Tuesday, July 27, 2021

INDEPENDENT COMMUNITY OF EDUCATORS ZOOM MEETING TODAY AT NOON

We are meeting today on Zoom at noon to discuss the state of the schools, the 2022 UFT election, and the privatization of retiree healthcare. We should have a report later.

For those who wish to be on our listserve, email your name and school to iceuft@gmail.com. I will forward the information to Norm Scott.

30 comments:

Anonymous said...

Only way to defeat Mulgrew/Unity is if ICE, MORE, and all the other groups join together on the same platform.

Anonymous said...

Beating Mulgrew is a pipe dream. Vast majority approve of his leadership. This blog is not typical at all of Zeitgeist. I predict high 80%s.

Unknown said...


James,
FYI and for the brothers and sisters....

Tuesday, August 17, 2021 is going to be the paycheck for the "retro-per session" pay date.

Summer School 2021 checks are to be deposited as follows...

1. Tuesday, August 3
2. Tuesday, August 17
3. Tuesday, September 1


Best,
Paddy

Anonymous said...

I'm no shill, but Solidarity is the only group that I see who actually fights for teachers rights in the trenches. However, as the poster mentions above, the only way to even come close to beating Mulgrew would be with a unified group of members from the various anti-Unity caucus groups. One last point, who even knows if Mulgrew is going to run again? He really knows he is hated by a huge group of teachers and you could tell in his town hall meetings that he is "tired" of all the work that he had to do during the Covid pandemic. We shall see!

Anonymous said...

11:11. im a MORE member. i completely agree that we need a united front.

Anonymous said...

1206. i think that vast majority agrees out of ease. i don't think a lot of people are invested in the inner workings of the union, and they just go with the status quo. we need to really make moves, advertise, organize. we gotta get that message out, and do whatever we can to expose Unity for the problem that they are.

Not will to die yet said...

2:30
Mulgrew is going to run again.
Where else is he going to get paid the salary he gets paid ? He is a politician not a union leader. He will run and collect his salary for many years to come.

David Suker said...

Agree, but people need to get their shit together.

Anonymous said...

If you want to defeat Unity, you need a united message that resonates with most dues payers besides Unity sucks and you need a way to deliver that message to the rank and file.

Anonymous said...

What might be useful is to demonstrate that Mulgrew has ignored member complaints and questions that are submitted by email. At times, neither he nor anyone else, on his behalf, replies. This attitude sometimes filters down into the UFT Borough Offices. Years ago, Jim Callaghan claimed that Mulgrew deleted hundreds of unopened emails at once. We need to track the stats of Mulgrew’s responsiveness or unresponsiveness to member emails.

Anonymous said...

No emails are deleted. An aide reads all inquiries and forwards them to appropriate reps at Central or borough offices. The assigned reps are responsible for replying to members. Obviously, Mulgrew can't respond to 100's of complaints himself.

Anonymous said...

At a meeting, Jim Callaghan described two occasions where he personally witnessed Mulgrew delete hundreds of unread emails. He sounded very believable. There is a video of the meeting somewhere on YouTube.

Anonymous said...

Callahan was a drunken fool. How would he be in a position to see Mulgrew delete emails? Looking over his shoulder? I'm telling you there's a protocol. Mulgrew has a rep who reads all his email and sends the inquiries to the office/rep best equipped to answer it.

Anonymous said...

Callihan was very close to Mulgrew at one point. They both live on SI and would drive from work together.

Anonymous said...

12:06 is a drunken wife beater. He should be ok with an accusation with zero evidence. And btw I’d believe any drunken fool over Mulgrew and company who are drunk on power.

Anonymous said...

What’s the name and job title of Mulgrew’s rep? Perhaps Mulgrew and Callaghan were having a meeting and were sitting side-by-side facing the computer while Mulgrew had his inbox open. Has anyone on this blog had the experience of emailing Mulgrew and not receiving a response from anyone?

Anonymous said...

1206 here. Im not married so I'm not whover you think I am The reps name is Brian Gibbos. He is a big computer expert and aide to Mulgrew. If a UFT staffer gets an email from him on behalf of Mulgrew, the email gets answered right away, or else.

But back to the story. It is so obviously bs. Why would Mulgrew delete "hundreds" of emails in such a way that Callahan or anyone, could see it? It's absurd.

Anonymous said...

I went to YouTube and searched for “Jim Callaghan.” I scrolled through the results and came across https://youtu.be/wkDmcCpfcFM

Callaghan’s believable story about the deleted emails runs from 18:05 to 18:30. Let’s conduct an experiment. Email Mulgrew with a problem or question. Post a comment revealing the results.

Anonymous said...

I watched it. I gotta agree with the other guy. It sounds like bullshit. Man was fired for drinking. Has a grudge. Mulgrew wouldn't delete them. He might ignore them. But wiping out emails in front of someone and making fun of members? No.

Anonymous said...

What makes you say the story is believable? Because he said it with a straight face? The guy had a major chip on his shoulder. I'd say it is not credible. Prez of labor union tells colleague to eff members and deletes a ton of emails? I think not.

Anonymous said...

What is an example of a question or a problem that can't go through the Chapter Leader, District Rep, the Reps on the phone who are can it to someone specifically trained in an area. What in the world are people emailing Mulgrew about and then thinking that he has time to look at hundreds of emails. I remember emailing one of the attorneys who I had spoken with on another matter a year before, and they actually called me back even after we played phone tag a couple of times. You guys just look for things to be angry about.

Anonymous said...

I find the story credible. There have been previous reports of members emailing Mulgrew and not receiving responses from anyone.

Anonymous said...

Yes, because he said it with a straight face, his body language was appropriate, and the story supported complaints over the years of Mulgrew being emailed, but no one replying. If Callaghan had a major chip on his shoulder, then it was due to Mulgrew’s not permitting him to write important articles about abusive principals and then firing him without good cause.

Anonymous said...

Mulgrew needs to accept ultimate responsibility. There have been many problems over the years that have been highlighted on this blog and others that would have been appropriate for Mulgrew to deal with. Mulgrew can obviously catch the attention of the Chancellor’s Office and the Mayor’s Office. He can spot check his emails, reply to some, and ask his staff to review the queue and make sure the unanswered emails are properly handled. Was it a NYSUT attorney or UFT attorney who called you back? It’s a matter of legitimate concern when members email Mulgrew and no one responds.

Anonymous said...

So far, I haven't heard from anyone on this site who had direct experience of asking Mulgrew for help and nobody responds. Lots of hearsay, but no direct experience. I don't think it's an issue. Re Callahan, there's no way to tell based on body language or tone, whether he was lying. That's an unknown. As to his being fired without cause by Mulgrew, not true. He was fired by deidre McFadden, boss of NY Teacher. He was insubordinate.

Anonymous said...


METRO
This oughta teach him!
By Tom Topousis

August 13, 2010 | 4:00am



Michael Mulgrew
Daniel Shapiro
In a move of stunning hypocrisy, the United Federation of Teachers axed one of its longtime employees — for trying to unionize the powerful labor organization’s own workers, it was charged yesterday.

Jim Callaghan, a veteran writer for the teachers union, told The Post he was booted from his $100,000-a-year job just two months after he informed UFT President Michael Mulgrew that he was trying to unionize some of his co-workers.

“I was fired for trying to start a union at the UFT,” said a dumbfounded Callaghan, who worked for the union’s newsletter and as a speechwriter for union leaders for the past 13 years.

Callaghan said he personally told Mulgrew on June 9 about his intention to try to organize nonunionized workers at UFT headquarters.

“I told him I want to have the same rights that teachers have,” said Callaghan, 63, of Staten Island. “He told me he didn’t want that, that he wanted to be able to fire whoever he wanted to.”

Anonymous said...

What did Deidre McFadyen order Jim Callaghan to do that he refused to? Who was Deidre’s boss at the time? Besides hearing stories of emails to Mulgrew going unanswered by anyone, I’ve heard similar stories about certain Borough Office employees. They don’t answer member emails and don’t see to it that others answer on their behalf. My overall impression of Jim Callaghan’s presentation is that he was telling the truth.

Anonymous said...

@5:40 I would've fired him too. And the fact that he ran to the the tabloid Post shows he couldn't be trusted.

Anonymous said...

Well, your reasoning satisfies you so we'll let it go. I was an insider at the time and I knew some details, but I forget them now. I recall at the time that Callahan was not an innocent victim. My final defense here is the obvious one. Hundreds of people read this blog, but nobody accepted my invitation to tell us that they were not answered after writing to Mulgrew.

Anonymous said...

11:44 maybe nobody had an issue of concern that required his attention.