A Glimpse into a Day of Organizing: Grade-Ins and Healthcare Petitions
Writing can only be one small piece of unionism. Directly after publishing my piece yesterday analyzing the grade-ins (which was blatantly and maliciously misrepresented by Unity), I organized. Like many others in New Action and across the union’s progressive opposition, I did my part and shot
Organizing against a stacked deck: analyzing the UFT ‘Grade-Ins’ today
Today, we’ll witness phase 2 of UFT’s official contract actions. The flagship of this phase is the ‘grade in,’ where members will choose a public place near their schools and perform paperwork, planning, grading, or other administrative duties. Here is the idea from UFT’s official material
Who is political? A Further Note on the 3-27-23 Executive Board Meeting (and its aftermath)
At the 3-27-23 executive board meeting, we heard from two working UFT mothers – Ibeth Mejia and Luli Rodriguez, who sought to put some teeth into a mostly symbolic resolution written by members of Unity Caucus. That resolution was about recognizing disproportionate maternal mortality rates. Ibeth
Healthcare, Tucker Carlson, and Maternal Mortality – UFT Executive Board Minutes, 3-27-2023
Quick Summary/Analysis: Tonight was mostly about healthcare. Kate Connors came to the Open Mic to talk about the New York Health Act. Ed Calamia asked about Aetna’s ongoing MAP fraud case, to which leadership answered it would not affect our deal. I asked about what specific ‘cost savings’ wer
Mulgrew spooks members with a 6:00 AM non-update about taking our GHI
This Monday morning, as we rush into our schools and get our first lessons set up for the week, we also have the pleasure of pondering what the heck Mulgrew is talking about in a bizarre non-update on in-service healthcare, sent out when I assume he and the rest of UFT leadership were still sleeping
Striking is not Antiquated: L.A. education workers prove UFT leadership wrong with 30% Salary Increases
Last week, we had the displeasure of hearing the party of our union leadership argue against members having the right to strike. In the land of pattern bargaining, striking is antiquated, said one. It’s white privilege, said another. We don’t need the right, because we’d strike anyways if thin
Why is Mulgrew Exaggerating the cost of going to CityMD?
Last week at the DA, Mulgrew claimed that CityMD costs were so high that he was glad to hike our copays up to $100. In fact, he’d prefer if our copays were $400. That implies a pretty substantial amount of cost. He threw some numbers out there — like $680 for a COVID test — [&helli
UFT Members Deserve to Vote on Healthcare Changes
The cochairs of NAC ask that you please sign the petition to give UFT members a right to vote on healthcare changes, as reported in The City today. Some Faqs on why we need this vote are noted below (written in collaboration with other UFC-affiliated writers of the petition). UFT MEMBERS FOR PREMIUM
Why ‘the UFT’ can threaten to sue its elected opposition representatives without a vote – and other notes from the 3/20/2023 UFT Executive Board Meeting
Quick Summary/Analysis: There was a bunch of debate about why the UFT is using our dues/resources to threaten to sue its own members (members who happen to be in the opposition) without any known process of coming to that decision. Two members came in to plead to keep our healthcare (traditional Med
Why doesn’t UFT leadership want us to have the right to strike?
At last week’s DA, James Cole of MORE proposed an amendment to a resolution celebrating the UFT’s 60th anniversary. Had it passed, the amendment would have added language that recognized the role of striking in the formation and early success of the UFT. More controversially, it would have also