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Notes from November DA – UFC High School Executive Board Authors first Resolution with UFT Leadership

Published November 16, 2022 Uncategorized Closed
Tags: DA, Delegate Assembly, Healthcare, High School Executive Board, UFC, United for Change, Unity Caucus

This was a fairly straight forward DA. Opposition got in a good question on healthcare–raised by a MORE Chapter Leader–but of course weren’t called on to do our healthcare resolution. The full minutes are here. What stands out is that, while UFC and Unity would probably never collaborate on a healthcare resolution, we were able to collaborate on a resolution about something else – the terrible incident involving alleged human trafficking of teachers from the Dominican Republic by a group of DOE administrators. We need to make sure this never happens again.

See the text below, written in collaboration with the UFC ‘7’ (Ronnie Almonte (MORE), Nick Bacon (New Action), Lydia Howrilka (Solidarity), Alex Jallot (MORE), Ibeth Mejia (ICE/Solidarity), and Ilona Nanay (MORE)) and UFT leadership, including Janella Hinds (VP of Academic High Schools and therefore Unity). The resolution was motivated wonderfully by Ronnie Almonte, who was joined by Janella.

Supporting Newly Arrived Educators Exploited by DOE Administrators

Whereas, the New York City Department of Education (DOE) in partnership with other organizations to recruited twenty-five teachers from the Dominican Republic to come teach in New York City, and;

Whereas the DOE has recruited international teachers before, and has included the United Federation of Teachers in the induction process, but this time excluded the UFT from the induction process, and;

Whereas, multiple agencies are investigating whether these teachers were coerced to pay exorbitant rents to live in substandard housing, allegedly under threat of deportation from the very administrators who recruited them, and;

Whereas, at least one of these administrators was also the principal who many of these teachers reported to, giving him abusive power over every aspect of their employment and shelter in New York City, and;

Whereas, these teachers uprooted their lives to provide our students with bilingual instruction, and

Whereas the DOE did not assign the twenty-five teachers from the Dominican Republic in an equitable way, where they were most needed, and;

Whereas, it has been reported that the DOE assigned the teachers as substitutes and is paying them as substitutes, while the teachers are teaching regular programs, and;

Whereas the United Federation of Teachers represents all teachers working for the DOE, and is appalled by the way these 25 teachers have been treated, be it therefore

RESOLVED that the UFT will work with the AFT to support these members regarding their employment visas and other areas of support, and be it further

RESOLVED that UFT will monitor this initiative and any future program developed to recruit international teachers will do so in a way that ensures full pay and benefits, and services including but not limited to: immigration assistance, support in securing affordable housing, as well as mental and emotional health supports, and be it further

RESOLVED that the UFT will fight to ensure the DOE understands that these 25 teachers are entitled to and covered by the same rights and protections of all current UFT members.

In the end, this resolution passed overwhelmingly to go on next month’s agenda.

See below to see the literature passed out by New Action at this delegate assembly:

New Action/UFT

…a caucus of the United Federation of Teachers

615 77^th Street, Brooklyn, New York 11209

November 2022

Dear UFT Chapter Leader and Delegate,

Not long ago, the Municipal Labor Committee met in secret to make changes to our health care coverage for retirees in the City of New York. In exchange for salary increases in 2014 and 2018 the MLC agreed to find $600 million in savings for the City annually starting in 2021.They planned to switch Traditional Medicare to Medicare Advantage. First it was retirees and now it is also targeting in-service members (threatening to impose a $1,500 per year increase). For two years UFT President Michael Mulgrew has been trying to force us onto an inferior plan under the guise of wanting to provide us with more healthcare choices.

This plan would be administered by Anthem and Empire Health. Perhaps, the MLC could have consulted with various union members, including retirees, before planning for this program. THEY NEVER BOTHERED. The MLC did whatever they pleased. Union democracy be damned.

Then Michael Mulgrew, and others tried to sell this “New and Improved ” Health Plan, as the greatest thing since the invention of the wheel. Retirees did not buy this new plan. Over 65,000 retirees opted out. Anyone that has read the numerous articles about a Medicare Advantage Plan realizes that this plan will bring great profit to the companies involved and inferior services to members.

As you may also know, a lawsuit was filed by the NYC Organization of Public Service Employees on behalf of the 250,000 retirees that worked for the City of New York. The first part of this lawsuit was won. But, this is only round one. The City of New York has filed an appeal to overturn this decision.

Many retirees in CROC, Retiree Advocate, and New Action, to name a few, took the lead fighting this attempt by rallying at City Hall, marching, and demonstrating at UFT headquarters.

At this point in time, our UFT President is saying that the only way to get a raise is to reduce healthcare costs, and the only way to reduce those costs is to change Administrative Code 12-126, the law that protects the guaranteed healthcare of both retirees and in-service members. Will the in-service employees be targeted along with retirees? Definitely! Will they be railroaded into a managed health care plan? If this section is changed, it will have a negative impact on our health insurance. We cannot let this happen!

Our voices must be heard loud and clear. A change in Admin. Code 12-126 will destroy the health care for thousands of present and future retirees, and in-service members.

President Mulgrew’s recent email is telling UFT members to urge their local politicians to change Admin Code 12-126, the law currently protecting our healthcare. Don’t do that! Clear and comprehensive information about healthcare, not just “spin” must first be shared with all UFT members, and we ALL need time to review the information and discuss how we want to move forward as a union. In the meantime, here is what you can do to protect your family’s healthcare:

1. Call and/or contact your City Council Member and tell them, “I am a public educator in NYC. I need my family’s health care to be better, not worse! Do not change Admin Code 12-126! Here is a link to the contact info for NYC City Council Members: https://council.nyc.gov/districts/

2. Contact UFT President Michael Mulgrew at: mmulgrew@uft.org, and tell him why it is so important for us to fight for healthcare gains, not healthcare givebacks!

3. Share this with friends in other schools.

Support the UFC Resolution to Fund Health Care with New Taxes on

Millionaires and Billionaires

New Action/UFT calls upon all Chapter Leaders and Delegates to vote for today’s resolution on healthcare, if it makes it to the floor. For all of the “Whereas” points that go along with this resolution refer to the entire document that is handed out today or visit newaction.org. What follows is the entire “Resolved” section.

Therefore, be it Resolved, that the UFT now stands in opposition to revising Administrative Code 12-126, and urges the MLC to follow suit, and be it further

Resolved, that the UFT in collaboration with NYSUT will look for fair funding sources to help the City meet its health care obligations to its employees and retired employees without reducing the quality or quantity of medical service, and be it further

Resolved that the UFT consider sources including, but not limited to: a progressive income tax for those with incomes over $5 million; restoration of the Stock Transfer Tax which could gain over to $12 billion of income to the state, or tax on the wealth of billionaires, or closing the carried interest loophole, or a pied-à-terre tax on luxury second homes in New York City, or implementing an inheritance tax on the highest 1% of inheritances, or repealing the corporate profit tax breaks implemented by President Trump within New York State and restoring pre-2017 percentages, or eliminating rebates for taxes on stock buybacks, or repealing tax exemptions on luxury goods such as private planes and yachts, or eliminate city property tax breaks for real estate billionaires, and be it further

Resolved that the UFT will take the lead urging the MLC to wage a full-scale campaign to push the City and/or State to institute or restore these revenue sources, which could be used to secure the continued stability of our members’ and retiree’s healthcare.

New Action/UFT Deplores the Abusive Treatment of Teachers from the Dominican Republic

A news source reported that “bilingual teachers brought from the Dominican Republic to work in New York City public schools have been treated like indentured servants by educators acting as their slumlords” (New York Post, Nov.14, 2022).

According to the article, “Bronx principal Emmanuel Polanco and a group of fellow Department of Education administrators have put nearly a dozen teachers recruited from the DR in an apparently illegal boarding house in The Bronx — and charge the instructors $1,450 each month for the privilege, multiple sources say.”

There was also an implied threat to have the Dominican teachers deported. This outrage must not only be condemned by our UFT but the administrators responsible for this scandal must face severe consequences. Any abuse of a member by an administrator is unacceptable. New Action/UFT declares that our union must do all it can to support and protect our colleagues.

Labor donated Labor donated

Unpacking the October, 2022 Delegate Assembly

Published October 13, 2022 Uncategorized 1 Comment
Tags: DA, Delegate Assembly

On October 12th, the UFT had its first DA of 2022. James Eterno at ICE-UFT has published detailed minutes, so I’ll focus on a few points of analysis.

Protest Outside: People on the phone missed out on the biggest part of the DA – hundreds of retirees protesting the UFT and MLC’s incessant moves to kick them off premium-free traditional Medicare outside UFT headquarters. One downside of hybrid DAs is that most of the ‘swing votes’ don’t get to see awesome work like this, often organized by Retiree Advocate.

Gov. Hochul: Gov. Hochul didn’t seem to notice the hundreds of people protesting Mulgrew’s mismanagement of our healthcare on her way in. Instead, she gave a glowing review of the UFT president, bordering on an endorsement: ‘Mulgrew has done such a great job advocating for teachers. [I’m] proud to work with Mulgrew and other teachers across the state.’ Many in New Action and other opposition caucuses did not stand to applaud Hochul, remembering how quick she was to renew mayoral control, which Adams promptly used to defund our schools. We also remember how slow she was to sign off on the class size bill. The list goes on. Nevertheless, she did sign off on the latter bill eventually, and it’s a good sign that Hochul doesn’t mind being seen with the teachers union.

One note remainder of DA: The remainder of the DA was dedicated to healthcare misinformation. Countering the hundreds of fixed-income retirees protesting outside, just two, highly paid executives of the UFT, Mulgrew and Geoff Sorkin gave their pitches like used car salesmen. Often dog whistling that their opposition does things for ‘political’ reasons (rather than out of the goodness of their hearts like Mulgrew and Sorkin) we heard one sided arguments on why Medicare Advantage will be awesome, as long as it’s the UFT’s Medicare Advantage. Former Unity (and once-opposition) exec-board candidate Arthur Goldstein published a good article recently on why he is not convinced by all the healthcare propaganda. It’s worth a read, though I disagree with his conclusions on opposition. But attendees last night didn’t hear from him. They also didn’t hear from anyone in the opposition. For our arguments, you can see what the ‘7’, including myself, said on healthcare at executive board last week. Indeed, until we get the chance to give our own ‘minority report’–something we must push for–UFTers might prefer to attend executive board sessions to the DA. You get a far more varied set of perspectives when Mulgrew and Barr have no choice but to call on everyone there.

No time for opposition: Mulgrew called on one opposition member all night – H.S. executive board member, Ilona Nanay (MORE), who asked a good question (and got a bad answer) on changes to the city council administrative code. It was no accident that Mulgrew called on a known opposition member during the question period, but not during the new motions period. During a question period, it’s easy for Mulgrew to regain control of the room. He can spend lots of time answering a short question, and making it clear that his perspective is the right perspective. During a new motion, opposition has far more space to convince the audience. Mulgrew knows that, so we haven’t been called on since last November, 2021 to raise one (and that’s when I was technically still a member of his Unity caucus). It’s also worth noting how obvious it was that Mulgrew knew who he was picking in advance. One of the people he called on, Maggie Joyce, is someone he calls on frequently to raise new motions. She is a familiar Unity face to him, often present at UFT functions. Another of the people he called on was raising a motion he noted before it was even raised (on migrant children). Our healthcare reso didn’t stand a chance.

We didn’t even get to the business of motions on 10/12’s agenda. We lost all that to the most brainwashing filibuster Mulgrew has ever given. I’ll give my same advice again – if you want to see diverse union perspectives, come to executive board meetings where you have any chance of actually seeing them.

April DA, 2022 – The Bizarro DA

Published April 13, 2022 Uncategorized Closed
Tags: Delegate Assembly

It’s late, and I’ve got campaigning and packing left to do before a much needed Spring Break, so I’ll keep this short. James Eterno has already posted comprehensive minutes for those who want to see more detail. So, just some comments from me.

We got what appeared to be a UFC-informed DA today, but when Mulgrew is at the helm, appearances can be deceptive.

Mulgrew spoke for less time during his presidential report than he has in months, if not the entire year, probably a response to United for Change having put out detailed statistics about the March DA, which showed that Mulgrew’s filibuster is what keeps delegates from not doing business, not parliamentary procedures from UFC delegates. In fact, UFC delegates haven’t been called on to motivate a resolution since November. But this time, Mulgrew spoke for 45 minutes, leaving 60 minutes for questions, new resolutions, and resolutions. To be sure, nothing particularly new was in the president’s report that hadn’t already been said in previous DAs or in this week’s executive board meeting, but it was so short compared to what we’ve gotten used to, that one might forgive the repetition. Most delegates called on in the question period were Unity or at least independent, but Ryan Bruckenthal did pitch a good question on our role in helping the new Amazon and Starbucks unions.
In the new motions period, not surprisingly, we were not called on. Peter Lamphere asked to suspend the rules so that the period could be extended by 10 minutes so that we could try to get one of our three motions read, and interestingly a non-UFC delegate called a point of order or information to suggest Peter was wrong to do this. But, Michael Mulgrew sided not with the non-UFC candidate, but with Peter (Bizzaro!). We did not get the necessary 2/3 vote, but got almost half on the phone (potentially a good omen for the election). Interestingly, this was the only parliamentary procedure used by UFC that night, but there must have been five done by Unity Caucus members and independents. By the way, this took no time at all. There were no fits thrown, no attacks made on their character, just answers–even when the non-UFC delegates were ruled out of order. Hypocritical? Perhaps. Again, Bizarro DA.
Of the resolutions read, nothing required debate. Everything was unanimous. Nothing bizarro there, except the fact that there were resolutions in the first place. This led to some interesting moments of solidarity, including a particularly touching moment when a former first-responder spoke about his experience serving during 9/11. I can tell you that UFC candidates who were there, myself included, joined with everyone else to stand and applaud him. (It was a little less heart warming when, hearing that a handful of people voted against the resolution, someone in my section screamed something to the effect of ‘we’re teaching with terrorists!’) The next resolution, which resolved “that the UFT take a moment to recognize our outstanding school related professionals and to pay tribute to them for their important contributions to the New York City school system and to the United Federation of Teachers,” received an ‘against’ comment over the phone from Dermot Myrie (MORE), because (a) he couldn’t make a motion to amend over the phone; and (b) we should be making a motion to actually PAY school related professionals more, not just emptily recognize them. I think he had a point.
And, this time we went beyond 6:00 PM’s automatic adjournment. Mulgrew had refused to go beyond 6:00 every single DA this year since UFC’s big November wins. Last month, seemingly out of spite, he didn’t even let a resolution finish, because we had the audacity to try and make a motion to extend. He claimed then that they needed the room for a meeting at 6:00, after which I pointed out that the meeting he was talking about was at 6:30. Then he said they needed to get the room ready, and that was why they had to end mid-motion at 6:00, so I stuck around and saw that not a single chair was moved in that 30 minutes (we could have easily finished the resolution, and had another 10 minutes to work on other resos). Anyways, this time around a Unity person makes a motion to extend, and Mulgrew says there’s no point in even debating it, because he’s going to let us go past 6:00 either way. Hypocritical? Yes, definitely hypocritical. Again, Bizarro DA.

In the end, despite the Bizarro context of this DA: a shorter presidential address, a question period that let one completely non-inflammatory UFC question go through, and almost all parliamentary inquiries/motions coming from Unity or otherwise non-UFC candidates, there was still no substantive change. Where it counted, we weren’t called on to read important resolutions. And there was just enough time to get through three resolutions that were inherently non-controversial (and offered no potential for UFC to make any inroads during the debate period). Therefore, bizarro as this DA was, there was nothing pro-UFC about it. Opposition was just as shut out as in December or March.

I’ll end by discussing the resolutions that UFC meant to pitch, but once again never got a chance to motivate. One would have committed the UFT to push for detailed plans to investigate and potentially end mayoral control. That resolution is long and complicated, but well worth a read (click the link above to see it). Another resolution focused on Tier 6, but unlike Unity’s otherwise similar resolution, had a radical resolve that would have bound the UFT to the following: “as part of this campaign, any politician who blocks or intends to block our efforts to fix Tier 6 must at a minimum be barred from receiving COPE dollars, our endorsement, or any other form of UFT support.” Finally, another responded to Unity’s abhorrent actions at the last Executive Board meeting and over the last few weeks to investigate and potentially out UFT members for things that could lead the DOE to discipline them. That resolution is short, so I’ll end by posting that resolution in its entirety.

Resolution Calling for UFT not to Initiate DOE Disciplinary Proceedings against a Member

Whereas DOE disciplinary proceedings, such as 3020-As, can lead to severe consequences for our educators, ranging from hefty financial penalties to termination of employment and/or discontinuation of our licenses.

Whereas, one of the primary purposes of our union is to protect educators from being disciplined and to mitigate the consequences thereof.

Whereas, in recent weeks, UFT staff members and officers have publicly accused UFT members of misconduct, and therefore potentially alerted the DOE that there is misconduct done by UFT members worth investigating.

Whereas, in recent weeks, UFT officers have mimicked the tactics of DOE investigators, initiating witchhunts of UFT members for which they would only be able to effectuate consequences if they turned over their data to the DOE.

Be it resolved that, whether secretly or publicly, UFT staffers and officers will neither extract nor communicate information to the DOE that could lead to initiation or exacerbation of disciplinary proceedings for our members.

If you’d like a UFT leadership that defends members rather than targets opposition candidates in a way that could harm their careers, vote United for Change. We’ll push for a union that defends everyone, not one that puts member livelihoods at risk out of sheer negligence if not for political gain. And yes, we’ll democratize the DAs so that they are perpetually and authentically democratic, not just occasionally and only superficially democratic.

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New Action – UFT

Posts Tagged 'Delegate Assembly'

Notes from November DA – UFC High School Executive Board Authors first Resolution with UFT Leadership

Unpacking the October, 2022 Delegate Assembly

April DA, 2022 – The Bizarro DA

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