Wednesday, March 19, 2014

UNITY TURNS DOWN MORE DA RESOLUTION CALLING FOR ESCALATION OF DEFENSE OF CHAPTER LEADERS & RANK AND FILE

The March 19 Delegate Assembly was highlighted by MORE's Kit Wainer speaking in favor of a MORE sponsored resolution for the UFT to escalate their defense of  Chapter Leaders and others who speak out against abusive administrators.  Although the motion failed, it received strong support from the Delegates

The resolution is printed here in its entirety:

Whereas, educators are fearful of reporting detrimental working and learnings conditions established by principals who work in a dictatorial manner; and

Whereas, our contract provides due process for all UFT members; and

Whereas, whistleblowers such as Francesco Portelos have been removed from schools and now falsely arrested and imprisoned for reporting abusive conditions and expressing their free speech rights; be it therefore

Resolved, that after careful consideration, the UFT will publish a list of DOE’s most abusive administrators in its newspaper, website, social media, and in a press release; and be it further

Resolved, that the UFT will escalate its defense of educators who speak out on behalf of their colleagues and students; and be it further

Resolved, that the defense of UFT members, particularly chapter leaders, who speak truth to power will include, but not be limited to, a full mobilization of our membership for protests and rallies with educators, parents, students, and concerned community members to expose despicable administrators; and be it further

Resolved, that UFT will demand the immediate removal of all administrators that are found as being abusive

“When UFT members are under attack, we must stand up and fight back!”

In motivating this resolution for placement on next month's agenda, Kit told the Delegates there are many abusive principals and assistant principals out there and some have real personality defects. He added how some are outright anti-union and are using the disciplinary process as an intimidation tactic.

Kit then pointed out how our union provides good legal representation but this is for individuals.  We now need to raise the stakes against these supervisors by taking collective action in picketing or engaging in other public actions as a union!

UFT Secretary Emil Pietromonaco spoke against MORE's motion.  His main argument was to say he understands the intent of the resolution but we already rigorously defend our chapter leaders and take action so there is no need for a further resolution. 

The vote followed and although MORE did not win a majority, the minority is growing.  I would say close to 40% of the vote was in favor of the motion.

President Michael Mulgrew then tried to comment but was stopped dead in his tracks by MORE's Megan Moskop who shouted for a Point of Order and didn't wait for a microphone to tell Mulgrew he was speaking out against a resolution that had already been voted on.  Mulgrew tried to continue but Megan wouldn't have it so Mulgrew moved on and closed the new motion period.

I'll put the remainder of the DA Report up in a later post, including my shouting match with Mulgrew over Mulgrew once again saying he doesn't need to call on any opposition speakers in debate.

24 comments:

TeachmyclassMrMayor(andyoutooMrMulgrew) said...

Mr. Mulgrew, honestly, I have no idea how you sleep at night. The fact that as many people spoke for this as they did, despite the "Unity Blind Loyalty Oath", should tell you something. Do you not understand yet that the UFT must stop playing defense on all sides and start to literally fight back. STOP making life easy for Tweed. You say they are telling you privately that they are "sorry" for all of the crap over the last 12-20 years. I call B--LS--T! Tell them, stop apologizing to me, and do something for the folks that have been raked over the coals for all of this time. And I do not care that it is the middle of a school year, the chancellor did not start.

Pogue said...

Also, it's a shame the UFT has no fight against the charter commercials being they have charter schools themselves. Now, the media is reporting on polls saying the public likes charters, (after an ad campaign to draw pity for the poor charter school profiteers.)

UFT Leadership's answer - nothing. No defensive. No offensive. Just silence.

Now, THAT'S what I call union leadership!

Anonymous said...

I have no confidence in the union leadership. They are a major reason we have terrible working conditions. Mulgrew couldn't care less about this and his behavior at the delegate meeting comes to no surprise.

Anonymous said...

Why work hard and protect the rights of the hard working when he can not make waves and get paid, He is smart to stay out of the fray. People who don't make waves last a long time in the doe/uft. People who make waves are out fast!!! When people label you a "trouble maker"" for expressing your 1st amendment rights and trying to expose the evils in the system you better watch out. They will dig up something on you in an attempt to discredit your reputation. And if enough people say it about you people will start to believe it. My motto is try to stay under the radar in an attempt to make it to retirement. Isn't that sad!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

If everyone agrees with you, we're done.

Anonymous said...

We might be done! The doe spies are looking to make a name for themselves and would love to accuse you of something. Keep quiet and make it to retirement. Sad Indeed!! Can you read this Mulgrew! This is the environment that you helped create. A Job Well Done!

Anonymous said...

I was just wondering if all of the dues paying members who are unsatisfied with the UFT would consider getting an attorney and forming a REAL alternative union. Is there a way to LEGALLY separate from the UFT and form this alternative? It seems as if there are enough dissatisfied UFT members to make this alternative a reality. I am sure that there are quite a few teachers that happen to be attorney's, so how about tapping into that resource to get an alternative union started????

Anonymous said...

I was just wondering if all of the dues paying members who are unsatisfied with the UFT would consider getting an attorney and forming a REAL alternative union. Is there a way to LEGALLY separate from the UFT and form this alternative? It seems as if there are enough dissatisfied UFT members to make this alternative a reality. I am sure that there are quite a few teachers that happen to be attorney's, so how about tapping into that resource to get an alternative union started????

James Eterno said...

You don't need an attorney. You are the union. Organize and help run in the 2016 election.

Anonymous said...

40% of the delegates did not vote in favor of the resolution from what I saw. While it was more than normal for these things from what I saw 40% is a clear exaggeration.
Emil is correct in that we already have a resolution on this. Why should we set the precedent to keep revoting on the same issues over and over again. This wasn't about the general defense of chapter leaders as was falsely stated but rather the defense of one specific chapter leader. We have a grievance process, we provide legal representation for our members.
I have had to call on the union leadership and they went toe to toe with my principal. And they did it well. Like usual this blog misrepresents the actual facts by only showing their readers what they want to hear, not the whole truth.

James Eterno said...

Piece says close to 40% in favor. It was well into the 30's for sure.

You should read the resolution closely. It calls for an escalation of the defense of chapter leaders and others who are attacked by not just providing legal or grievance help but instead involving the membership in union style action. Definitely a call to raise the stakes.

Francesco Portelos said...

Throwback Thursday: “Mikey Mulgrew Where Are You?" was my take on it.
http://protectportelos.org/throwback-thursday-mikey-mulgrew-where-are-you/

Tony Da fighter said...

A principal pushed out a chapter leader out of his long time position for speaking up but pretexting she had no money in the budget to support the position and the UFT leadership in step 2 did not even challenge this argument. The principal just wanted to hire a music teacher, however. How the hell does the UFT defend Chapter Leaders if he or she is not a 'UNITY' hack?

Anonymous said...

They don't defend Unity chapter leaders very well either. See David Pecararo from Beach Channel for example.

wwoodruff said...

This post is offensive. The chapter leaders you mention were represented. Both Portelos and Pecarrero were provided with Union representation, the union has paid for lawyers.
But the UFT leadership does NOT comment on individual chapter leader struggles in public. It would be inappropriate if they did. But looking at Portelos' own blog we see the documentation that The UFT provided the supported him.

What is further disturbing in these comments is the link to Portelos's website where he posts pictures of two labor leaders marching in the Labor day Parade. We pay Michael to forge relationships with these people. I expect that Michael reaches out to ALL labor leaders, political groups and leaders of those said groups in order to push the interests of our union forward.

Unknown said...

It is amazing the level of disinformation that comes from this blog. The resolution was brought up not to protect all chapter leaders but one specific chapter leader.
Most of the comments are so out of touch with what is happening. For the last 12 years we have had a mayor who refused to listen, we had media outlets who did nothing to share the whole story giving power to the Evil Moskawitz of the world. And instead of helping the UNION to bring real change you twist the story to gain power, not to actually help our members.

Anonymous said...

Unity people read resolutions about as well as Mulgrew reads Roberts Rules. Kit acknowledged that the lawyers are provided but asked for collective union action. The kind Unity wouldn't know how to do if it sat on them. Who is trying to gain power? It isn't even an election year for the UFT. Go look at your loyalty oaths and go on the Unity site.

Anonymous said...

unity infiltration. Can Raving Lunatic be far behind? We hope so.

Anonymous said...

Why won't the UFT sue to have David's 3020A overturned? Riddle me that oh Unity people.

Teacher Advocate said...

The key here is that a resolution already existed and that we don't want the President of the UFT to be told what to print in the paper and when to print it. The gist of the motion is and always will be supported by the rank and file. Tyrannical principals do tremendous harm to trust, evaluation, and our profession.

James Eterno said...

The resolution was to escalate the fight. The Unity leadership doesn't want to up the stakes. That is that.

Mr.Hughesonline said...

There sure are alot of anonymous bloggers here. I'm just sayin'.

Mr.StrongUFTsupporter said...

All Chapter Leaders are represented and we voted on a resolution to cover these areas. I for one am a chapter leader and a delegate as well. Our union is as strong as we make it. If someone is being singled out, then they should take notes and have a log of what happens. I feel its a terrible idea to list principal names because I feel then what happens if teachers names then get published. We have a prep, a lunch, and great benefits. We have a career and a check that clears every two weeks. Teachers don't get laid off and we fight very hard for these protections.

Anonymous said...

Collective action is what unions do. You must be a Unity chapter leader. Do you know what solidarity is?