Sunday, December 11, 2016

DAILY NEWS INVESTIGATES DE BLASIO FUNDRAISING

I don't know if it will make a difference for Mayor Bill de Blasio's reelection but thanks to Reality Based Educator for directing us to the cover story in today's Daily News on the mayor's pay to play fundraising schemes.

This front page says a great deal about the situation. Read the entire story and tell us if you think there is anything new here.

My guess is the worst of these stories or even some indictments might be held until around October when they can do maximum political damage and then we will be stuck with a mayor who will more than likely be far worse.

What about now?

Since de Blasio apparently has no qualms about quid pro quo politics, how about, as has been rumored, sending Carmen Farina back into retirement and bringing in someone to clean house at the Department of Education as a condition for UFT support?

The Daily News investigates Mayor de Blasio's fundraising in the Sunday, Dec. 11, 2016, edition.

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

Noticed the other Daily News headline. Any chance Harry Reid will just go away and stop embarrassing himself and other Democrats?

Anonymous said...

Who gives a shit? Nothing is changing. 20 hours till torture begins again.

Anonymous said...

The ball is so in our court right now. Bill gives us a good evaluation system and agrees to a decent contract in 2018 and the UFT will endorse him. It is politics 101.

Anonymous said...

Election is in 2017. Evaluation due now.

Anonymous said...

And contract would need to be extended now, early...

Anonymous said...

2 years at 6% total, 3 on 12/1/18, 3 on 12/1/19, and $1K upfront, compared to the last deal, would be amazing. Could also do 3 or 4 years at that rate...

Anonymous said...

Yes, evaluation is now. New contract in 2018 if I am correct. Point is that Bill can start making deals with the UFT right now in both of these regards.

Anonymous said...

If Bill backs us we can back him. If he does not, we can always sit out the next mayoral election or back somebody who does support us. As mentioned above, him and the UFT could start some preliminary closed door meetings right now in promises.

Anonymous said...

If he settles contract now, he looks like tool of UFT. How naive can you guys be? Early contract ain't happening.

Anonymous said...

I LOVE THIS COMMENT!!!!!!! And terribly true!

Anonymous said...
Who gives a shit? Nothing is changing. 20 hours till torture begins again.

Sunday, December 11, 2016 11:33:00 AM

Anonymous said...

There are ways the Mayor could pander to the unions and skate back into his position. currently the UFT is negotiating for paid FMLA leave- A little insider information, the negotiations involve eliminating how many days we can collect- lower it to 50 or eliminate the saving of days all together and anyone with more gets a small sum for their days at the end of the year $125 a day is the number I heard. If you collected more than 50 at the time the deal was struck you'd only get the $125 a day.

The Mayor could also work to establish a new pattern before the election; though off hand I am not aware of any union that is in contract negotiations now. Most/if not all contracts expire after the election.

Anonymous said...

How is that good? If you leave at $100K per year, the days are worth $500 per day. Now I would get $125 taxable?

Anonymous said...

I have over 150 days how is that deal good!

Anonymous said...

Are the UFT and DOE Getting Ready to Eliminate Your CAR(Cumulative Absent Reserve)?

The UFT and city have been looking for a way to offer paid FMLA leave. De Blasio is desperate to give UFT members a reason to vote for him and the UFT is desperate for a "win." A paid FMLA bill has also been proposed in the legislature and may pass before long.

The "secret negotiations" involve board members, UFT staff, NYC DOE staff, the Office of the Mayor, the Budget Office, and Office of Labor Relations. You can't keep anything secret in a city this size.

A major back and forth proposal is the elimination of our CAR banks and lowering the amount of days we are allotted each year to as few as 5 days. Farina sees it as a great win for students if teachers were no longer allowed to accumulate days they can takeoff. She would like teachers to take less days, with the incentive being that at the end of each year teachers are paid for any of the days they don't use(a nominal amount).

The city is VERY keen on offering this first to UFT members as most unions already cannot accumulate days, however the other unions such as those representing the NYPD, NYFD, NYSD, etc. already in essence have paid FMLA leave with unlimited sick days. If the city gave paid FMLA leave to all city workers without negotiating away UFT members CAR's first, we would be the big winners in the deal. We would still get 10 paid sick days/personal days a year and have the extra benefit of accumulating days in the future.

The problems with this deal:

*Paid FMLA leave already became NYS law in April-though the benefits are limited and it's gradually being rolled out
*Older teachers had their children, took their days, and now any days they've saved since then will be eliminated? That wont go over well.
*The city doesn't want to pay for the excess days in teachers banks, they want those to be eliminated as part of the deal.
*Giving us such few days isn't fair. The other unions get dozens of personal and vacation days a year.

Anonymous said...

Mulgrew and deBlasio had best read lightly with UFT members after the shit they pulled with the last contract. No one is falling for it the second time. I would rather vote Bloomberg in than vote for Bill if there's more give backs. Things were better for us under Bloomberg because Mulgrew fought him, rather than giving us as a gift.

Anonymous said...

10 days a year in sick days is not enough. We work closely with hundreds of kids each day. For ATRs we are in different populations monthly. If we go over 10 days we get an automatic Unsatisfactory and are targeted for the rest of our career with weekly observations. Ask Amy if you don't believe it. I have close to two hundred days I can't use and should be paid for. If Mulgrew pushes something that takes away sick time and or pay, everyone will go nuts and no one will vote DeBlasio in. I really need a reason to vote for him, not another reason not to.

Anonymous said...

Pathetic. I think we need to walkout asap. Its only getting worse. And wait till the spring when they raise our medical again.

Anonymous said...

Remember, the vast majority of teachers are "new" and don't care about the accumulation of days. They would see this as a massive win.

Anonymous said...

ask mulgrew...another slap in the face.

Anonymous said...

What is going on here??? I have over 120 days in my CAR. I am a male and will never have kids nor need to take a leave. Is the UFT proposing that I loose all of those days? That is more than half a school year I have saved up in case I get hurt/sick. I am suppossed to be able to cash out half of those days at retirement. What exactly is the UFT trying to pull here? I really, really, hope this is a baseless rumor.

Anonymous said...

I heard about these negotiations. Alan Ross hinted at them in a meeting. They broke off in July and no agreement was reached. they did negotiate on eliminating our CAR, but I was told that they ended on a sour note and no further negotiations were scheduled. It's an open secret that the city wants to eliminate our CAR, no other union is allowed to save 200 days.

SPED4LYFE said...

Yes they can!!! Other unions save days. Cops, firemen and sanitation don't have to. Don't touch my days!!! I have been responsible and saved those days. Came in in a foot of snow, sick, etc. etc. This sounds like such a shit deal and based on the UFT's cluelessness and out of touchness It can be believed to be true. Open secret that hasn't been heard of till now? I really hope this is rumor otherwise I will DEFINITELY vote for red Billy's opposition. Mulgrew and his mother Randi are corrupt, pathetic losers. May the Supreme Court rule in favor of Freidrichs

Anonymous said...

Me too. I live out of State and make it in snow, rain, transit strikes, and everything else. I earned my CAR days. The UFT better not give them up.

Anonymous said...

You guys are too concerned about someone saying the word black, which does accurately depict our student body, to get that we are being taken behind the barn, raped and shot in the head.

James Eterno said...

Say the word black all you like.

Anonymous said...

On the face of it, this looks to screw senior teachers AGAIN.
Better take your C.A.R. days now and jet down to the Bahamas in January.