Happy Holidays from the UTP

LHS RIP

Not long after Randi, a VP, a Boro Rep, and a DR visited Lafayette High School, the announcement was made that the home of Koufax was to be 86’d. Our union President stood in LHS and told our members that the Principal would go. It was a show of Unity strength. The suits paraded about. And then they left. Not to return. The staff continues to deal with the mad Principal, but they’ve been hung out to dry. In fact, it is they--or at least a large portion of them--that will be going. They will be going to test the open market system. Good luck. Gone is the prized seniority transfer. As Norm pointed out, Randi works “with” the DOE. Even though we all know that those days are gone. It’s the DOE not BOE. They don't work with anybody. Our union is pushed around and does nothing, because they've got nothing. Besides, they don’t want their suits to get messed.

At LHS, though, all things are possible: 140% on your pie chart, and dead people can work. The staff is militant and are real unionists, not the suits that parade around when called out, nor the suits that are in bed with the very BloomKlein they claim to oppose. Wildcat strike? It's 140% possible.

The Times They Are A' Changin'

The precipitous drop in temperature indicates that either Hell has frozen over, or that Teachers For A Just Contract have actually stepped out of Bedrock and joined the other opposition groups. No, they haven't done anything so bold as to get their candidate's name out there, or leaflet some schools, or contact the rest of opposition; no, it's a little more basic than that. They have a blog--of sorts. Of course they have 20 articles showing and have more zeros posted than Randi has on her check. Still, it's progress. At this rate, we can expect Kit to be known by everyone in his school by the time Randi kicks his ass in the spring.
Have a cup of coffee and head over to their wildly entertaining site:
www.teachersforajustcontract.org

Please Hold All Tickets 'Till Results Are Official

UFT ratifies new contract by a 9-to-1 margin
Dec 14, 2006 5:10 PM

UFT members overwhelmingly ratified a new two-year contract with the city, according to the American Arbitration Association, which counted the ballots on Dec. 14. Among the 78,000 UFT members who cast ballots, 90 percent voted to approve the new deal.


“We are very pleased about the overwhelming number of members who voted and the overwhelming support for this contract,” UFT President Randi Weingarten said. “It provides real stability and certainty for educators and the students they serve and a much-needed raise for all our members that gets our most senior teachers to a milestone $100,000.”

The new contract was negotiated almost a year before the current pact expires. The new deal, which runs from Oct. 13, 2007 to Oct. 31, 2009, will give every teacher at least a 7.1 percent raise over that period and will boost the salary of the most experienced teachers to more than $100,000.

The pact – which includes a $750 cash payment payable in January 2007 and a new longevity increase for educators who stay in the system for five years – brings the total cash value of the raise to more than 8 percent.


New York City public school teachers will have received salary increases of 40 percent or more between 2002 and 2009.