An open letter to Randi Weingarten:

As I watched Roger Toussaint march defiantly off to jail the other day, I was struck by the sad reality of the times we are living in. Intolerance of civil disobedience, the erosion of our freedoms, the unabashed assault on labor unions, and the complicity of billionaires owning major media outlets is changing our society for the worse, ushering in a new dark age. Not only has the MTA slapped the TWU with a crippling $2.5 million fine, but Peter Kalikow wants to lay on more hurt. He is suspending the automatic collection of union dues from transit workers’ paychecks. Sapping the TWU’s treasury is not enough. He wants to disrupt their income flow as well. He wants to break that union, and all his rich and powerful cronies are cheering him on.

What can the UFT do to protect itself if we ever decide to go on strike? I have a suggestion. Let’s make a pre-emptive defensive move. We are large enough and professional enough to become self-sufficient when it comes to collecting union dues. Let’s phase out our reliance on the dues checkoff handled for us by our employer, the DOE, and phase in a system to collect our dues directly from our members. In this age of electronic banking it shouldn’t be too difficult to achieve. We may not be able to maintain a strike fund, and we may get hit with a hefty fine, but at least we will be able to continue operations with a steady flow of income, sheltered from disruption from the DOE. This is one positive thing we can do to prepare ourselves to present a credible strike threat. It’s just crazy to continue to let our adversary be the one to collect our funds. If we can do this successfully perhaps it will be a model for other labor unions.

Sincerely,

Joe Mudgett
PRHS UFT Delegate and Director of the UTP