Sunday, August 6, 2023

James Eterno Recovery Fund, Sunday Night Replay of Interview James did with Daniel on WBAI, Talk out of School

Jamaica High School - James Eterno Against Closure -- Dec. 17, 2009 - 700+ Protested Against New York City's Attempt to Shut Down Jamaica High School, Queens. James Eterno, the UFT (teachers' union) Chapter Leader & member of ICE-UFT speaks to outraged crowd.


https://youtu.be/6O8ZxBRjOVU

In May of 2023, James Eterno, beloved retired educator and union activist, suffered a major stroke. James is recovering and currently needs 24-hour care.

James has been a consummate fighter for his family, his union family and the City of New York.
 
He will prevail in this latest fight!

Please help the Eternos during this challenging time. Pray for us and donate.
https://gofund.me/363527e6

Sunday, Aug. 6, 2023

The news came on a Saturday morning in early May as I was having breakfast with Arthur who had just handed me hundreds of signatures for the healthcare petition. I even told Arthur, as the phone rang with James' name, "This is James calling to bug me to have an ICE meeting." But it was Camille with the devastating news.

Friday, August 4, 2023

Dissecting UFT/UNITY's Dirty War Against Therapists and their chapter leader- Machinations re: OT/PT Contract Rejection have deeper implications

Unity/UFT will not willingly give up power even if the opposition wins an election. Recent events in the OT/PT contract vote controversy help make the point, but there's precedence in UFT history. Too much is at stake in that NYC Unity Caucus through sheer size control the state (NYSUT) and national (AFT) unions and are a core component of the corporate wing of the Democratic Party structure. A loss by Unity would be cataclysmic for certain forces way beyond the UFT. The current attack on the OT/PT chapter leadership is part of an overall plan to prevent insurgencies in the UFT from gaining a deep foothold, and part of a longstanding practice by Unity since its very foundation.

Is the UFT leadership anti-union by refusing to bargain?

Can an oppressive union leadership that refuses to bargain be viewed as anti-union? Well, when UFT/Unity refuses to bargain and calls for a revote on a contract that was voted down overwhelmingly, what else can you call it? I saw connections between the Starbucks fairly successful campaign to stamp out the fledgling union before it takes root as I read in an article in the NYT.
By attacking the non-Unity leadership of the chapter, Unity wants to stamp out the roots of a fledgling movement in the functional chapters where the NO vote in some units (paras for instance) was higher than ever. Signs of erosion in the functionals are an existential threat to Unity control of the UFT.

When stories sympathetic to Unity opponents hit the press, panic sets in at UFTHQ. Claudia's article appeared in The City and Chalkbeat. A few excerpts.

Concerns about salary gaps between therapists and teachers are a major source of contention, according to chapter leaders and rank-and-file members who spoke with THE CITY. The gap is considerable: by January, a therapist with a master’s degree and 10 years of experience would earn $17,463 less annually than a teacher with the same credentials and experience, Chalkbeat reported, citing UFT documents. 

“We are trying to get the city and DOE to come back to the bargaining table,” he asserted in the letter even as he highlighted demands from members for an immediate revote. 

That position puts him at odds with the therapists’ leadership: By a vote of 5-1 with one abstention last week, their executive board decided against a revote.

In a meeting with the therapists’ chapter on Wednesday afternoon, Mulgrew made repeated attempts to persuade members to give up on pursuing a stronger contract and to persuade them to join in a revote, claiming he had heard from 1,200 members who had demanded a new tally. Melissa Williams, the therapists’ chapter leader, asked Mulgrew for guidance on where and how the union’s constitution lays out rules for revotes.

Mulgrew also urged members to give up on trying to get a better deal. “The city isn’t interested in getting back to the bargaining table right now,” he said, noting that other legal maneuvers could potentially take years. “I can’t express this clear enough to all of you. We don’t have an avenue to get back to the bargaining table right now.”

Rank-and-file workers and union activists who spoke with THE CITY, however, said that union leadership should not entertain the prospect of a revote, but press on in trying to strike a better bargain with Adams.

Pursuing a revote of a certified election, Williams said, “calls into question the integrity of the entire process.

“I just feel bad for the people who took the time to vote,” she said in an interview with THE CITY. “I trusted that this vote had integrity, now I see that it’s wrong. It feels like a moral injury, to be honest.”

A revote without fresh contract talks was never entertained as an option after the chapter rejected the agreement in 2018, three chapter members and two union activists told THE CITY.

One reason for the standoff now with Mulgrew, activists say, is that the union’s constitution does not lay out a procedure for renegotiating rejected contracts. 

“The chapter voted, and the chapter voted pretty much 2-to-1 against the contract, and to go to a revote sort of negates that process,” said chapter member and DOE physical therapist Chris Griffin, who noted she’s “not a huge ‘no’ advocate.” 

Discussion of a revote “undermines that process, which was done according to established rules,” she added.

“His job is to negotiate on our behalf, not to justify the city’s stance. So I feel like he’s using that to scare us into voting yes.”

Daniel Alicea, a teacher and UFT activist, told THE CITY that the union’s leadership should convene a constitutional convention that clearly lays out a renegotiation process for rejected contracts so that “things aren’t done arbitrarily and haphazardly.”

“If we acquiesce here, this can happen in local chapter elections, it can happen in our next general election — that if they’re not happy with the result, they will find some other means.”

Friday, Aug. 4, 2023


When the OT/PT situation broke out in the press in a favorable way for the chapter leadership, it must have sent shivers down the spines of UFT/Unity leadership. And Chalkbeat reprinted, so it got double coverage. Unity can live with the blogs even if they annoy them. But reaching the media with a headline like School therapists want a better contract deal. The UFT wants them to give up is a hit and very bad PR. When a union repeatedly behaves like management, it is a hit. Remember the recent Hoffa regime in the Teamsters reversed a NO vote and eventually lost control of the union to a more militant group which last week won an historical contract. The lesson? Unity must go.

Some of my pals, more recent to the opposition, think the UFT leadership/Unity Caucus' dirty war against the elected leadership of the UFT therapist's chapter (occupational and physical - OT/PT) opened a new chapter in the Unity Caucus war against democracy in the UFT. In some ways this is true and opens the gates to call for a revote on a regular basis. Like if we got hundreds of the 25% of the teachers who voted NO on the last contract or those who never voted or who didn't even get a ballot called for a revote, would Mulgrew listen? You don't have to answer that.

I have the signatures of thousands of UFT members calling for a referendum on health care changes --- do you think Mulgrew would hear those voices? Again, you don't have to answer, but if you haven't signed yet, UFT MEMBERS FOR PREMIUM-FREE QUALITY HEALTHCARE.
 
To me and other long-haulers, the undemocratic actions of the Unity power block are of no surprise. Here is some historical analysis.
 
As an over 50 year opponent of Unity, I view their reaction to the OT/PT contract rejection as a pattern of response we see in almost all oppressive regimes, from the national to the club level. The desire to hold onto power at all costs requires a strong response to any real and perceived threat. The obsession with holding onto power in autocratic institutions often borders on paranoia. Unity Caucus/UFT, in control of the UFT since its inception, has been a model for the mantra of "hold onto power at all costs." 

Unity rarely loses, but when they do...
Now, Unity doesn't lose on levels above school chapter leaders very often, but when they do they try to coopt their opponents and if that doesn't work, try to undermine them and if a real threat, they engage in open warfare. Let me repeat, co-optation is their first move and often works. Note there are former oppo people in Unity, many with union jobs. I recently chronicled a few incidents from the past (Unity History of Trying to Cheat a Vote), including the call for a new election when the New Action Coalition's Mike Shulman shocked them by winning the high school VP election in 1985. After 15K in legal fees, Shulman gave in and agreed to a re-vote - and won by a bigger margin. How much fun would it be to see that happen if the hold an OT/PT re-vote? 
 
More pertinent was how they treated Shulman when he won the revote many months later by isolating him and focusing on making sure he would not win the next election and then by changing the rules to allow all UFT members, not just high school, to vote for VPs.
 
Another case was the repeated victory for Manhattan HS District Rep in the 90s for a decade by Bruce Markens, a known critic of Unity. I spoke to Bruce the other day and he talked about how he spent a decade as Dist Rep in isolation with even people who liked and respected him, fearing retribution from the leadership. 
 
One story: When I became CL in 1994 I went to the weekend training and hung out with Bruce and another guy who we met who had just been elected, defeating a Unity Caucus heavy hitter. The three of us had a great time. Years later he told me the story that he had hopes of getting into Unity and never realized Bruce and I were personna non-grata and he was being observed.  He said his hanging with us that weekend delayed his getting into Unity by years, till he proved his loyalty. 
 
But Norm, Unity has not protested when they continuously lose the 7 high school exec bd seats, some Unity hack will maintain. The reason is that 7 out of 100 Ex bd is an annoyance, but not an existential threat to their control, though if you read through the reports on Ed Notes, ICE and New Action, you can see a level of escalating attacks, especially on Nick Bacon based on the fear and loathing inside Unity toward a defector.

When Shulman won one of the 12 officers positions in Adcom, THAT was a threat. What a current  trigger would be, aside from the oppo winning the entire election, I can't say. If the oppo won all three divisions - elem, ms, hs - it would still only have 23 out of 100 EB seats. There are less than 70k teachers (19k HS, 12K MS, 36k elem) There are 60 thousand retirees in the RTC functional chapter and another roughly 50K in the other functional chapters, with about 27k in the para unit. Thus, the overall teacher vote is a minority. So even if Unity lost that vote, they could still control the union through the retiree, para and other functional votes. 
 
So maybe you are seeing why even the loss of a relatively small (3K) OT/PT functional chapter becomes a threat. OT/PT for a Fair Contract group that leads the chapter has been associated with the oppo United for Change. Unity wants them stamped out - in case their revolt spreads to other functional units.
 
The retiree and functional (non-teacher) chapter vote
Winning the retiree vote would be an existential threat because the winner gets 300 delegates and that would change the balance of power in the DA.  But Retiree Advocate has never gotten more than 30% of the vote. Can it close the gap and even win in next year's chapter elections? With the healthcare issue roiling the waters, it is not impossible. I can imagine the geniuses at Unity working on a plan of action for that election. Would they even allow RA to have a chance to win? Look for all sorts of shenanigans to come, including figuring out some way to break up the 60K retiree unit in a way to give them continued control. How they do that I can't imagine. But RA better be vigilant. 

The retiree chapter is lumped into the functional chapters. The other existential threat to Unity is losing control of crucial functional chapters, like the other big one, the paras. In a recent by-election to replace officers who retired, Unity pulled a bunch of stuff, including refusing to reveal details of the outcome. I wrote about the election in April:  Corruption @UFT in Para Election: Full-time patronnage jobs -- Unity is more interested in Unity than its membership.
 
Assault on Melissa Williams is part of a long-term plan
So view the assault on Melissa  in the context of the above. In the 2021 chapter election, Melissa Williams defeated the Unity Caucus chapter leader who had urged a YES vote on the 2018 contract. The chapter rebuffed him by a 2/3 NO vote. It was the first time a functional chapter in the UFT elected a majority of non-Unity on the exec bd. By her very election, Melissa had become a threat, unless she could be co-opted into Unity, which if you spend 5 minutes with Melissa, you know is impossible. Unity knew it too, so they went with their pattern: View her as the enemy and do whatever possible to undermine her and make sure she would not win the next election.
 
Unity put Middle School VP Rich Mantel as overseer of Melissa, who was forced to operate under restrictions (see Shulman case above). I saw some comments by Unity hacks that all functional chapters are under the same restrictions. But I'd bet none of the Unity CLs were in the same position as Melissa was. Again, think Shulman and Markens as models. It was clear from the very beginning of Melissa's term in office (I was hearing stories back in Sept. 2021) that the goal of Unity was to recapture the chapter and make Melissa's job more difficult.

When it came time for contract negotiations, naturally there was a committee of OT/PT people involved. - supposedly.  A major demand was for parity of pay or some progress in that direction. I don't believe the leadership had any intent on filling this demand, even if they paid lip service to it.
 
The dreaded 9th period

One thing Melissa and the chapter exec bd made clear was that the demands by the DOE to add a non-forced 9th period to the day was taboo because it would allow the DOE to cut costs by not having to hire enough people, overwork them and allow principals to pressure younger, less secure therapists into doing the extra work.

To demonstrate how much bullshit the so-called "democratic" negotiation committees were, Melissa didn't find out about the 9th period until the June 13 emergency meetings a few hours after the announcement of the contract.
 
I had to meet Melissa outside 52 Broadway at around 2:30 and she was still in shock after finding out about the 9th period a short while before. UFT/Unity leaders had totally ignored a key demand of the chapter and went along with the DOE 9th period demand, almost in spite. This was the emergency negotiating committee meeting, which was followed by the emergency Ex Bd meeting at 3, followed by the emergency DA meeting at 4. Nick Bacon was attacked viciously by Unity hacks for daring to ask to actually read the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) and was called a liar by Mulgrew when Nick insisted it wasn't online yet (it wasn't).

On the overall contract, Unity engaged in misinformation, scare tactics and threats in a VOTE YES campaign, which worked for teachers and other units - except for the therapists, who again rejected the contract by a big margin. Imagine the shock. Now Unity had to do the work and go back to the bargaining table like they did in 2018. Or did they? They had a problem.
 
They had to prove that the NO vote was a mistake. If they went back to the table and got even a few crumbs of a better contract as they did in 2018, it would counter their threats. [What Happened in 2018 When they Rejected the contract? Leaders negotiated a new one but in 2023 calling for a Revote].

So the plan was not to go back to the table and blame the city. Of course normal unions would call the city out for not negotiating. But we are not in a normal union. In the UFT, when the leadership loses a vote and sees a way to undermine a non-Unity chapter leader, even if it takes destroying the chapter as a unit, there is another way:  Incite those who voted YES along with the other 3 members of an ill-conceived bargaining unit that included 41 supervisors of the therapists, all of whom voted YES, to call for a revote by blaming Melissa for "misleading" them. And oh, the whining from those who didn't vote - they were probably doing their hair.

Now we saw one vicious attack full of half truths and lies coming out of the anonymous Unity Caucus blob: No is Not Enough – OT/PTs Deserve Real Leadership .
 

I even used their graphic. (When's the threat coming from their lawyers Stroock and Stroock?)

Mulgrew claimed:

“I’ve never had a chapter with this many people who are adamantly against the decision of their executive board,” Mulgrew comment on the millions of OT/PT who want a revote on the contract.

This comment was laugh out loud. 

Mulgrew hasn't listened to the thousands of retirees who protested their removal from Medicare into Mulgrewcare. 

We have almost 10K sigs calling for a referendum on health care changes to our contract. We need another 10 K to at least get to the stage of demanding a vote, which of course the leadership will content. So much for listening to members.

When they are facing a threat to their hold on power, they will take things to the extreme. Observers of Unity think this revote campaign may have put them over the edge. I noticed over the weekend one prominent member of Unity has already quit the caucus. And don't forget, Nick Bacon, a prominent voice in the opposition also quit Unity two years ago over the issue of democracy. And though never in the caucus, Daniel Alicea, another prominent oppo, did support them in 2019. Whereas Unity often co-opt oppo people, we are seeing somewhat of a reversal as even retiree Unity people have been telling us they will not revote Unity. This came in to RA the other day:
Retirees are really angry,  I saw this in the UFT retiree classes that I took this past spring. People who I would never expect to badmouth Mulgrew and his crew and the undemocratic way the leadership (Unity) has been operating, were absolutely furious and clear about who was responsible for the mess we were in.
Unity and Chinese Communist Party run neck and neck for longest tenure
I've watched Unity Caucus operate for over 50 years and have witnessed a steady erosion of democracy, including increasing restrictions and manipulations of the delegate assembly, exec bd, and contracts - how they are negotiated, how they are voted on, and how we can observe vote counts. Over the decades I've seen their attempts to go after chapter leaders or delegates at schools who they felt were having an impact at the DA (me included back in the 70s). See how every oppressive governing body anywhere in the world functions at real and perceived threats. Being in power since the early 60s makes them one of the longest running power blocks in current history, second to the Chinese Communist Party which came to power in 1949. But even in China, we've seen more churn than in Unity over the decades (4 UFT presidents since 1964). China even had a form of term limits for the leadership, until the current leader, who must have been jealous of the way Unity has kept control over 60 years. 

Would-be oppressors around the world should come to 52 Broadway to learn how to maintain control.

Some further reading

Nick compares the recent nurses' victory in breaking the pattern with the OT/PT demands for parity with pedagogues: A Union Finally Beats the Pattern. Plus a few more of his recent posts at New Action.

A few comments:
“Why did I vote in the first place if my vote won’t count because some people are upset with the results? I will never vote again if they are allowed to overturn an election.
This is ridiculous! This was certified by arbitration.” ...OT/PT therapist
While Mulgrew readily admits to his fiduciary responsibility to represent the OT/PT bargaining unit, likely due to his legal need to do so, he conveys in every other respect that he has no intention of getting the job done.... Nick Bacon, HS Ex Bd, UFC/NewAction

Dangerous precedent set: Is it time for the 25% teachers who voted NO on the teacher contract to demand a revote due to rushed vote, botched mailings, schools whose lost votes were never counted - (known oppo schools "lost" in the mail?), Unity propaganda campaign with misinformation on contract, etc.?

Important Support needed for OTPT For A FAIR Contract - UFC

Unity History of Trying to Cheat a Vote, Mulgrew to OT/PTs: "Everyone loooooves democracy until I don't get my way?" - EONYC 

In the 1985 UFT election, New Action Coalition of 3 caucuses (TAC, New Directions, Coalition of School Workers) high school candidate Michael Shulman won the election over Unity George Altomare who had occupied that position since the inception of the UFT by getting the majority of high school teacher votes. (At that time in UFT divisional VP elections only the teachers in that division voted, not the entire membership). Unity protested the election and called for a revote over some trivial matter and forced NAC into a court case that ultimately cost them $15,000. As the costs mounted, NAC relented and agreed to a revote - note the comparison to what Unity is trying to do with the PT/OT - it's part of their playbook).

The good news was that Shulman won by a much bigger margin. The bad news is that Unity had refused to let him take office as the elected HS rep for 6 months or more, held ADCOM meetings without him and we can just imagine the other crap to undermine him and thus he never had the opportunity to fully engage in the job. (Similar stuff has been done to the OT/PT CL). Then he narrowly lost the next election. 
 
The even more bad news: Unity decided to never let this situation arise again and in 1994 changed the constitution to in effect disenfranchise the high school (and other divisions) by taking their right to chose their VP away by alllowing the entire UFT, including retirees, to vote for their VPs. Consider the 2016 and 2022 UFT elections where James Eterno and Jonathan Halabi respectively got more votes for VP out of the high schools than Janella Hinds, who occupies the position.

To remind you attacks on opposition are not new, here is James Eterno -  June 2007 - ICE Blog, and the comments where I share my bleak view of the UFT and its future - 16 years ago:

For the last two months, we have arrived at Delegate Assembly meetings and received Unity Caucus literature attacking ICE. What's going on here? The election results were counted in March. Why the non stop smear campaign?... - Memo to Unity Caucus:


Thursday, July 27, 2023

NO to Promised Healthcare is Not Enough – Retired Teachers Deserve Real Leadership


 

Retiree UFT/Unity Caucus driving retirees and working members off a healthcare cliff

When the Unity Caucus RTC chapter leadership came into office, instead of organizing the chapter’s rank and file to defend their hard-won healthcare benefits, they did nothing but push on retirees an inferior, privatized plan that denies care with countless preauthorizations, a plan whose company is under federal investigation. They disseminate misleading information and sow division within the chapter by accusing those who stand in their way of bad faith and playing politics while using their positions to pursue their own political agendas at the expense of 60,000 retired UFT members. 

For the past two years the RTC leadership has failed [and in many cases refused] to put in the necessary work and listen to the calls, and often pleas, of rank and file retirees to defend their enrollment in traditional Medicare.

Instead of using chapter meetings as a way to connect and organize, members sat through endless political rants, rehashing of personal grievances, and misleading promises.  With lives hanging in the balance with uncertainty, the final in-person meeting was made completely remote.

Members were misled into believing that their chapter’s leadership was up to the task of defending their healthcare  – instead they learned that there was nothing to back up their rhetoric.

Countless retirees have stated that they believe that their chapter’s leadership misrepresented the contents of the first one Medicare Advantage plan under Emblem which they pushed as the greatest health plan ever, followed by an equal propaganda campaign under the new even greater Aetna plan in order to push a NO opt-out vote.

After losing the initial court case, the chapter leadership sent emails encouraging people to contact the  members of City Council  to get then to change a law that has protected retirees for almost 50 years.  The final straw for rank and file retirees was the sight of 5 Unity Caucus retirees on the UFT dole and tied to the leadership begging the City Council to change the law so they could keep Senior Care and not be forced into Medicare Advantage. A short time later they were standing up and defending the Aetna plan that they so derided just weeks before.

The chapter and union leadership totally failed to get the politicians to support them. Unfortunately, Clicktivism ≠ Organizing.  

So it comes as no surprise that when retirees asked about a plan to move forward to preserve traditional Medicare and Seniorcare, they learned that their leadership had none, other than to continue to push their forced enrollment into a privatized Medicare Advantage plan.

And after once gain losing in court and  hundreds upon hundreds of members reached out to their chapter leader expressing deep concerns about next steps they were met with silence. 

Members of the retired teachers chapter deserve leadership that is responsive to their concerns even when those concerns don’t align with their own political agendas. 

 

NOTE: In the spring 2024 chapter elections, vote to replace the Unity Caucus chapter officials with Retiree Advocate. And if that actually happens, expect the Unity leadership to demand a revote.

Wednesday, July 26, 2023

Retiree Advoate Newsletter - UFC Statement of Support for OTs/PTs, Nurses, and Audiologists: UFT Must Return Back to the Negotiating Table

 


                                                       July 27, 2023

Join Retiree Advocate/UFT - Become a member: $20 annual fee
Send check made out to Retiree Advocate/ UFT
P.O. Box 22567, Brooklyn, NY 11201-2567

or click this link to pay with Paypal

Retiree Advocate is a member of  UNITED FOR CHANGE

Monday, July 24, 2023

Important Support needed for OTPT For A FAIR Contract

I am working on a detailed analysis of the outrageous calls for a re-vote by people who were too busy doing their hair to vote in the first place. How about the 75% of UFT members who didn't vote in last year's election? Let's give them another shot.


Here is a way to counter the Unity manipulations:

 

 

 

 

 

From: OTPT For A FAIR Contract <otptforafaircontract@gmail.com>
Monday, July 24, 2023

 

Greetings all,


We’re writing to keep lines of communication open during this important time. It is a tumultuous time for our chapter and we hear and understand that the chaos and uncertainty surrounding the contract vote is causing division and anxiety.  


Principles of democracy, transparency and grassroots organizing have been and continue to be cornerstones of our actions. The contract vote was conducted in a democratic way following established practices, and certified by the American Arbitration Association. 1619 members of the OT/PT chapter mailed in their ballots, voting 2 to 1 against the contract (1074 to 545). Department of Elections Certification of Results UFT 2023 contract


The concept of a re-vote on the SAME contract is unprecedented, and at its core, would threaten the legitimacy and value of the democratic voting process. Such a thing has never been done in our 60+ years as a union. In fact, we couldn't find an instance of this being done in any union. We’re also concerned that a re-vote could set a dangerous precedent for our union and others - that any contract vote that has been certified might be put to a revote when some parties ask for it.  We should demand that the UFT support our chapter, do everything in their power to get us back to the table and negotiate a better deal.             

 

While the OT/PT chapter may be small, our voices, when united, are powerful! We believe that negotiations do not only happen at the bargaining table and have always advocated for folks to take action to increase awareness and support for a fair contract. Now is an important time to take action:


  1. Email the Chancellor, UFT  and Panel for Educational Policy (see email addresses below) with a message such as:

Get back to the table and negotiate a fair contract for therapists, nurses, and audiologists. 


  1. Next, encourage community members, parents and fellow UFT members to also email on our behalf with a message such as:

Get back to the table and negotiate the fair contract our DOE therapists, nurses, and audiologists deserve. Our families and school communities stand in solidarity with these vital service providers who work tirelessly with all of our students, especially our students with disabilities.


  1. Then, find your city council member’s email address here: https://www.mygovnyc.org/ and send a message asking them to do the same



UFT emails:

Michael Mulgrew - mmulgrew@uft.org; Richard Mantell - rmantell@uft.org; Carl Cambria - ccambria@uft.org; Beth Norton - bnorton@uft.org; Cynthia Bennett - cbennett@uft.org; Melissa Williams - mwilliams@uft.org; Susan Kavanagh - skavanagh@uft.org;Catherine Cirillo- ccirillo@uft.org;

Michael Herron-mherron@uft.org; Mike Sill-msill@uft.org; Brad Alter- balter@uft.org; MaryJo Ginese-mginese@uft.org; Laura Tamburo -ltamburo@uft.org; LeRoy Barr-lbarr@uft.org


City emails:

Chancellor David C. Banks- Davidcbanks@schools.nyc.gov

Mayor Eric Adams- via https://www.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/contact-the-mayor.page


Panel for Educational Policy Members:

Aaron Bogad-Staten Island Borough President's appointee- ABogad@schools.nyc.gov; Alan Ong- aong3@schools.nyc.gov; Anita Garcia=  AGarcia141@schools.nyc.gov; Anthony “Tony” Giordano, mayoral appointee- AGiordano16@schools.nyc.gov; Chantel Cabrera-  CCabrera18@schools.nyc.gov; Dr Angela Green, Chairperson-  agreen419@gmail.com; Ephraim Zakry- EZakry@schools.nyc.gov; Geneal Chacon- GChacon@schools.nyc.gov; Gladys Ward- gward7@schools.nyc.gov; Gregory Faulkner, Vice Chairperson- gregfaulkner1@gmail.com; Jessamyn Lee- JLee235@schools.nyc.gov; Kaliris Salas-Ramirez-  ksalasramirez@schools.nyc.gov; Khari Edwards-  KEdwards43@schools.nyc.gov; Lily Chan - LChan85@schools.nyc.gov; Maisha Sapp, Contracts Committee Chair- msapp@schools.nyc.gov; Maria Kenley- MKenley@schools.nyc.gov; Marjorie Dienstag-  MDienstag@schools.nyc.gov; Michelle Joseph - MJoseph74@schools.nyc.gov; Naveed Hasan -naveed@cs.columbia.edu; Phoebe Sade-Arnold-  PSadearnold@schools.nyc.gov; Sheree Gibson, Queens Representative- sgibson11@schools.nyc.gov;Tazin Azad - tazad4@schools.nyc.gov; Thomas Sheppard, CEC Presidents Representative- TSheppard5@schools.nyc.gov


City Council Members: https://www.mygovnyc.org/ 



In solidarity,

OTs and PTs for a Fair Contract


 

Thursday, July 20, 2023

Unity History of Trying to Cheat a Vote, Mulgrew to OT/PTs: "Everyone loooooves democracy until I don't get my way?" - EONYC

How far will Mulgrew and Unity go out of their way to trample on our collective decisions by attempting to reverse this legal and valid contract ratification vote by using intimidation and coordinating a minority within the unit to get a revote with the results they desire?  Is there an orchestrated attempt by UFT leadership to reverse the OT/PT bargaining unit's ratification vote which turned down their proposed contract with the City? DUHHHHH! 

I've been following the attempt to discredit the non-Unity Chapter Leader of the OT/PT chapter, blaming her for the rejection of the contract, despite the fact they also rejected the 2018 contract with an even larger % vote despite the OT/PT chapter being under the total control of a Unity chapter leader and Exec Bd, all of whom recommended ratification. I've read some of the Unity backed communications that would make your eyes pop out but am not at liberty to share - yet. Some of the most outrageous are anonymous. So how do we know they are from Unity? Double DUHHHHHHHH!

When some of these communications from union officials and their minions are shared publicly -- well, the fun will begin. But first .....

 
I've been working on a few posts on the situation, but a lot of what I wanted to report is included in thie EONYC post to The Wire. In a recent post I went back to the 2018 contract which OT/PT rejected and ask people to compare how the leadership reacted when they didn't have a non-Unity CL to blame. 
I'm shocked there's gambling or Unity will try to negate results they don't like

But first I want to add the historical notes on how Unity has operated over the decades when faced with losses. They try to negate votes and/or change rules.

Wednesday, July 19, 2023

The UFT and Charters - Toeism - Put the right toe in, take the right toe out, Others Call for their abolition, NPE Trashes CREDO Pro Charter report

At this point, any sane person has to at least wonder if we should continue having charter schools at all. Some folks want to try reform. Let’s fix the rules, they say, so that charter schools are more accountable and less prone to fraud and malfeasance. 

However, you can’t reform a system that is at its core inequitable. No matter what you do, charter schools will always play by one set of rules and authentic public schools by another. That is fundamentally unjust.

We need better than just reform – we need abolition

....Steven Singer, Gadfly on the Wall

Wednesday, July 19, 2023

The message in my recent blog on UFT and charters - Update on Charter Co-Locos Lawsuit - UFT attacked by Murdoch Press on charters - Where's the response? - may have gotten lost in the weeds.

I received this comment Leonie who was closely involved in the court case:

The UFT and their attorneys on retainer at Stroock took the lead in litigating this lawsuit and deserve much  credit for this. Moreover, contrary to what you suggest, there were people from the UFT in the courtroom including at least one of their own attorneys. I think it’s important to put the record straight...more than a quarter of charter schools close within 5 years of opening. By year 15, roughly 50% of charter schools close. That’s not a stable model of public education.

Ahhh, that's the rub. I agree with Leonie that charters are not a stable model but the UFT plays the game halfway to try to avoid being attacked as anti-charter. Now they may expect the attacks I pointed to from the right wing Murdoch press, but I think the UFT is playing to the liberal sympathizers with charters.

The UFT may have initiated this suit and sent a few staffers to the court house. But they didn't put any organizing skin in the game, as I pointed out in my article where I compared their placid responses to the work Marianne has done in getting people out. I term their policy toward charters as Toeism - put the right toe in, take the right toe out and do the hokey pokey.

Judges do notice when there is support in the streets. 

I agree with Singer and want charters gone, not modified. The UFT is in the "modify" camp. We need to be in the abolish camp.

Singer writes in  I am a Charter School Abolitionist, and You Should Be, Too.

Here are all the rules public schools have to follow in order to be funded by taxpayer dollars – they have to be run by elected school boards, have open records, accept all students from the community, etc. Now here are the tiny set of rules this one particular school has to abide by – it’s charter, if you will. So there’s one set of rules for authentic public schools and another for each individual charter school. Moreover, 1,779 charter schools (37 percent that receive federal grants) never opened in the first place or were quickly shut down.

Frankly, I don't think they want to put much more than a court case as skin in the game of fighting charters. I see Leonie as more invested in the issue than the union leadership.

I suspect that in watching the behavior on numerous issues over the decades. the UFT leadership are fundamentally corporatists. As one reader put it:

The "rational explanation" on the behavior of the UFT/AFT is a thorough understanding (by retirees) of what neoliberalism is.  I'm currently reading Thom Hartmann's book on the subject.  ... UFT retiree

Neo-liberalism as the philisophy driving the UFT works for me.

The NPE came out with a slashing report on the oft-cited positive CRUDO report on charters.