UFT: Let’s Fight for the Contract We Deserve
On Wednesday, May 24th, our union will hold what is likely to be the UFT’s final organizing action for the 2023 contract. Members will assemble at five sites (one in each borough) to rally for a fair agreement. I am hopeful that attendance will be good – not just by staffers, but by regular rank
Michael Shulman Interviewed on WBAI
Yesterday night, New Action co-chair Michael Shulman was interviewed by Daniel Alicea on his WBAI show, Talk out of School. Listen here for Michael’s key perspectives on the history of the UFT and New Action, as well as for commentary on the state/trajectory of our union today. This is a must
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
UFT Leadership’s Contract Teach-in Legacy is to Sue Members for Organizing
I was cautiously optimistic about the contract teach ins. So were a lot of people in the UFT’s progressive opposition. We had questions, to be sure — doubts. As I put it in January, “We need to make sure that the ‘teach in’s in our schools are not just infrastructure for an u
UFT Leadership’s Plan B? Let Our Healthcare Implode, Then Scapegoat Opposition.
Yesterday, 11/22/2022, the City and MLC Leadership lost their appeal against a brave group of retirees who sued to protect the right to premium-free traditional Medicare. This was a huge win for labor activists, but far from the end of a saga that began almost a decade ago when UFT ratified its firs
Notes from November DA – UFC High School Executive Board Authors first Resolution with UFT Leadership
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 colla
The Crisis in the UFT Explained with a Bit of Help from Joe Hill
The Crisis in the UFT Explained with a Bit of Help from Joe Hill It is often said that our union, the UFT, is the strongest union local in the country. It wields influence in Albany, Washington and beyond. Due to its large numbers it plays an outsize role within the AFT and by extension […]
New Action/UFT and MORE: Support Chapter Leader and School under attack
New Action Caucus / UFT and MORE Caucus, and our representatives on the UFT Executive Board wrote to the Unity Caucus controlled leadership of the UFT, asking for real demonstrations of support for an embattled Chapter Leader (Marilyn Martinez, Central Park East 1, facing trumped up 3020a charges) a
Where we agree, where we disagree
From New Action’s May 2016 Leaflet Where We Agree We agree that 200 lawyers at Tweed is about 200 too many. But we need leadership that tells this to Fariña, sits down, and gets something done. We agree that the current funding formula for schools makes no sense, that principals are forced to
Delink testing from evaluation!
(from the New Action leaflet distributed at the March 2016 UFT Delegate Assembly). For a printable version click: Leaflet 2016 March Race to the Top (RttT) pushed states to adopt teacher evaluation schemes that included student standardized test scores as part of teacher evaluation. Bad idea. Ob