Posts Tagged 'Unity Caucus'

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New Action announces a coalition slate with MORE for the 2016 UFT elections

Published September 16, 2015 New Action , UFT elections Closed
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New Action Caucus/UFT is the oldest opposition caucus in the United Federation of Teachers. We have a decades-long history of fighting for social justice, including initiating the campaign to divest from apartheid South Africa, moving the UFT to take a position against “stop and frisk,” and winning NYSUT support for the NY DREAM Act for immigrant children.

We also have a long history of struggling for better contracts and working conditions. We have repeatedly spoken out against the new teacher evaluation system based on student test scores. Most recently we have been in the forefront of the fight to defend members from abusive administrators, by building successful demonstrations in front of schools and getting the union to initiate a Principals in Need of Improvement program (PINI). Our focus on mobilizing members goes beyond abusive administrators: in 1995 we led the drive to defeat a zero-zero contract. For the next contract, we led informational picketing in front of many schools, demanding pay parity.

On January 1, 2002, when Bloomberg assumed office, the union was faced with an unprecedented anti-teacher, anti-union administration. Due to these conditions, New Action made an electoral agreement with the leadership’s Unity Caucus to fight those attacks in a bipartisan way, while reserving the right to be critical in areas where we did not agree.

Today the political conditions are different. The new de Blasio administration is not hostile to teachers, our union, and education. It should be easier to improve the conditions in the schools from the miserable state Bloomberg left them in, but the Unity leadership has been ineffective in working to undo Bloomberg’s mess, and unresponsive to the broad needs of our members.

The Movement of Rank and File Educators (MORE) was formed three years ago. It has taken a leading role in the Opt Out Movement. They have been vocal opponents of Cuomo’s tests and the punishing teacher evaluation scheme.

This agreement has been approved by the New Action Executive Board and the MORE Steering Committee. The MORE membership will vote on it this weekend.

Highlights of the Agreement:

  • This proposal is for a joint, full MORE/New Action slate in the Spring 2016 UFT election. It is not for cross endorsing a few select candidates for officer or exec board positions. It is not for merging our groups. It does not involve other caucuses.
  • Allocation of Slots
    • The allocation of slots, in general should reflect both the relative strength of the caucuses, and the history and significance of the caucuses. The division will be close to 50/50.
    • The presidential candidate will come from MORE’s ranks, and be agreed to by both groups.
  • A joint program is in development.
  • Jointly produced literature will be prepared for distribution … Each group may use joint literature, their own literature, or any combination.

September 16, 2015

Winner-Take-All is Undemocratic

Published May 17, 2015 UFT , UFT elections , UFT Executive Board , United Federation of Teachers 1 Comment
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The United Federation of Teachers sends hundreds of delegates to the New York State United Teachers Representative Assembly and to the American Federation of Teachers Convention. And of those hundreds of delegates, all, every one, vote exactly the same way on every issue.

The UFT has Vice Presidents for Elementary Schools, Middle Schools, Academic High Schools, Vocational High Schools, non-DoE, Ed Issues, and Special Ed. All belong to the same caucus.

The UFT has 32 District Reps. All are appointed by the president, and belong to the same caucus.

We have a diversity of voices in the UFT, but they are stifled by electoral gimmicks and chicanery.

Each division used to elect its own vice president, but after New Action’s Michael Shulman was elected UFT Vice President for Academic High Schools in 1985, Unity changed the UFT Constitution to assure that it would not happen again. Ultimately they made the vice presidents “at large” to prevent a division from choosing its own VP.

The Chapter Leaders in each district used to elect their own District Reps, but Unity eliminated this 40-year tradition, and made the DRs presidential appointees. Who represents the voices of the chapter leaders? On April 7, 2014 the New Action representatives on the UFT Executive Board submitted a resolution calling for UFT District Reps to once again be elected by chapter leaders in the districts. Unity tabled the motion, arguing that appointment is more democratic than elections.

Our union’s strength is our membership. We rely on membership involvement. But by shutting down member voices, Unity has discouraged thousands of members from participating in the life of our union. This weakens us. New Action supports proportional representation for election of NYSUT, AFT and NEA delegates, we support a return to direct election of divisional Vice Presidents, and we support a return to election of DRs by Chapter Leaders.

Eliminate Abusive Administrators

Published May 6, 2015 Abusive Administrators , UFT , United Federation of Teachers Closed
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Eliminate Abusive Administrators

Experience and research show that ONLY collaborative relationships in a school foster a healthy work environment, benefitting staff and students. Unfortunately many Leadership Academy principals hired by Bloomberg and Klein are not collaborative. They were hired to get rid of veteran teachers, U-rate staff members, deny tenure, harass chapter leaders and ignore the contract. This is unacceptable!

Chancellor Farina proclaimed that collaboration is one of the first orders of her administration. The word has not filtered down to principals. The number of incompetent principals in the system, according to Fariña, is over 300. Many are the same principals who are abusive of our members, other staff, or students. In an October 2014 leaflet, New Action highlighted two such principals. In late March New Action demonstrated against principal Namita Dwarka of William Bryant HS. But there are many more cases.

Campaigns against these abusers are needed. Can you imagine conditions so bad that your colleagues are too scared to complain? These are schools where the union should be going in, where the leadership should be addressing the problem principal directly with the Chancellor.

Tell our leaders, restore the PINI  (Principals in Need of Improvement), a campaign initiated by New Action and instituted by our union. We must stand by our beleaguered members.

And if you are in a school with an abuser: Contact your District Rep. Contact New Action. Read “A Primer on School Change” (UFT website). Read “14 Ways to Get Rid of an Abusive Administrator” (New Action website).

note:
For years the UFT ran a Principals in Need of Improvement program
Unity abandoned this campaign last year

 

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