Wednesday, September 10, 2014

NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION; ATRS NEED OUR OWN UFT CHAPTER AND DELEGATES

Yesterday there was a UFT meeting for Absent Teacher Reserves in Queens.  The UFT is having these meetings throughout the boroughs this week. 

Several ATRs asked some very thoughtful questions about the plight of the ATR.  Mike Sill was the UFT representative who gave us information and handled our questions.

I was given the floor to speak at this meeting.  I took advantage of the opportunity to address the ATRs by saying the time is now for the ATRs to have our own UFT Chapter. We have been disenfranchised as we do not have representatives at the school level of our own choosing.  Our Chapter should include ATRs who rotate in schools from week-to-week as well as teachers who are hired provisionally for a year and people who cover for leave replacements.

We are ATRs until we are put in a permanent position.  We are subject to particular contractual provisions.  We need our own elected representatives who can understand what we are going through.  It is a very different experience than being a regular teacher or counselor in a school. Being an ATR can be extremely isolating.

We are the only group in the Union that has no representation at the UFT's highest policy making body: the Delegate Assembly.  Delegates and Chapter Leaders are not accountable to us and we cannot get elected as Delegates or Chapter Leaders after becoming ATRs.  As some ATRs have been stuck in the ATR pool for years, we are clearly being treated as second class or third class union members by our own Union.

The rationale the UFT leadership has given in the past for not starting an ATR Chapter is we don't want to institutionalize the ATR position.  This argument no longer holds any water as the UFT embedded the ATR position into the contract in May.  The entire Section 16 of the new contract is about ATRs, including leave replacements and members hired provisionally.

It has to be noted that although Sill and Amy Arundell are hard working people who represent ATRs for the UFT, not one ATR voted to have them advocate for us.  This flies in the face of union democracy and I believe it violates our rights to be treated equally under state and federal law.

If there are 1,800 UFT members combined in all three categories (weekly rotation, leave replacement and provisional vacancy), at a ratio of 60 members =1 Delegate, we would be entitled to 30 UFT Delegates at the Delegate Assembly.

I did not ask the question to Mike Sill by wondering if we would get a Chapter; I asked when we would have our own Chapter.  Besides protecting our jobs this year, I anticipate starting a Union Chapter will be the most important union goal for ATRs. 

I think we even have our slogan:

No Taxation (union dues) Without Representation! 

Sorry, it isn't exactly original but I think it fits.

My question was greeted with enthusiastic applause by the ATRs assembled.  Mike Sill answered that this would have to be taken up by people higher up in the UFT than he is.

As for the rest of the information session, we basically were informed that ATRs will start going on mandatory interviews in our own boroughs during the school day next week for leftover vacancies and rotation of ATRs to different schools within a district from week-to-week (or the UFT might negotiate for month-to-month rotations) will commence in the middle of October. 

Nobody can yet define what "problematic behavior" means in terms of the new contract's expedited 3020A dismissal procedure for ATRs, but we do know that people in rotation will not be subject to the new process, only those who fill vacancies and are removed by two principals will be subject to the rapid dismissal hearings.  We also had it confirmed that anyone missing two mandatory interviews will have resigned. 

Sound advice from ICE blog: Make sure your GPS is working so you don't miss any interviews.  If you are driving, check the parking regulations in advance for a school if you are able to.  Some places are really difficult to park around while other schools are not easily accessible by public transportation.

30 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am both outraged and embarrassed that our union has abandoned ATRs. I am not an ATR but am aware I,like any other teacher, could easily become one. We are all vulnerable. I always make it a point to welcome any ATR who is sent to my school. You deserve a chapter leader you elect.
Roseanne McCosh, PS8

Michael Fiorillo said...

Very well said, James.

Unfortunately, my guess is that the isolation of the ATRs suits this leadership just fine.

steve said...

What about the 6% raise in uft dues. That is outrageous.

Francesco Portelos said...

Great work James. Can't wait for Staten Island meeting tomorrow. The numbers coming from the ATR survey continue to paint the real story. WWW.DTOE.org/atr

Anonymous said...

FYI, the principal who closed your beloved Jamaica HS now presides over Flushing HS.

Anonymous said...

Those principals are known as "phase out principals".

Bronx ATR said...

The UFT will never give us representation- they want us gone. We're a reminder of their complacency and as such an embarrassment. The recent contract basically nullifies the UFT. There can be no union if an entire group of members is singled out, given inferior rights and ignored.

Nunzio said...

As I read the comments to the blog that James Eterno posts, I can't help feeling that James is shouting in a forest and no one hears him. He has been trying for years to help people understand that if we don't have the courage to defend our rights no one will. Most ATR's have had exemplary careers only to be sold out by their so called "union". A labor union exists to protect its members from an abusive employer. NOT some members, but ALL members. Once a distinction is drawn, union no longer applies. What exists now is a group of Bolsheviks aka, Unity Caucus. They are concerned not with the membership that pays their salary, but with protecting and insuring their own existence. They do this by strong arming chapter leaders into supporting all things "unity". We have no choice but to join the UFT, and they have sold out most of their senior members by agreeing to create a caste system within their ranks. Each day that passes we loose real union people. I say this because the new people being hired care only about having a job! They come in two main category's, those that believe they are the answer to what is wrong with the educational system and it is now their time, and those that have no intention of making a career in teaching because they intend to move on in a couple of years. Either way, as long as they get steady raises, the have no interest in what happens to the senior teachers. We are infested from within. This is a perilous time for anyone who has already given much of their life to this profession. Our union backs Al Sharpton, while the Police and Firefighters unions back their membership. Maybe we don't deserve Patrick Lynch, because we have no backbone, and so we end up with Mike Mulgrew. I wonder how different things would be if we had someone like Patrick Lynch to fight for us. someone who would do anything to benefit all his members. That would be money well spent.

Anonymous said...

Are all unions affiliated with the AFL-CIO? Are there
procedures and practices that are to be followed to remain a member of the AFL-CIO? Why is our union leadership run so differently? Shouldn't there be a way to challenge this legally?

Philip Nobile said...

ATRs Arise Department:
The trouble with the Unity-Must-Go crowd is that we can’t get Mulgrew and his crew into the ring. We are shunned on all levels and without elected chapter leaders or access to the Delegate Assembly, not to mention the shutout in The Teacher, we have only the power of outside agitation. And with James, Chaz, and Francesco, untouchables all, we’re pretty good at that. But what has our resistance gained? We’ve never been in worse shape. The time has come for an ATR summit. We may be the least of the brethren, but we’re also the cutting edge.

Anonymous said...

Well said Nunzio-
I wish there was a way I could quit the UFT in protest. We have very little to show for the $1000+ in union dues. We are no longer united and you are right, the newbies coming in have no sense of unity and are intimidated by administrators. And this is precisely because our rights and contract have been watered down over the years.

Anonymous said...

How would an ATR CL work? How would we contact them?
Who will train them? How would we have meetings? Where would we have meetings? Who would they contact to address issues? Why would this be better?

Anonymous said...

How would an ATR CL work? How would we contact them?
Who will train them? How would we have meetings? Where would we have meetings? Who would they contact to address issues? Why would this be better?

Francesco Portelos said...

An ATR CL would already be familiar with the ATR issues of the job. They may have already been chapter leaders. If not training like everyone else.

They can vibration district reps.

Not really following your questions. Same as a school CL.

Philip Nobile said...

Re ATR chapters & Leaders: Here's the rubber room model--we elected so-called liaisons in each room who met monthly with bigwigs at 52 Broadway. ATRs are now denied even that crumb. We want what every UFT sub-group has--elected reps. The rest is detail that can be worked out at a summit.

Philip Nobile said...

Re ATR chapters & Leaders: Here's the rubber room model--we elected so-called liaisons in each room who met monthly with bigwigs at 52 Broadway. ATRs are now denied even that crumb. We want what every UFT sub-group has--elected reps. The rest is detail that can be worked out at a summit.

Anonymous said...

I think ATR's are a very different group then people placed in the rubber rooms. Lets say you or Francesco became the ATR CL. How would you be able to help me better then my DR or Amy? Wouldnt you just have to go to them anyway? I dont get how one more person going to a DA will help me. I like the idea of meetings though.

Philip Nobile said...

Does your DR or Amy speak for you or for Mulgrew? Do either seek to overcome ATR apartheid? We need representation for OUR interests!
Amy is a mere bureaucrat, one of Unity's walking dead. Think big: more democracy is better than less.

Francesco Portelos said...

Remember that Reso to support ATRs that was raised by Amy and your DR at a DA? Me neither.

A PERB complaint has already been drafted.

Anonymous said...

The Chutzpah of Amy and friends to schedule a meeting on a Tuesday! She knows full well ATRs in single session schools have extended day! It was another slap in the face!
Wonder if she knew it would be the same day the ATRoffice was announcing the start of mandatory interviews

miriamrosenthal23 said...

Many of you post as an "anonymous" person. The worst has happened. You have zero left to lose. It is time to use your name. Give it up already. We need to organize and find a firm to represent us. Enough is enough. This is discrimination by the DOE and Mulgrew.

Anonymous said...

Did union dues really go up? I read that on another blog yesterday. I believe they mentioned a 5% increase.

Anonymous said...

Nobile makes a good point.

jeff said...

Yes, dues are now over 53 per check.

Anonymous said...

There are so many issues to solve- the illegal observations - the field supervisors who hunt us down - the administrators who try and force us to do non-contractual work - it's a mess

Anonymous said...

To 6:27,
All the items you mentioned could be rectified immediately by the UFT. The observations are invalid because we don't teach a class and have no school. We can only be rated for time and attendance. If the UFT filed a suit to enforce our contract, the observations and ATR supervisors would disappear overnight. As for doing non -contractual work, an email should be sent to every principal detailing what we can and can not do. If a principal ignores it, then the chapter leader should step in and/or district rep. Since the union is not enforcing the contract or protecting us, one must conclude it is complicit.

James Eterno said...

Our ATR Chapter would operate like the Guidance Counselor Chapter or Lab Specialist or many other central UT Chapters. We would meet centrally with DOE and we could have real Chapter meetings to plan how to work as a Chapter to advocate for each other.

Anonymous said...

What is a Legal Observation?

Anonymous said...

We have a corrupt union leader in Mulgrew. Mulgrew dived on teacher evaluations, Common Core, the ATRs and the 4% and 4%. Unfortunately the vast majority of the members are apathetic. If you gave an exam on the contract to the rank and file most would not pass.

Anonymous said...

First I taught for 27 years using my money my time my love for my students. Sorry but my phone has no commas. Then the worst principal in the whole city began to attack me. They demoted him and he went to Troy where he got fired in eight months. That speaks novels. My union leader inmy school used me to help get this a out
Then when I needed my union they were never there
So then the city waved the flag of retro pay before me. I qualified for retirement . Now I live in Pennsylvania and I really need my money but it seems as though it will never come. Oh my advise is if your Uft rep is Barbara My lite DON'T EXPECT ANY HELP from her.