UFT SLEIGHT OF HAND; OR, THE GREAT RANDINI SHOW~
The highly vaunted 25/55 sounds as if it has bit the dust. Not that it ever had a chance. What did Pataki call the idea? Ridiculous? Silly? Ludicrous? No more so than our COPE dollars backing him. No more than our leadership selling the idea as part of the recent contract.
On the other hand, the dramatically undersold 6R kicks in this week. Members get a blast from the past: you may experience all the wonders of five in a row. And what did our leadership sell here? That you can't get two involuntary assignments in a row. No one, not even veteran teachers, can predict how demoralizing this element of the contract will be. At least eleven or so years ago you had a term off; now, settle in for the long haul: this doesn't go away.
Over on the ICE Blog, Jeff Kaufman informs us that letters that are removed from your file are not destroyed, but sent to a city agency to be held there until you have retired (as if that'll happen) for six years. When the DR's made the rounds, that wasn't advertised.
But all these are in the past. Let's look at the future.
Well, we have the Mayor seeking concessions in the health benefits and pensions of municipal employees. No doubt our leadership will put up the same staunch fight that they showed in contract negotiations.
Prepare to be ravaged.
We also have our profession being beaten to a pulp in the media. And it is here that our leadership performs an even better sleight of hand. Here, they are in their true element: deception. After our President walks into the Stossel meat grinder, we find ourselves in a huff. Stossel did a hatchet job on the boss. Let's get indignant. Let's protest. But it's a day late and a dollar short. We've been getting pounded in the press and media for years. However, now it is convenient for our leadership to get haughty. It is convenient because if the membership is doing something else, they can't look at their own house. Unity leadership gives us the basic union 101 sleight o' hand: when you fail on all fronts: distract. In fact, let's have lots of distractions: let's have hurricane relief; let's have cancer walks; let's help the teachers in New Orleans; in fact, let's vote to bring our troops home too. As good as all these things may be, we have a leadership that can't even secure a decent contract for its members, and yet they can solve the problems of the world. Read the minutes to the Ad Com meetings, or the Executive Board meetings. This is what we pay dues for?
But it's a shell game, a sleight of hand. It's nothing less than a distraction from the abysmal failure that our Unity leadership has provided. It's the man that stands in the street looking at the stars while his house burns.
On the other hand, the dramatically undersold 6R kicks in this week. Members get a blast from the past: you may experience all the wonders of five in a row. And what did our leadership sell here? That you can't get two involuntary assignments in a row. No one, not even veteran teachers, can predict how demoralizing this element of the contract will be. At least eleven or so years ago you had a term off; now, settle in for the long haul: this doesn't go away.
Over on the ICE Blog, Jeff Kaufman informs us that letters that are removed from your file are not destroyed, but sent to a city agency to be held there until you have retired (as if that'll happen) for six years. When the DR's made the rounds, that wasn't advertised.
But all these are in the past. Let's look at the future.
Well, we have the Mayor seeking concessions in the health benefits and pensions of municipal employees. No doubt our leadership will put up the same staunch fight that they showed in contract negotiations.
Prepare to be ravaged.
We also have our profession being beaten to a pulp in the media. And it is here that our leadership performs an even better sleight of hand. Here, they are in their true element: deception. After our President walks into the Stossel meat grinder, we find ourselves in a huff. Stossel did a hatchet job on the boss. Let's get indignant. Let's protest. But it's a day late and a dollar short. We've been getting pounded in the press and media for years. However, now it is convenient for our leadership to get haughty. It is convenient because if the membership is doing something else, they can't look at their own house. Unity leadership gives us the basic union 101 sleight o' hand: when you fail on all fronts: distract. In fact, let's have lots of distractions: let's have hurricane relief; let's have cancer walks; let's help the teachers in New Orleans; in fact, let's vote to bring our troops home too. As good as all these things may be, we have a leadership that can't even secure a decent contract for its members, and yet they can solve the problems of the world. Read the minutes to the Ad Com meetings, or the Executive Board meetings. This is what we pay dues for?
But it's a shell game, a sleight of hand. It's nothing less than a distraction from the abysmal failure that our Unity leadership has provided. It's the man that stands in the street looking at the stars while his house burns.
posted by A Strong, Proud UTP Member at 2/07/2006 04:27:00 PM
7 Comments:
It is intolerable that our union's leadership has lied to us, deceived us, and continues to do so. Its seems like the fit has hit the shan! Unity's lies in selling us this contract have been exposed, the devious way they voted themselves a raise has been exposed. Now the question is... what are we going to do about it? Will we lay down and continue to be duped by Unity's "sleight of hand" or will we take a stand and demand some real leadership? Everyone who reads this needs to spread the message, and join the fight. Now is the time! Its time we take a stand and rid our union of the Unity plague.
Most people become teachers to make a difference, to have a fulfilling career. The Unity people need to realize that they have taken all of the joy and pride out of this much needed profession. They have sucked the blood from our veins for the almighty dollar.
Thanks.
I can't blame a sadden teacher for feeling that Unity
has taken the joy and pride out of teaching but I don't believe the reason is a lack of awareness on the part of Unity. To be realistic Unity is not peopled with idiots who cannot be held responsible for their actions. They KNOW full well what they are doing. They DONT CARE. Unity is all about greed and the maintenance of power at all costs. They are a disgrace to unions everywhere and it is our duty to take the union back! Their arrogance and disregard for their members is out of control. Remember they WORK FOR US and their performance is has been consistently bad and it's up to us to fire them! Vote them out! Randi and her odious lackeys need to be shown who's boss.
The fish stinks from the head down!
If unity uses slight of hand what do you use- lies,
lies,lies. Why don't you admit you are against unions and are puppets of the Republican party.
Dear Anon,
It seems you haven't done your homework. Let me tell you who I am and where I come from.
I am a registered Democrat, a member of the NAACP, a member of the Staten Island Democratic Association, and a board member of the Van Duzer Area Civic Association. I have been an ESL teacher for nearly five years, all of that time at Port Richmond High School. I love being a teacher and helping poor struggling immigrants adjust to life in the U.S.A. I am also the Director of the Unified Teachers Party.
My father, Dick Mudgett, raised all of his children to to be aware of what's going on, and to step in and fight against inequalities and injustices, no matter the risk.
New York City Councilman, Michael McMahon, had nothing but praise for my father. I quote from my father's obituary, published in the Staten Island Advance on Thursday, January 20, 2005: "To me, Dick Mudgett was the quintessential community activist, who acted on his beliefs, irrespective of whether or not they were popular...It's a great loss for Staten Island. He was a real, original Staten Islander."
My father was my mentor in all things. What did he do? Here's a brief summary: He taught English, speech, and ESL for 28 years at Curtis High School. He directed many dramatic productions and was the tennis coach for six seasons.
An active union member, he served as chapter leader for the UFT at Curtis in 1968, during the longest strike in the union's history. I remember that strike, because I walked the picket lines with him, since he refused to let me cross the picket lines to attend my 5th grade classes at P.S. 12 (now Concord H.S.). He gave me a real education in union activism and how to be a proactive citizen. The teachers ultimately met their goals of achieving better wages, health care and smaller class sizes.
My father was on the executive board of the Staten Island Branch of the NAACP for many years, and editor of their award-winning newsletter, The Sojourner. In my dad's obit, here's what Ed Josey, the Island's NAACP president, said, "Dick Mudgett was a wonderful man. He was a person who was concerned about the injustices imposed upon African-Americans...he championed that kind of cause."
What's the old saying? "Like father, like son." Yes. This apple has not fallen far from the tree.
What I write is the truth, and nothing but the truth. You may not like what I say. You may not agree with what I say. But I will relentlessly pursue fair and honest representation for the teachers in the UFT. I will vigorously exhort our leadership to restore militancy to the chapters. We have given away the legacy entrusted to us by union activists such as my father. We must reverse this loathsome trend.
My dad told me how, in the glory days, the union held classes in militancy for the chapter leaders. How to get teachers ready for a strike. How to plan actions and demonstrations. How to gather petitions and do letter-writing campaigns. How not to get you ass kicked in by City Hall.
I know there are peers of my dad in the UFT leadership. This brain trust could be our greatest asset in preparing us to go to war against the administration in 2007. I urge them to instruct Randi in how to make the UFT an strong activist union once more.
Don't take my word for it. Do some research, and get back to me.
Joe
Oh.
People who are anti-union don't work to strengthen a union like the UFT. Only people who are strongly pro-union would volunteer their time and energy, working against many obstacles to imporove this union. Saying people who are trying to make this union more militant are anti-union doesn't make sense at all now does it?
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