more split ballots this time than usual.

In the past I discounted split ballots. But in a close election, individual rather than slate votes might push some people over. So Imagine a close election and say Camille gets a few hundred votes from split ballots and you can end up with a mixed AdCom and even a mixed Ex Bd. Actually that might be better for the union than winner take all. Or it could descend into the Republican vs Dem war where the Unity people try to sabotage Camille. Anyway, interesting thoughts for we wonks.

My other thoughts are that it is interesting that Elem VP Karen Alford is the UFT spokesperson here. I like Karen as to a lot of people. I met Karen on a charter school committee Randi formed in the late 90s chaired by then considered Randi successor and Elem VP Michelle Boden who a few years later disappeared to run the UFT charter school in favor of Mulgrew --- Randi's biggest mistake among many. Many of us really like Boden. The point I am making here is that bringing Alford into public light is a sign of possibly being considered as a Mulgrew successor - especially if this election is a disaster for Unity- and a disaster would mean UFC getting over 40% of the total vote and making serious inroads which would set them up for winning the next time and would necessitate Mulgrew's removal -- but in dictatorships even with disaster looming that is not all that easy. HSVP Janella Hinds right now is considered by some even in the opposition to be the most likely choice but maybe Karen is in the chase. More fun for us UFT wonks.

 

Teacher hopeful of turning the tide at the UFT

Queens teacher Camille Eterno, far right, part of the United For Change slate, is challenging the longtime president of the United Federation of Teachers, Michael Mulgrew, in balloting that begins the second week of April.

By CRYSTAL LEWIS clewis@thechiefleader.com

For veteran teacher Camille Eterno, safety concerns for her fellow educators during the coronavirus pandemic were what prompted her to run to become the United Federation of Teachers’s next leader.

“We’ve lost over 100 UFT members to the Covid virus,” said Eterno, who is challenging the UFT’s longtime president, Michael Mulgrew, in balloting next month. 

A six-decade streak

Eterno is running as part of the United For Change slate, a coalition of six dissident caucuses that formed last fall to pose a greater challenge to the Unity caucus, which has led the UFT since the early 1960s. The upstart slate faces an uphill battle: Mulgrew has served as UFT president since 2009, and easily won re-election to a fourth term in 2019 with 86 percent of the vote.

But during a recent phone interview, Eterno argued that this was the perfect chance to transform the UFT, which she believes is a “top-down” organization, into a member-run union. United For Change aims to reduce class sizes, improve pay and empower rank-and-file members. 

“The feedback we’ve gotten has been very positive. People are hungry for a change,” said Eterno, who started teaching in city public schools in 1996 and has served as a chapter leader and delegate for 18 years.

Mulgrew was said to be unavailable for comment, but Karen Alford, who has served as the UFT’s vice president for elementary schools since 2008 and is also running for re-election, said the union’s goal is to “make sure that our folks are treated as a union of professionals—that there is a fair wage so that when we walk into the classroom we can do the best job possible.”

'We Do The Work'

Unity’s campaign slogan centered on “doing the work.” Alford pointed to a number of achievements by the UFT, including an arbitration ruling earlier this year that provided members who were forced to work during the canceled spring break in 2020 with vacation days as compensation. 

She also highlighted safety standards negotiated between the city and the union to protect students and staff from Covid, including testing, contact tracing and protective equipment in every school building.

“We are a model for this country for what health and safety looks like for educators. Schools that had broken ventilation for 20 years now have working ventilation,” Alford said.

But those achievements are not enough, Eterno argued.

“I don’t think Mulgrew fought hard enough for health care for retirees, for raises that keep up with inflation, or to reduce class sizes. He’s too busy making concessions,” she said.

Against retiree health-care changes

She believed the end of the seniority transfer list in the union’s 2005 contract was one such concession, which then led to the creation of the controversial Absent Teacher Reserve. United For Change also sought to reverse the city’s plan to move municipal retirees’ health coverage to a Medicare Advantage plan. 

In early March, a Manhattan Supreme Court judge ruled that the city must provide retirees with the option of keeping their current health insurance free of charge. Some retirees have expressed concerns that Medicare Advantage offered lesser benefits than traditional Medicare, or that it would be more costly.

UFT leadership supported the new program, but believed that it suffered from serious implementation problems. “We are still working to make sure that this is a plan that works for our members,” Alford said. “We want to make sure it is a plan that is cost-effective and takes care of their health needs. We don’t want a plan that feels like it’s being done to you.”

The slates also differ on the issue of mayoral control of schools. 

Eterno argued that mayoral control was responsible for many school closures, which then led to ballooning class sizes. Under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, nearly 200 low-performing schools were closed between 2002 and 2013.

'Mayoral Control A Disservice'

“Mayoral control has done a disservice to public school children. I don’t think Mulgrew will fight hard enough against mayoral control, he wants tweaks,” she said.

But Alford argued that instead of reverting oversight of schools back to local school boards, there could be other ways to improve mayoral control, such as giving more power to parents through the Panel for Educational Policy.

“As opposed to throwing the baby out with the bathwater, is there a way to put in some checks and balances?” she asked.

One issue they agree on, though, was encouraging more members to participate in the election. 

“Only 23 percent responded to mail-in ballots in 2019—so the vast majority of the UFT members are not participating,” Eterno explained. Although the UFC candidate called for electronic ballots in order to encourage members to vote, Alford said “a multi-partisan election committee” decided to retain mail ballots.

“We want everyone to fill out their ballots so they can be counted,” she said. 

Ballots will be mailed April 8

Alford has been challenged by UFC’s Tameka Solomon, while Annie Tan is seeking to defeat incumbent LeRoy Barr for secretary. UFC's Luli Rodriguez and treasurer Debra Penny are among the other candidates facing off.

Ballots will be sent out April 8, and will be counted on May 10 by the American Arbitration Association.

Eterno said that if she wins, she wants to empower members so they know what their rights are, especially those facing harassment and retaliation. 

“To people who aren’t sure which way to vote, I would say, ‘Look around you,’” she said. “I would ask them ‘Are you better off now than you were two or three years ago?’”

Mulgrew Turns Tail and runs from confrontation with retirees over MulgrewCare

Retirees planning to show up at Mulgrew’s confab had some colorful protest methods in mind. “Bring rotten tomatoes! Lol,” Joseph Gloss, a retired NYPD sergeant, wrote in response to a Facebook post asking people to show up for the demonstration. Marianne Pizzitola, an ex-FDNY emergency medical specialist and president of the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees, said she had dished out nearly $1,500 to rent a billboard truck for the Mulgrew protest. “We probably would have had a really good turnout,” she said.” I wanted Mr. Mulgrew to know how we all felt. I wanted him to hear how people feel about all this.”

The signs of a dictator isolated from the his constituency who has to hide from the public keep growing every day. No, I'm not talking about some well known European potentates (see Erdwoan, Orban, Putin) but our own unloved UFT leader Michael Mulgrew who joins others who have

Fallen Into the Dictator Trap:

Autocrats eventually succumb to what may be called the “dictator trap.” The strategies they use to stay in power tend to trigger their eventual downfall. Rather than being long-term planners, many make catastrophic short-term errors—the kinds of errors that would likely have been avoided in democratic systems. They hear only from sycophants, and get bad advice. They misunderstand their population. They don’t see threats coming until it’s too late.

I've been posting stories (Hiding Mulgrew in Plain Sight - Scripting, Rehearsals. Shutting down critics: Internal polling on Mulgrew not good) citing Jon Halabi, Campaign Strategy: hide Mulgrew. 

Even within Unity Caucus, Mulgrew is unpopular in many quarters but Unity is not a true democratic institution so no mechanism exists to replace him. Some Unity insiders have shared stories that they are worried about the coming election because of Mulgrew and feel if they had chosen a different candidate they would win hands down. Now many of them are just not motivated enough to beat the bushes for him. The most rabid are those worried about their jobs if Unity should lose.

When we heard Mulgrew was going to make an appearance in Bayside (safe territory he thought) on April 4, retiree groups working with active UFT members began to plan a rally to greet him.

Then this in today's Daily News:

NYC teachers union boss cancels event after protest threat from retirees angry over new Medicare plan

By Chris Sommerfeldt

New York Daily News |

Mar 31, 2022 at 5:26 PM

 

 

https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/new-york-elections-government/ny-teachers-union-boss-cancels-event-protest-retirees-medicare-20220331-4stiiwpsofeqdjru2jwcckz2vm-story.html

NYC teachers union boss cancels event after protest threat from retirees angry over new Medicare plan

NYC teachers union boss cancels event after protest threat from retirees angry over new Medicare plan Chris Sommerfeldt New York Daily News Mar 31, 2022 at 5:26 PM The city’s teachers union boss has abruptly canceled a meet-and-greet with current and former members after a group of retirees threatened to turn the event into a protest over the Adams administration’s effort to shift them onto a controversial new Medicare plan, the Daily News has learned. 

 

Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers, was supposed to host the sit-down at the Towers At Water’s Edge in Bayside, Queens, this coming Monday, according to an online invitation that promised “light refreshments and conversation.” 

 

But on Wednesday, a UFT official sent out an email to members who signed up for the event saying the union would have to cancel and reschedule the confab at a different location due to “circumstances beyond our control.” 

 

 “The building is requiring formal security. This has not been a practice of the UFT at any of our meetings,” the official, Mary Vaccaro, wrote in the email, a copy of which was obtained by The News. 

 

Retired New York City municipal workers are pictured on the steps of Brooklyn Borough Hall to call on New York City Mayor-Elect Eric Adams to preserve their Medicare coverage in December 2021. 

 

The cancellation notice was issued one day after the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees began spreading word on social media that it planned to stage a protest at Mulgrew’s event over Mayor Adams’ effort to switch retired municipal workers off traditional Medicare and onto Medicare Advantage Plan. 

 

Like many organized labor leaders, Mulgrew has been supportive of the Advantage plan, which Adams’ administration argues would provide municipal retirees with good health benefits while saving city taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars every year thanks to a larger chunk of federal funding. 

 

But more than 64,000 retirees have opted out of the new plan over concerns that it would downgrade their health coverage by requiring preauthorization clearance for certain medical procedures. 

 

They’ve also raised concern about the Advantage plan being administered by a private health insurance company, arguing that its profit motives could result in inferior benefits in the long run, among other issues. 

 

Retirees planning to show up at Mulgrew’s confab had some colorful protest methods in mind. “Bring rotten tomatoes! Lol,” Joseph Gloss, a retired NYPD sergeant, wrote in response to a Facebook post asking people to show up for the demonstration. Marianne Pizzitola, an ex-FDNY emergency medical specialist and president of the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees, said she had dished out nearly $1,500 to rent a billboard truck for the Mulgrew protest. “We probably would have had a really good turnout,” she said.” I wanted Mr. Mulgrew to know how we all felt. I wanted him to hear how people feel about all this.” 

 

A UFT spokeswoman declined to specify Thursday why Mulgrew’s meet-and-greet was canceled, but promised it would be rescheduled. A rep for the Bayside event space did not return a request for comment. 

 

In addition to vocal opposition from Pizzitola’s group, the Adams administration has run into legal complications in rolling out the Advantage plan. A Manhattan Supreme Court judge ruled earlier this month that the administration could not slap a $191 monthly penalty on retirees who want to keep their current coverage — a decision jeopardizing Adams’ promise that the plan would generate sizable taxpayer savings. The administration is appealing the ruling, but calls for Adams to scrap the Advantage plan altogether have mounted in the interim. Comptroller Brad Lander took the unusual step of refusing to register the contract for the Advantage plan. In a statement issued by Lander, he said, “our office cannot currently assess the total cost to the City and fulfill our mandate to confirm that the contract is fully funded” due to the ongoing litigation. 

 

In the meantime, six City Council members and eight members of the State Assembly have signed on to an open letter to Adams urging him to drop his appeal of the court ruling and allow retirees to keep their traditional Medicare without the $191 fee.

 

UFT DA- The Numbers Don't Lie - Truth about our Delegate Assembly, Mulgrew Filibuster (and the mistruth UFC is “wasting time”)

With every blatant lie, the Unity Caucus machine wins votes for United For Change. They dare to try to blame the lack of business getting done at the DA on the few minutes taken up be points of order or parliamentary procedure which are attempts to open up the floor for debates, discussions and resolutions. So people have begun to track the actual time stamps for the DA to prove that Mulgrew and his Unity Caucus cohorts take up almost all the time -- even pre-planning questions and planted resolutions -- insiders tell us that Mulgrew actually holds practice sessions with people assigned seats and even a seating chart. 

Watch Unity attack UFC for speaking at all.

Here is a report from the UFC media team.

The numbers don’t lie. The Mulgrew filibuster is solely responsible for obstructing the deliberative and legislative business of the Delegate Assembly. 

 

The March DA is not exception. 

 

The numbers and data don’t lie. See the charts below. 

 

The time is being monopolized by the chair, Mulgrew and Unity - mostly for reports. In December, he took 80% of the DA time, while Unity consumed 95% of the total time with ZERO resolutions passed. 

 

Since December 2020, the DA has only averaged 1.5 resolutions passed, per month, almost all being political endorsements and symbolic resolutions. 

They claim to do the work … but the work seems to be the talking points 52 Broadway wants to deliver to us… not the rank and file organizing from the bottom up or bringing their ideas to the table and arena ideas. 

 

At the last DA, Mulgrew and Unity literally ran out the clock for an automatic 6 pm adjournment despite calls to extend the time so business and motions could be considered by the United For Change partner delegates. 

 

We must #FreeTheDelgateAssembly. Check out this spreadsheet for a minute by minute account of the March DA:

 

 https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/0/d/1jY2AOvdlhEPxGXvrU4gc2k1pCrmTt8Lk/htmlview

march da speaking time.xlsx -

 

 

Nick's Comprehensive Executive Board Meeting Minutes, 3/28/2022 – Election Complaints

Christina Gavin: Our union has been in existence since 1960. The DOL has regulations, set in 1959, for election guidelines. Our union should be upholding federal labor laws. These labor laws underline the fiber of our union, but we see repeated violations. Mr. Barr and Ms. Norton take exemption and want to interpret regulations and Carl Cambria’s reminder to interpret guidelines in another way. It’s my right to appeal that. Unity Caucus has violated labor law as well as Carl Cambria’s email to them that explicitly reminded on much of what was discussed above. Cambria later said he was amending his original email. But, when you write a rule, that is what you need to be bound by. I look forward to seeing what AFT will say of this matter. -- comments at UFT Ex bd meeting

A bunch of us sat in to support Christina Gavin in her complaints over election conduct. We have even more dynamite not presented yet. It won't get us anywhere at this point but if UFC goes to Dept of Labor and gets certain rulings it may affect future behavior. One comment as the meeting ended at 6:30 - they do the work?

I'm not sure how to describe Christina, who I met only 6 weeks ago at the end of petitioning but has become a relentless activist in the election campaign. She certainly has become known to the UFT leadership in a very short time. She had focused on tracking election violations by union officials using DOL rules. She is a constant blur of motion and I often can't keep up, but all I can say is WOW!

Let me just say this before getting to Nick's report. Yesterday a 12 year teacher and UFC candidate for HS Ex Bd drove out to my house to pick up boxes of leaflets. We had a deligthful conversation for over an hour on a range of subjects. It was only the second time I met her and I feel so much on the same plane.

So when you see Nick leave Unity and Daniel who voted for Unity in 2019 become major cogs in the oppo and these ladies emerge, we see a new kind of oppo emerging. Win, lose or partial win, this should be fun to watch.

Executive Board Meeting Minutes, 3/28/2022 – Election Complaints

Published March 28, 2022 Uncategorized Leave a Comment

 https://newaction.org/2022/03/28/executive-board-meeting-minutes-3-28-2022-election-complaints/

A. Routine Items

1. Approval of the Minutes (March 19) – All minutes (eboard and adcom) passed unanimously

Announcements: Negotiating committee will be starting at 4:30 on Wednesday, all in person, giving time for people to come from the outer boroughs. Next eboard is March, next DA is April 18th. The DA in May is now May 25th, which is not the original date.

1. Report from Districts

Rashad Brown, executive board at large, had legal plan meeting with great attendance.

Janella Hinds: Hosting 2 events next week, Tuesday April 5th, Academic High School meeting, 4:30-5:45, followed by the academic high schools award ceremony, including education, union, community, and solidarity awards. Last year’s winners will also be exited. That’s Friday, April 8th.

(Name Missed): First books event just occurred, where 12,000 books were given to many different schools in Chinatown. Lots of support.

2. President’s Report : Michael Mulgrew: Apologizes for being late, but says he’s been on meetings in Albany. Says budget, a lot of it was taken up by Buffalo Bills Stadium. Tier 6 reform discussions will be occurring all week. April 4th is now the final date of the budget, strange. Congratulate nurse chapter, settled with Northwell last Friday at 4:00 AM. Able to get contract settled and they did a great job. Thanks all involved. Now, all private sector nurse contracts are back in place. At least a year before we have to deal with another issue. On April 14th, prep is going on for Listen up – the number of teachers we have is so many that we are going to have to expand. The idea is for education leaders and policy experts to listen to teachers for what is going on and needed right now. We knew, we have a whole bunch of educators who want to do that kind of work.

Chapter leader hub goes live on Friday. Will continue to field test it to make sure all goes well, but it’s a big deal, and we’re hoping that everything goes well. It is that time of the year. We don’t have the calendar yet from the DOE, and I’m frustrated, because we need to start planning for next year now, and the DOE is taking quite a bit of time on the superintendent process, so we’ll see how that goes. Besides that, we have the NYSUT RA, and thanks all going for doing that work. It’s really tight and it’s nonstop for two days, sitting in chairs and making sure we’re representing our local in the state-wide piece. Apologizes, but has to leave.

Thanks everyone for a phenomenal chapter leader weekend. Talks about great energy and optimism, great to see how great it was. It was a well run weekend, so thanks everyone. Be well, bye.

Reports from Districts reconvenes:

Rich Mantell: April 9th is the Middle School conference in person, no remote option. Some of the classes are STEM classroom, Google Earth, CTE partnerships, loan forgiveness, morale, socio-emotional health (yoga). See you there.

Mary Vaccaro: CTLE workshops, everyone is calling. We’ve added a lot of them. Anyone on the waitlist, we’ll let you know, especially for our Apple workshops, cap being lifted to 450. In addition there are ELL credits associated if that applies to you. April 6th, Goldie Haun workshop will have workshop on SEL, free one year subscription. Many schools invited to attend. Anyone who wants to attend from eboard, we’ll get an invite out to your.

Karen Alford: Had elementary school workshops last week, was great to be back in person. Had an elementary school town hall with about 500 people online, who asked questions and heard the reports.

Tom Murphy: April 11th is next meeting for retired chapter. Will now be a regular mail letter for retirees, including for retirees who don’t have email.

C. Special Order of Business: Election Complaints

Background from LeRoy Barr: alleged misuse of union resources in election, Christina Gavin is a UFC member. We are going to review her complaint and take steps. In other instances, we have found that some Unity Caucus actions are fine, with response to use of personal accounts by UFT employee on social media. Every 3 years, we have elections. The 2022 election committee has reps from each slate, Unity and UFC (doesn’t mention how many in each). Email was sent by Christina with respect to use of media. UFT gathered more information, after which Christina amended her complaint and added additional evidence. With regard to official UFT accounts, no caucus business, email should be sent out…..with use of officer headshots from website, we say that Unity should pay a reasonable market rate for use of the photos. But recommend dismissal of the rest of the complaint.

Complaint that UFT employees use personal accounts for both UFT and caucus business, but some of these activities are not electioneering. Nothing wrong with sharing UFT information. Allegations of union employees using personal accounts to ‘electioneer’ on social media. Since personal, this is not illegal. There are also accounts that official UFT accounts should not be used for caucus purposes, and these accounts should cease being used ASAP. Some accounts are used for non-UFT purposes or caucus purposes, but this is fine. Uses of UFT and archival photos for caucus purposes, which showed caucus logos on republished UFT footage. Under LMRDA, the union is not required to stop communications to regular UFT. While it’s true that LMRDA is against using union funds for electioneering, this is not true when there is equal access. For instance, there can be a candidates forum or post in newspaper. Since anyone could have downloaded the video in Queens, anyone else could have done that, not just Unity Caucus. The same is true of the photo from the labor archives.

Use of headshots from the Unity website and campaign materials. Unity used headshots that were paid for by UFT funds. This has been ruled that one campaign’s use of photos from the website does not violate election law, because those photos are not UFT property but officer property. Still, Unity Caucus should pay a reasonable market rate for use of the headshots. President Mulgrew’s letter in support of Debra Penny for TRS Board. The allegation that Mulgrew’s praise of Debra Penny, incumbent candidate for Treasurer, and asking for signatures from all chapter leaders. The 3 teacher members serve 3 year terms, and it’s Debra Penny’s turn for an election. The DA voted overwhelmingly in support. Only after this resolution did Michael Mulgrew send the letter in support. The DOL has found this regular work of the union to be permissable during officer election season. The letter didn’t endorse Penny for UFT Treasurer, so the complaint is denied. The letter is fine.

Union representatives were found to enter different schools during UFT work hours and distributed flyers. Winnie Thompson sent caucus business from her UFT account. This matter has been addressed. And another DR allegedly dropped of caucus pamphlets to a CL in the parking lot. The other DRs deny the evidence, but they should be reminded not to do it.

Michael Sill: Only members of the eboard may debate, but Christina Gavin will be given an opportunity to speak for 3 minutes.

Christina Gavin: Our union has been in existence since 1960. The DOL has regulations, set in 1959, for election guidelines. Our union should be upholding federal labor laws. These labor laws underline the fiber of our union, but we see repeated violations. Mr. Barr and Ms. Norton take exemption and want to interpret regulations and Carl Cambria’s reminder to interpret guidelines in another way. It’s my right to appeal that. Unity Caucus has violated labor law as well as Carl Cambria’s email to them that explicitly reminded on much of what was discussed above. Cambria later said he was amending his original email. But, when you write a rule, that is what you need to be bound by. I look forward to seeing what AFT will say of this matter.

Michael Sill: Do we accept the report? No debate. Motion passes unanimously.

Barr: Ballots on April 8th. Reminds everyone to vote. Motion to adjourn.