I asked the President to show us a copy of the Memorandum of Agreement but there was none. However, the UFT machine is spinning faster than any Wascomat washing machine.
UFT members in the new contract will get the 4 % + 4% salary increases that other city workers unions received back in 2009 and 2010, but we won't see the money until 2015-2020.
For the seven years from 2011 to 2018, where the UFT will set the pattern for raises that other city unions will now follow, we will be getting a total of 10% in raises for seven years plus a $1,000 signing bonus. That works out to less than 1.5% per year.
Specifically, this is how the CFO crunched the numbers:
2009-2010 = 4% raise
2010-2011 = 4% raise
2011-2012 = 0% raise but we will get a $1,000 signing bonus if we ratify the contract.
Nov 2012- April 2013 = 0% raise
May 1, 2013 = 1% raise
May 1, 2014 = 1% raise
May 1, 2015 = 1% raise
May 1, 2016 = 1.5% raise
May 1, 2017 = 2.5% raise
May 1, 2018 = 3.0% raise *Update February 14, 2015-This final 3% raise will be deferred to June 16, 2018 to help pay for retiree lump sum payments.*
Total: 18% (compounded it will be a little more)
For those of you expecting to go back in the fall and at least have the 4%+4% added to your pay, forget it.
The 4 % + 4% that other unions received in 2009-10 will not be added to our pay until the increases kick in one year at a time starting in 2015. Here is how the 8% will be added in:
May 1, 2015 = 2%
May 1, 2016 = 2%
May 1, 2017 = 2%
May 1, 2018 = 2%
All we get added to our salaries now if we ratify is 1% for 2013 followed by 1% for 2014 and the $1,000 bonus.
The 8% won't be added to our salaries fully until 2018 and the retroactive money the city owes us since 2009 won't be coming soon either. Here is the schedule for the retroactive payments:
October 1, 2015- 12.5% lump sum
October 1, 2016 - Nothing
October 1, 2017 - 12.5% lump sum
October 1, 2018 - 25% lump sum
October 1, 2019 - 25% lump sum
October 1, 2020 - 25% lump sum
We will not be made "whole" for Bloomberg denying us the raises that other city unions got 5 years ago until 2020.
Thanks to inflation, Retro delayed is really Retro denied!
UPDATE-Anyone who Retires Before July 1, 2014 Wins Big
The winners in this deal are anyone who retired from 2009 through now and anyone else who retires prior to July 1, 2014. They will get all of their retro pay calculated and get it at once. People who already retired will have their pensions recalculated as well as receiving retro payments for the time they worked.
At the Negotiating Committee they said retirees up to June 30, 2015 get retroactive upon retirement, but this is what is on the UFT website now.
Anyone who retires July 1, 2014 or after will get the deferred payments the same way as active personnel and will be waiting until 2020 to be made "whole".
Only people who resigned or were terminated won't get retro.
Top salary now $100,049 will crawl up to $119,565 by May (updated to June) of 2018.
President Mulgrew arrived at around 5:20 pm after hanging around at the mayor's press conference and here are some of the other details he let out.
Some union had to settle first and it was us.
Here is a breakdown of some of the non-economic issues.
Evaluations:
We will go down from being rated on 22 Danielson components to 8. (No word on the number of observations.) Artifacts are out.
On Measures of Students Learning if we want, we will only be graded based on students we teach.
Paperwork:
The DOE and UFT agreed to set up (yet another) Committee on excessive paperwork. This one will be half UFT and half DOE with a mediator. Cases can also be taken to arbitration.
Extended Time
No additional time added to the day. The extended time, faculty, grade/department conferences, open school night time will be reconfigured. We will work two extra open school evenings which will go from 2.5 to 3 hours.
There will be a default schedule on how to use the extended time each week and preapproved School Based Options.
Multi session, District 75 and 79 schools will keep their current time schedules.
Curriculum
Each core subject will have a curriculum that we must use. Unit plans will be no longer than a page.
Merit Pay
There will be a career ladder i.e. merit pay.
Ambassador teachers will earn $7,500 more to visit other schools.
Model teachers will earn $7,500 more to be model teachers at their own schools.
Master teachers will earn $20,000 to help other teachers.
PROSE Innovative Schools
Schools can opt in with a 65% vote to cancel major parts of the contract. This can be up to 200 schools.
ATRs
Absent Teacher Reserves must show up for interviews. ATRs will be sent to vacancies in schools. There will be no termination for time in the ATR pool but there is an offer of a severance package.
If two principals document unprofessional behavior, the documentation can be used for a special 3020A process just for ATRS. This will not be for performance and it will be a one day hearing which could lead to termination.
Schools will be forgiven for ATR salaries.
Bonus
$5,000 will go to teachers who go to a hard to staff school.
Healthcare
There is a healthcare cost savings plan from the Municipal Labor Committee that must be approved. (We don't know how the cost savings will be achieved but we will keep our basic plans for free.)
Validators
For teachers rated ineffective, the validators sent in the second year to validate an ineffective rating will now be educators: teachers and administrators.
Where is the Memorandum of Agreement?
I asked the president when we would be seeing the full Memorandum of Agreement in writing. He said he didn't know but Staff Director Leroy Barr said it would be out soon. Mulgrew asked for a motion to recommend the contract for approval. I abstained as I would never vote on something I haven't seen. The Unity faithful followed their caucus obligatons and all voted in the affirmative while the New Action people went along with Unity too. The other MORE members abstained silently during the vote but I screamed out for my abstention to be counted.
VERY BRIEF ANALYSIS
I leave it to you to decide what we should do. I tried to keep the adjectives to a minimum in this piece and just report what was said.
We couldn't lose on the 4% + 4% because of pattern bargaining (one city union settles on a percentage salary increase and all the unions follow that pattern) but allowing the city stretch it out so that money we were owed since 2009 won't be fully paid back until 2020 really lets the city off the hook.
As for setting the pattern of 10% over 7 years, this is an abysmally low pattern to establish (we did better monetarily under the anti union Mayors Bloomberg and Guilliani). I can understand why other labor unions in the city are angry with Mulgrew, particularly when it is considered how much surplus revenue the city has. We should have been able to achieve non monetary gains for loaning the city our money and setting a very low pattern but instead we surrendered as usual.
The devil will be in the details on the ATR agreement but I see this contract as a real missed opportunity. Here's hoping the members will ignore the Unity spin cycle and see through it.
Now, here's a question, I plan to leave the city system next year; how/will I get the retro payments?
ReplyDeleteNope. Under this contract you need to be an active member to receive a dime. It's a sneaky, backhanded way to cheat people out of their hard-earned money. It is a bribe and should be illegal. We need to fight this.
DeleteJames,
ReplyDeleteFirst, thank you for staying up so late to write this very informative piece and for attending the Unity, oops, UFT meeting for all of us.
It is mindboggling that our union chiefs are not embarassed to present this very sad contract to the members. They just keep collecting their double salaries and then double pensions, while shafting the little pawns slugging it out in the trenches.
Man, sorry state the NYC teachers are finding themselves in. Hopefully, the other municipal unions will raise a cry and the contract will fall on its face.
Thanks De Blasio, I see the writing on the wall, no second term for him.
Have you heard anything about retroactive pay related to per-session? Have historical pay raises (especially retroactive ones) always impacted per-session rates in the same way? Thank you, in advance, for any information!
ReplyDeletethanks much for this clear summary.
ReplyDeleteThank you James for this information!! YOU ROCK!!!!
ReplyDeleteJames:
ReplyDeleteThanks for the analysis but there are too many unanswered questions.
For the ATRs, who will pay for their salaries? Will there still be a rotation? What has the DOE proposed to principals to hire the ATR?
Thanks so much for this - this seems to be the only specific analysis of the numbers. My question - if the raises are (as they have claimed) "retroactive," does that mean the retroactive pay will be calculated to include the 2014-2018 years since the scale should have been adjusted starting back in 2009?
ReplyDeleteThis is disgusting
ReplyDeleteCan you describe the curriculum section a little further? Has there always been a mandated curriculum, or is this new.
ReplyDeleteThank you James. Again.
ReplyDeleteThe way I understand it is the raises we should get in September, 4+4+1+1, which comes out to a little over 10% will be slowly fed to us, correct? So will we be getting retro on future money? Basically they're giving us IOU's in September instead of raises? Or do we get nothing of the money we should be getting in September until we get it and then nothing going backwards on that money? It's hard to word it clearly, but hopefully that made sense.
ReplyDeleteMy union person made this sound like it was the best contract ever. Unfortunately, people that don't know any better will think it is worth anything. Full retro sounds nice, but not when it take over 10 years to see all your money.
I wondee the same thing. It seems that there is only 2 years of retro included but there should be 5 years of retro. 2012 and 2013 should be retro too.
ReplyDeleteIt's all smoke and mirrors. 0 plus 0 in 2011 and 2012. Retro AND raises and held back until 2015 to 2020.
ReplyDeleteIf they say full retro then a teacher making $100k a year will be owed over $36000. Everywhere says full retro which means you should be getting all the money you have missed in the last 5 years.
ReplyDeleteWhat I'm asking is about money we haven't madeyet that should be higher than what it will be. Will we later get retro on that money?
Yes, can someone please clarify? If someone resigns this year or next does that mean they get NOTHING even though they worked for those 5 years counted in retro? PLEASE NOTE the FIRST payment for retroactive pay is not scheduled until OCTOBER of 2015. A full eighteen months from now. If someone who resigns receives nothing for their years of work, I see this as nothing but a cruel bribe to stay in a system that treats us with contempt and disrecpect.
ReplyDeleteThe amount of the raises is still dismal and the way we're getting them is even worse.
ReplyDeleteThere is absolutely no way that police, fire, and sanitation are going to accept zeros and ones. Will we be stuck with ours or will they raise our percentages once they get higher raises than us?
ReplyDeleteI retired in March 2013. Does anyone know if I would be getting the 1,000 dollars, which is supposed to cover 2011-2012 school year?
ReplyDeleteThank you for your efforts,James.
ReplyDeleteWhat else is there to say, except "Vote No!"
So many questions. Will there be interest on the retro?
ReplyDeleteI went to the uft website and of course there are no details
ReplyDeletethat really explain anything. Just a lot of gushing self
congratulation on this "great victory".
I was hired in August of 2012. Does anyone know if the 4%+4% will be calibrated as a new pay schedule retroactively starting in 2009, making my salary higher for the past 2 years?
ReplyDeleteSTRIKE!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you for this explanation. If a teacher retires before July 1 2015 will they receive both retroactive percentage increases the 4percents, thank you
ReplyDeleteThis calls for a walk out and NO vote.
ReplyDeleteunbelievable i am retired same old union hype about how good a deal it is teachers are still following our incompetent leadership in the 60s and 70s our union was a union this is a horrible contract unacceptable but as usual it will be ratified glad i"m retired
ReplyDeleteDo you have any details on the proposed severance package offered to ATRs?
ReplyDeleteMath Teacher asks an important question. WIll the 8 percent retro be calculated for every year of the contact (for example, will the retro payments include an 8 percent payment for the 2013-2014 year)?
ReplyDeleteWe have a fair contract. We were not afforded one by the previous administration no matter how hard we tried. To expect that we would receive the retro as a lump some is ludicrous as it would bankrupt the city. For those of you who are so unhappy with the contract, why not move to city without a teacher's union, no contract, or job security. It's really annoying that people continually complain about everything instead of seeing the blessings in situations.
ReplyDeleteIm in the private sector where retroactive pay only happens...(wait for it)... in the public sector...I work for a profitable billion dollar corporation in a competitive technology space.. Im in a union, we recently started paying into our medical, I have never seen more than a 7% pay increase over 5 years... Weve given back sick time, down to only 10 sick days per year.. When you factor in our medical premiums , our last contract was essentially a break even.. so no raises really... As a taxpayer who reads the newspaper I have to say,, you guys got it good..We used to make more money than you guys but you guys always had the better bennies.. Now you guys work less than most people, make more and still have better bennies. When the contract talks dont go your way.. Its nice to just walk away from the table and wait for a rosier administration..You dont have to deal with shareholders and corporate executives. there are none..... the politicians have always been able to steal from the future to pay for todays votes .. this doesnt happen in the private sector... I guess my point is....Take the contract and run before the cities bond risk analysts start doing the math.
DeleteIf you think teachers work less than most people, then clearly you have not sat in a New York City classroom. There is a reason why teachers 'burn out' and it is not because we work less than others.
DeleteWith that said, I respect a lot of what MORE has to say, but to think you can always have everything you ever wanted is the type of attitude that belongs in the Bloomberg administration.
As of 2 months ago, retro-active pay was a pipe dream, now it is a reality. One that will take several years to pay out, but still one that will pay out. 3.4 billion dollars 3 years down the road does not magically become zero dollars.
You can be annoyed that Unity does not give you a voice in the UFT, but you can also start to offer a more balanced approach to your critiques. Maybe then MORE might actually gain a realized voice in the UFT.
You are the naïve mathematically challenged type that this huckster Mulgrew is hoping will approve this insult he calls a contract.
DeleteI think that if the contract does not extend the retroactive pay to teachers who left the system before this contract was signed it overlooks an important factor. Isn't the whole point that we should have received that money in the first place?
ReplyDelete"why not move to city without a teacher's union, no contract, or job security."
ReplyDeleteOr you can get a job with any other district within a 100 mile radius and make $20-$40k more with better working conditions, nicer kids, caring parents, supplies, etc. We're getting shafted here. The raises are below cost of living increases and on top of that are being spread out until 2020. Plus we are only getting a 2% raise next year? How are people supposed to pay their bills with what they were making in 2009 plus 2%?
Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteIt's really annoying that people continually complain about everything instead of seeing the blessings in situations.
It's not about "blessings," as if we should count ourselves as lucky that our benevolent superiors see it fit to pay us, it's about professionalism. These contracts dictate the caliber of professionals our city will attract for the future. Not only that, they impact contracts nationally, and thus impact our profession nationally as well. Further, its clear from BdB/Farina announcement that this contract is about edu-policy as much as it is work rules. This clearly isn't just about our wallets.
That said, I've heard from a UFT rep (BIG disclaimer: nothing that follows may actually be true) that the retroactive will extend through all years of the contract, so the actual increase for 2014-2015 will be the deserved 10%, it just won't be paid during 2014-2015. Also, he said the retroactive will be paid with interest. I don't mind waiting for the money, especially if it's with interest, if it does in fact get paid out to all who worked UFT positions from 2009-2018. I believe the city simply doesn't have the $$ to pay it all out right now, so that seems fair to me...
Wait?!?! What?!?!? Rational discourse and facts and reality on this Page? And even a disclaimer that "this is what o heard", not breathless "here is what I know because I overheard something in a room full of screaming infants"?!?! Math Teacher, you should not be on this page! Do you know any comp sco? If so hack into this page and eliminate Half of this nonsemss, please.
Deleteis the back pay calculated for all the years for example in 2015 we get 2% so they would still owe us 6% for that year. Will that be counted. in 2016 we would get 4% and owed 4%. seems like they did a lot of math tricks to make this work.
ReplyDeleteI believe they gave deBlasiio a Progressive discount. They would have never accepted this deal from bloomberg
ReplyDeleteDon't like the contract? it is not enough to vote NO. What is needed is for everyone to join in a VOTE NO campaign - organize fellow teachers to do so too. Reach out to neighboring schools, call for a meeting near your school to inform others to counter the Unity spin. In 1995 we voted down the contract and in 2005 we got 40% to vote no. Retirees can't vote so this is an entirely open election.
ReplyDeleteI'm a delegate and will advise my teachers to vote no!
DeleteSo if you were hired after 2010, then you do not get a 4% annual raise?
ReplyDeleteABC 7 is reporting that teacher salaries will be about 10% higher in 2015. Showed starting moving from $45k to a new $50k and top moving from $100k to a new $110k. Is that in "real world money in your paycheck dollars" or fairy land IOU dollars that you'll get eventually?
ReplyDeleteHow much interest? How would that work?
ReplyDeleteAny word on teachers who leave the system before the retroactive pay dates?
ReplyDeleteif i retired in 2011 do i get a lump sum or an increased pension or both?
ReplyDeleteWhen FDNY settled before other unions for their last contract the included a reopener clause which would automatically increase the raises they negotiated if other unions did better. Well NYPD received a better contract so FD's automatically increased. This clause should have been included with UFT contract.
ReplyDeletehaven't read through the comments yet, but what about PARAS? What changes and $ is in this contract for them??? Also, what about how this affects retirees?? especially those who retired before 2009? They will be voting on this as well: YES??? Wow does this deal smell.
ReplyDeleteAs a concerned parent for the lack of respect of teachers and our current challenges with the CCLS and who doesn't understand all the behind the scene details, this really helps explains what this is all about. Thank you very much. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteWhat needs to be issued by the UFT is a salary schedule so we can see what our salary will be when.
ReplyDeleteShould this contract be ratified, I will not know what I am supposed to get paid, so how would I challenge payroll if I believe it is wrong?
So maybe one good thing out of this might be we get to chuck the Pearson Crap out the window next year? I mean if they are going to give us new curriculum. I know it might be worse. However, I highly doubt it.
ReplyDeleteSorry everybody that I can't answer many of your questions. I don't have the Memorandum of Agreement. I just basically wrote down my notes from yesterday's meeting.
ReplyDeleteWHAT ABOUT PER SESSION RAISES AND RETRO?
ReplyDeleteWTF, We got got!!!!!
ReplyDeleteSilly me, I was hoping for a lump sum of retro money by Jume! Looks like no chance of that happening. I am tied of borrowing from my TDA/TRS.
ReplyDeleteI will be 55 in Jan 2018. Do I have to work till May or possibly 2018 to get the 3% raise? It looks like if I retire then I won't get the 25% retro for '19 and '20? I am right? If so this is really unfair and totally sucks after reaching 55. I already have the 25 years!
ReplyDeleteI was just told by UFT Pension Personnel that you must retire by June 30, 2014, NOT 2015, if you want to get the retro immediately. James, I know you said retiring before July 1, 2015 would result in getting all the retro at once. Why are the UFT Pension people saying to retire by June 30, 2014?
ReplyDeleteWhat about resignation and/or buyout? Retro? Lump sum?
ReplyDeleteJames thank you for the post on the negotiated contract. This is a sellout to all teachers. Even though the ATR's are the first to be shown the door the remaining teachers face many difficulties (especially the ones in the proposed 200 schools). We need to vote NO on this. I truly believe there is enough groudswell of doubt among the membership to vote it down.
ReplyDelete'Future Retro.' Even the small raises along the way are affected. The 1 1 1 1 1.5 2.5 3 % raises we are getting based on our current salary schedule would also be larger if they were including the 8% higher salaries to begin with. So we need to get 'future retro' on not only the additional 8% per year until 2018 when it is completed, but on the other raises we received along the way as well. Is this happening?
ReplyDeleteExactly! This is what I have been calculating during this entire conversation. If we were to receive 4 percent in 09' & 4 percent in 10', technically the 1 percent, 1 percent, etc. Should be calculated with the higher pay & not your current pay. Allowing the retro to be spread across the 5 years in the future, don't right, will not be saving the city any money at all. It fact, with the addition of this time that will include interest, along with paying retro with what your salary should have been & not your current pay will end up costing the city percentages more. Similarly to a credit card.
DeleteSSelected anpubaiuThank god I am retiring Sept 1
ReplyDeleteThank you for explaining the retroactive breakdown. This agreement that our union is pushing is a travesty. There is no downside to voting it down and reentering negotiations. The benefit we will realize is so small and so far away that we should vote this agreement down. We should then hold out for the raises being applied to our salaries from the time when the other unions received their 4 + 4. Those raises should then continue through all subsequent years. I WILL NOT VOTE FOR THIS AGREEMENT AND I HOPE YOU WILL NOT AS WELL!!!!!
ReplyDeleteWe must vote no. The high schools will vote no.
ReplyDeleteSadly, the reality is that our members had the opportunity to vote such a contract down in advance... however we voted to re-elect Mulgrew and must face the repercussions. We waited 5 years for a contract and now have to wait almost 5 years to see retro pay. HORRENDOUS. A tragic era for UFT. What does it take to make a major shift for the betterment of all? Eterno for Prez.
ReplyDeleteThank you, James. I am saddened by the number of commenters who are asking James to calculate their retro pay and or salary. We reek of desperation and that is why NYC always has us by the short hairs.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the write up. I makes it very clear why other unions having been chiming in saying that the teacher contract is not what it's been touted to be.
ReplyDeleteI agree vote no! Who knows what we have given up in health care to me that's more important than the raises. We should not give in on it confessions! And I don't believe they can't afford our retro paid in full now!! Mr. Levy proved that the city has the money and they have surplus money because Bloomberg never settle our contracts but he budgeted for our raises but never gave them to us. That's why when he left office there was a surplus. Remember VOTE NO! We deserve BETTER! And we should demand it!
ReplyDeleteI'm finding it hard to grasp why so many members are willing to vote "No" on a proposal where we don't have all the complete and full information. Clearly, there's many questions that need to be answered. Wouldn't it better to wait until we have all the facts before we make our decision. An uninformed "No" is worse than not voting at all.
ReplyDeleteRegardless of what you may argue, the fact remains, WE GOT OUR MONEY. The city would wind up bankrupt if all 150,000 members received their retro/raise in one shot.
To MrHughesOline you are incorrect.
ReplyDeleteWe didn't "get our money" I teach math and my high school students could explain to you how compounding money works.
Perhaps you don't realize that this is not a retro raise - In fact it is more of a future raise since the last 5 years the teachers should be receiving that 4% in 09-10 and another 4% in 10-11 and then it would stay flat for the last 3 years but salaries would still be over 8% higher currently. So if you make $100,000 in 09-10 you should retroactively make 104,000 for 09-10. Then in 10-11 you should make 104,000 + another 4% of that so it would be 108,160. Then for 11-12 and 12-13 with a 0% raise you would make the same 108,160 etc. Now for May 2013 your 1% raise would take you to 109,241.60 instead of the measly 101,000 that the UFT is proposing (that is with the 1% raise not including the signing bonus)
I hope you realize all the future raises of 1%,1%,1%,2.5%,3% should be calculated off of that 108,160 number and not off of the 100,000 number like the UFT is proposing.
Don't forget your step raises also...
DeleteJames, You never screamed out you abstain. This is a good contract. So, giving us all the money in a lump sum would bankrupt the city. Then what? Would you rather be collecting unemployment? Teaching more than the amount of students you have now because the city won't be able to afford all of us? It is a good contract. Stop whining about what you demand and realize that we didn't give anything back! Not a minute more , we have less paperwork. Less components, and money that will earn interest. How terrible is that? It is only because Mulgrew was the negotiator.
ReplyDeletejust get rid of the unions. no more union dues = pay raise for all of us =) the union does nothing but rob us blind.
ReplyDeleteI certainly did scream out that I abstain and then President Mulgrew noted for the record one abstention.
ReplyDeleteLet's create a movement to VOTE NO and take it to arbitration; at least that way our medical benefits are safe!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.facebook.com/Flushtheuftdeal?ref=hl
A good contract? Every union member, and I stress EVERY member should be worried. Is it okay for a group of the employees to have targets on their backs? ATR's are going to be held to a new kind of 3020a? Every member of the UFT is a potential ATR. Every one of us had to have same credentials to be hired. We followed same requirements. Now some of us will be persecuted in Salem Witch Trials. How did the TR's become the step children of the Union?
ReplyDeleteI must add..... we should be filing a class action lawsuit. We aren't represented by OUR union. If there is a new 3020a being established, it should apply to all union members not just the ATR's. You can't have a set of rules for one group and an old set of rules for the other.
ReplyDeleteThe union just mailed out a breakdown of the time line with bubbles for each payment and raise. I don't see anywhere where we are getting retro for the future raises that we will get for the 8%, but should have received earlier. It appears they're trying to slickly avoid paying a large portion of what we should be getting back. Unless they just forgot to clearly show it. Many people are clueless as to what's going on so they can't even ask these questions. Someone needs to work out every penny we will get to 2020 under the proposal and through what we should really get.
ReplyDeleteThe uft at this time is just rubber stamping the peripheral words of the city...does not include specifics
DeleteI am not happy about the retro payment schedule, but what's worse is that we are not even getting the 10% increase in our salary that would already be in effect by May1, 2014. This is not fair and should not be agreed to.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis "set up" against ATRs has me worried because due process seems to be thrown out the window.
ReplyDeleteAs for Validators, it this is the same as PAR and not on line with what is happening to the ATRs,it can be a good thing. Just make sure the teachers on the committee are voted in rather than selected by the principal.
Also, you left out the new rules regarding deviant behavior which I am not sure I disagree with. That's why I was hoping to see more about it here before I decide. However, teachers should not be sending inappropriate texts, etc, to the their students, so I am not having a hard time with that at all. But I hope it distinguishes between really bad behaviors and what happened to people like Chaz and the UFT rep who were put through hell for standing up for their teachers.
Once again, thank you James.
This is the retro payout.
ReplyDeleteOf the 8%, the 12.5% will be dished out in 2015, then the next 12.5% in 2017, 25% in 2018, 25% 2019, and the last 25% 2020.
People are missing the fact that there should be new retro between now and 2018. If you were at top salary in 09 you would be making about $110, 000 now or soon. Yet you will only be getting 2% next year. So you'll be making $102 when you should be making $110. This continues every year in smaller and smaller numbers. There should be a pay back of this money figured into the retro schedule, but the retro schedule is only for the past years that already happened. We're talking about a serious amount of money that they're keeping from us, but pretending we're getting. We're paying for most of the retro with what they are keeping. Someone needs to get this out there.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for this breakdown. Could someone give an actual breakdown of the wages based on an actual salary? If for example, a teacher were making $ 60,000, what would the increases (not including steps etc.) look like? Although I had to pass calculus in college, I'm still not getting it. Thanks again.
ReplyDeleteI think besides campaigning to vote NO for this contract-we as a community need to begin the process of campaigning to get Michael Mulgrew out of office. I don't want this man representing my voice, needs, or welfare anymore. I am ashamed to be associated with this man who calls himself first an educator and a union member. When you don't protect your weakest members you don't protect any of your members. He is not helping the ATRs, the children of the city and certainly not the working teachers! VOTE NO FOR THE CONTRACT and VOTE MULGREW OUT OF OFFICE in 2016!
ReplyDeleteNowhere is it stated that any of this money is pensionable whether we get it now or six years from now. The pension counselors at the UFT always tell members that "it is your choice when you retire" from service. Seems it has become Mulgrew's choice. This whole pay thing is totally screwy and should be rejected out of hand. Do they really think the uniformed services are going to accept this piece of garbage as pattern bargaining? If you have bills to pay can you say "just wait six years" to your creditors? It reeks of voodoo economics! RR is back and I can hear Al Shanker spinning in his grave!
ReplyDeleteThe treatment of ATRs is wrong, wrong, wrong! ATR status must be abolished, all such staff returned to full status at regular jobs, the abuse must stop! No new hires until they are placed, including all the administrator's friends and relatives, and the TFA crowd.
I wonder what perks AdComm is getting to rubber stamp this. Perhaps we should defer their generous paychecks until 2020...see how fast they endorse that one.
2 things from that Mulgrew email last night. Nowhere does it say a thing about per session retro or new pay. Does that mean that is all lost? 2nd, it says medical copays SHOULD not go up. Doesn't say they wont go up.
ReplyDeleteSince there is supposedly an 8% raise from 2009-2011, does that mean that the three-year Final Average Salary for people retiring this year increases by 8%?
ReplyDeleteAs long as the raises remain under 10 percent for any given year
DeleteDo you realize how many will never see any of this due to resignation, ATR termination, another type of termination?
ReplyDeleteI am not happy with this contract at all! We have not had a raise since 2009. My rent and expenses have increased every year since then. A one percent or 2% raise does not keep up with inflation or the average rental increase. And you're telling me I have to wait a few years to get the retroactive pay and then wait till 2020 to get everything else owed to me. With all the millionaires and billionaires in NYC and all the revenue coming in from the stock market, real estate, taxes, city fees, tourism etc. you're telling me they can't afford to pay teachers? Then take out a loan like the rest of us!!!!!Can you promise your landlord that you will pay up in 9 years? Can you promise that your child's tuition will be paid up in 9 years?
ReplyDeleteThis is unacceptable!
Mulgrew sold us out again in turns of monies. Although i need the money, i am not about to comprise my professional worth for chump change. SO I Am NOT voting in favor of this proposal. It is an insult to all teachers and other hard working professionals.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that a new teacher, someone who has just entered the system within the last couple of years, are really left out there. They get no RETRO, which they are no entitled to. But have to wait years and years for the 8% that should have ben in place years and years ago. The UFT needs, I mean needs, to post not only there silly little new bubble chart. but calculate what the salary step scale will look like at every single increment. Mulgrew has put himself on record by putting that every penny of RETRO will be paid in his new email and new chart, which of course means, future retro(Retro eanrned between ratification and Final Retro payouts)
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteJames, I have heard that we will have to use "walk-in health centers." What does this mean? Will we no longer be able to use our current doctors?
ReplyDeleteLet's get real.
ReplyDeleteMost professionals in private industry wish they had the kinds of health, pension, and security benefits we enjoy.
Most would gladly accept the retro & raises that have been negotiated for us and that we will be voting on and that I predict will be overwhelmingly accepted.
Yes, some surrounding school districts pay $10 to 20,000 more in salaries, but you try to get a position there and even if you manage to, try getting tenure.
Let's accept the reality that we live in a city, that with what we've experienced over the previous 12 years, allows us to breath in some fresh air as far as dealing with the outlook on teacher professionalism, add some money into our pockets, and see a light at the end of tunnel (not another train) as far as dealing with new teachers wanting to make teaching in NY a career.
The sound of your letter makes me think you are a union leader who supported this. NYC is very wealthy --they want you to believe they do not have any money -- so you will accept the crumbs they throw at you. This is a MISERABLE contract and it will be voted down.
DeleteI really need clarification on something regarding the latest email that Mulgrew sent out this morning. As you all saw, there is a flow chart style layout of bubbles containing raises and retro cash payments. My question is this; There were three bubbles that appear under the time period of the present time. The $1000 signing bonus, and then one bubble saying 2013 retro payment hooked onto it, and also another bubble saying 2014 retro payment. Bottomline, is the $1000 bonus inclusive of those two retro payments, (which is bullshit, because the 1% and 1% representing the raises for '13 and '14 calculate to much more than $1000), or are we getting a lump sum retro payment of those 1% percent figures ON TOP of the signing bonus, immediately after ratification? See, this is also the problem, brothers and sisters. This contract is so chock full of ambiguity and confusion, and God knows what else, I think it's hard to even vote and make an informed decision on ratification based on the lack of clear concise information given to us from the top. Please, James, can you look into this flow chart and see what those two extra bubbles attached to the bubble with the bonus, signifies? Lump sum retro cash for the 2013 1% they owe us, and the lump sum 1% they''ll owe us for for part of 2014 by the time the contract goes into effect. Thanks so much for your time and effort.
ReplyDeletePlease join the fight against this travesty of a contract! We won't recieve our retro or raises for years! As a matter of fact we don't recieve 75% of our retro until 2.5 years after the contract expires! Who would negotiate this!?!?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.facebook.com/Flushtheuftdeal?ref=hl
I was told by the union that we asked to delay the 8% raises so the principals budgets would not be effected by the increases for several years. In the same breath two other union "officials" rang in to say that it gives high paid ATRs a chance to secure jobs before the increases...and the other one said that the city refused to negotiate separating teachers with seniority from counting against schools.
ReplyDeleteSo delaying our raises for 5 years is actually a huge win, if you're a moron at the UFT!
https://www.facebook.com/Flushtheuftdeal?ref=hl
conIt seems NEW TEACHERS will get the RETRO PAYMENTS from the day the contract is ratified until the final retro is paid out. If this is being marketed or even hailed as full retro. It means that Salary for teachers jumped 4 and 4 percent years ago. Meaning that the new teacher starting will have been higher when they were hired.
ReplyDeleteI was discontinued by a principal through capricious and arbitrary and manner in 2010. I want my retroactive pay too.
ReplyDeleteThis conntract disrespects the work of teachers(especially the last five years). The paperwork has gone through the roof and Mr. Mulgrew insists he understands the work of teachers. Now we are being told to wait another six years to get what the unions received back in 2009. Our hard work has not been valued by the union and the city. Shame on BDB for disrespecting us too. We need to push back and vote NO to this negotiated contract.
ReplyDeleteNobody cares about respect..the city.s accountants like all other Wall Street hedge funds will Always play you..the set this up with perfection..vote Yes and take what you can here..nobody cares about you.it.s all money my uft brother..
DeleteThis conntract disrespects the work of teachers(especially the last five years). The paperwork has gone through the roof and Mr. Mulgrew insists he understands the work of teachers. Now we are being told to wait another six years to get what the unions received back in 2009. Our hard work has not been valued by the union and the city. Shame on BDB for disrespecting us too. We need to push back and vote NO to this negotiated contract.
ReplyDeleteThe 2015 forward period actually goes back to 09pay levels and then slowly creeps up. We never get money for the 8% after 2015 until each years raise. They should owe us money for 2015-2018 because they are pretending we received an 8% raise, but in reality we only get that raise from 09-current and then it drops back to what you were making 5 years ago. Raises starting now would actually have given us more money than retro and delayed raises. They're playing a game to make it look like we're getting retro and a raise, but we're getting much less.
ReplyDeletewhen will the new salary scale come out?
ReplyDeleteSays no extension of school day, however, what about school year?
ReplyDeletePlease, please, please, no fighting between public and private sector workers. We are all being screwed, really, this system does not work for any of us at all.
ReplyDeleteTonight at 10pm Saturday May 3 2014 tune to radio 930am WPAT or 970am "The Answer" or 10.50am Bloomberg Radio. I will be hosting a show to get the word out. This contract is all smoke and mirrors and it is . Call in and tune in tonight gives us your ideas 212-219-9695 Ralph Romeo Show LIVE FROM NEW YORK. Help me help the hard working educators know the facts of this contract and just how bad the mayor and UFT is screwing us.
ReplyDeleteCan I get link to the Internet. Retired in Florida..uft ny
DeleteSome of the UFT people who were answering phones in the borough couldn't answer my questions. They didn't seem to understand the questions. The contract seems bizarre in certain ways. If the 4+ 4 retroactive doesn't at least continue to grow past the ratification of the new contract. Why are we getting it. Did we get this raise and then give it back. Only to recoup it in full by 2020? At the same time replacing it with a smaller raise? I wouldn't do that. If the retroactive continues. Which I doubt! Then the total retroactive to be recouped for senior people would be a lot more than 40K. The we got no dough deal is also curious. NYC is running a very nice surplus this year. In fact during the last few months it has grown by a couple of hundred million every month. It's now 2.5 billion plus. Nothing around for our 4+4 retro. The thousand dollar(gross) signing bonus. As you are picking it up off of the ground. You understand that you are being. You now what from the back. And so on and so forth as it pertains to what's pensionable, etc, etc. if you want to retire and get full benefit of this nine year contract. Wait until 2021.
ReplyDeleteStop talking.
DeleteThis whole thing is bizarre, to strange even make up. Who could ever have imagined after hearing that we were getting full retro and the big 8% for 2009,2010, that it could ever be this convoluted. Am I going out on a limb saying we have been lied to? Misled?
ReplyDeleteThe more I consider what the agenda's that can be culled from this proposal, as well as, the manipulative incentives to manipulate us and divide us....My cynicism goes through the ceiling. However. It's been established that we are entitled to retroactive pay from a raise we never got. If we don't ratify will they take this off the table. I don't think so. It would be very complicated for them politically. The longer we postpone making a decision on this contract. The longer we receive 9%(8+1). As soon as we bsign. We recieve 1+ 1- 8= 2%. Plus our A Rod signing bonus of $1000 gross...$700 net. Would NyYPD do this?
ReplyDelete$7,500 - $20,000 MERIT PAY FOR WHO????
ReplyDeleteHow Disgraceful...WHO DECIDES ON WHO DESERVES THE MERIT PAY. THE PRINCIPAL??? BASED ON WHAT???? This will lead to even greater DISSENSION between teachers..Isn't there enough ALREADY??
One website is claiming those who just left teaching will get no retro. As a newly retired teacher this has me concerned too. Nowhere on any UFT website does it say
ReplyDeletewhat happens to retired teachers retro pay. Norm could you tell us where you got your info about the retiirees?
All my phone calls and emails to the UFT have been useless. I notice some commenters stating thet were sent an e mail from mulgrew. I have received nothing though i too am registered for on line emails.
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DeleteWe need to push back and send a message about this nonsense. This contract is vague and complicated to follow. Would someone buy a new car or home based on vague information? We can do better than this. The city is flushed with money and we have to wait another 6 years to get what the other unions received 5 years ago?
ReplyDeleteWhat about an option to receive service credit of 2 or 3 years counted towards retirement in lieu of retro pay? Did anyone hear about this possibility lately? I know there was a rumor about it? Can we request this option from the UFT before the contract is finalized?
ReplyDeleteThis proposed contract sounds very troubling for a variety of reasons.
ReplyDeleteI plan to VOTE NO. We need to send them back to the table.
Here's why we should VOTE NO:
1. MULGREW'S PR ATTITUDE (SMALL RAISES, DELAYED BACK PAY, MERIT PAY AND SELLING OUT THE ATRs): Without any sense of sadness over giving in to negligible "raises" (1.5% per year / not up with inflation) and insultingly delayed back-pay, his self-congratulatory attitude was especially insulting considering he caved on two previously non-negotiable issues: (a) merit pay which studies and prior attempts in other cities show is a joke for teachers and (b) protecting ATR status employees.
2. MEDICAL "AUDITS" / PROFITEERING / HEALTH THREAT: The vague statement about "audits" of medical care to save money sounds a lot like care will slowly be denied (ObamaCare style, even if we are not officially in ObamaCare). This is TOTALLY unacceptable. Also, the city stands to save $1 billion (teacher health care) and another $3.5 billion (other unions' health care) potentially. That's a total healthcare savings of $4.5 billion. Now, our total contract is estimated at $4 billion. So, in other words, the city of New York stands to PROFIT by $500 million for employing us as teachers until 2019 or 2020. So, empirically speaking, we are severely receiving the short end of the stick, in a very unfair way that, yes, threatens our very health.
3. PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES: Four pairs per year (up from two), with a new one in September (of all times) is not only excessive, it flies in the face of trends that show fewer parents showing up to the ones that do take place (because of the rise of online grading programs). I could have understood adding one additional meet (to raise to three) but four?! And to extend them by 30 minutes each (from 2.5 hours to 3 hours). Silly, silly, silly.
3. PER-SESSION BACK-PAY:
It is unclear if per-session back-pay will take place. I had a per-session activity from 2007 - 2011. Will I get back-pay for my work from 2009 - 2011? I defnitely paid into my pension for that time.
4. WHAT IF TEACHERS RESIGN BETWEEN NOW AND 2020?: Many (on this blog) are asking if back-pay will still be given to those who either (a) have resigned after 2009 or (b) may resign between now and 2020. This needs to be addressed. We understand that retirees will get back-bay. What about those who resign?
Even if #3 and #4 above are answered favorably (per-session back-pay and resignation issues), my concerns about #1 and #2 above make this contract more than a little suspect. It simply is not good enough.
LET'S VOTE NO! NO! NO!
Everyone needs to go to the Facebook page "Vote no to UFT contract" on like it. Send it to all your friends as well. Let's send a message to the UFT.
ReplyDeleteWill the lump-sum payments include interest at 9% and will our base salary when raises are computed include the raises that should have been there?
ReplyDeleteVote No, have a collective walkout, File a lawsuit...
ReplyDeleteI will be resigning. Not worth it with this contract. No thanks. Not looking for a heart attack at 35 years old.
ReplyDeleteNothing but deceit and manipulation. Vote NO. Considering the time we have to wait to get any of this, we get nothing, after inflation we get less than nothing. Quite frankly, this is disgusting, and its our union who is disgusting.
ReplyDeleteListen, I could care less about these atr's, fire them all and problem solved, we get our retro. Stop protecting them and babying them. They are atr's for a reason.
ReplyDeleteThat's the whole point, you wont get. You may become an ATR, you may be rated ineffective, etc.
ReplyDeleteTHe Union is not being straight forward. SHAME ON THEM!!! If we are not getting the 2% retro increases until 2015, 16, 17, and 18, then we are not getting 4% and 4% compounded, are we??? Seems like we are getting 3% in 2015 and 3.5% in 2016, and so on. I will be retiring and will not actually get all of the retro raises. WE SHOULD VOTE THIS DOWN.
ReplyDeleteAS USUAL PARAS GET SHAFTED SMH WHAT A JOKE... THIS MULGREW GUY SOLD US DOWN THE RIVER
ReplyDeletetax revenues were $400,000,000.00 higher than expected during the last filing. VOTE NO! If Mayor Robin Hood wants to take from the rich to give to the poor, someone should remind him that teachers are NOT rich. The "Mulgrew Zero's" are terrible!
ReplyDeleteGet some $$ into the checks now! lengthy delays are outrages. Someone needs to clarify what happens to retirees and those who may retire over the next 5 years.
ReplyDeleteBonus
ReplyDelete$5,000 will go to teachers who go to a hard to staff school.
????????????????
I would accept 1 years pay plus full retro in severance package. Of course, I already earned the retro, so that's not really doing me a favor.
ReplyDeleteOMG
ReplyDeleteIf all is correct in 2009 we are getting a 0%, in 2010 another 0%, in 2011 another 0% in 2012 still another 0% and in 2013 a 1% raise. (YeeHaa). I will have to wait until 2020 to receive all of my retro pay. And if I am lucky to be able to retire in June of 2015, I will get it all !!!!!! Well I am not that lucky. Are you? If you are retired you are lucky. Am I? The answer is NO. I do not need to be a genius in math to see the difference in my salary when I do retire to see the difference in the numbers when a raise is given from the past rather than in the future. It will be less money for you that is pensionable in the long run. So, if I am correct, if I retire after June of 2015, I will have to wait like all the teachers out there for the bits and drabs of money that should be owed to me if it truely was stated by the press. TEACHERS GET 8% RETRO PAY. Yeah right. Remember, your treatment in our schools today is still the same and do not forget the past. We have not been treated as professionals, respected as individuals and I have not seen a difference in the past 6 months. Have you? Locking into a 9 year contract may or may not change that. If the other unions get a better deal because of us not getting our money up front, don't cry the blues. If I am lucky enough I will be able to see that money in 2020. I cannot believe I am hearing Zeroes again in another contract that we were passionately waiting for so that we would not have to deal with "El Bloombito". Well you will have to keep salavating for you money. I have always been a supporter of the Union, even after the 0'S from the Giulliani administration. I expected more from the long wait and after supporting this administration in the election. I do not forget the past and how our students have suffered, how our parents have been frustrated and how our families have supported us when each day was difficult for us to go to work. I am dissappointed with the outcome from this long journey. If you are too " VOTE NO".
It's not all anonymous facts. The UFT website seems pretty clear about many things. They are unclear about how these "retroactive payments" are pensionable, if they accrue interest while being "held for us". If so, how much? Does the retro continue to have 4 + 4 after ratification(probably not). These are big dollar items. At some level they know. Why no clear info. This creates suspicion and speculation.
ReplyDeleteWho and what determines what a "hard to staff school" is? Without giving away my anonymous identity, I work in an impoverished neighborhood, in what you would call a Title One school program. Our students are challenging along with everything else. Is the geographical location and the nature of my program enough to qualify my school as "hard to staff", thus qualifying my colleagues and I the extra $5000 per year? Like I've been saying in a lot of my postings, too much confusion and ambiguity. The union needs to spell out in black and white, who gets this extra (merit pay) money, perhaps by printing a list of such schools. Also, even though it's been confirmed by sources that we will be seeing retro cash up front for the 2% we'll be getting from the '13 and '14 raises, I haven't heard a lot said about it, and when we'll see the cash payout, and I'm not talking about the $1000 bonus either.
ReplyDeleteAnd what about per session retro and raises?
ReplyDeleteI am a retiree since 2012..I am not en EX UFT MEMBER...I worked 3 years without a contract since 2009..where is my retro for this..I never resigned..
ReplyDeleteSo they will give ATRs a severance pack, but then say you cant have the retro you already worked for at the same time. Not much of a deal...
ReplyDeleteIf 23,500 retirees do not get retro from 2009 thru 2013, theY have the UFT capped right to vote NO to this contract and THEY WILL..
ReplyDeleteRetirees do NOT get to vote on this.
DeleteAll of those improvements to our working conditions and the way the money works has you desiring a NO vote. You guys may have to rethink the seemingly abandoned slogan that you are associated with “Our working conditions are our students learning conditions” A new suggestion might be “Show me the Money $$$”.
ReplyDeleteSunday, May 4, 2014Vote YES on the Contract! Lose 57K!
ReplyDeleteOne thing many teachers don't realize is that they won't be getting the 4% plus 4% increase they were promised until they begin getting an "extra" 2% per year in 2015-2018. What most teachers realize even less is just how much this will cost them.
You see, the UFT backloaded the contract. The 4% plus 4% you should have gotten in 2009 and 2010 won't be paid in total until 2018. Here's the percentages you would have gotten over the life of the contract if the UFT had done it right:
4, 4, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1.5, 2.5, 3 =18%
Instead you will get what the UFT settled for:
0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 3, 3.5, 4.5, 5=18%
So what does that mean in real dollars? Well, keep in mind that I am not a math teacher, so I will gladly revise these numbers if someone shows them to be wrong. For ease of calculation because I am lazy, I used the top salary of 100,049 rounded to 100K. The column "Salary with Frontloading" shows what you would have made if you'd gotten the 4+4 we were promised up front. The "Salary with Backloading" shows the salary you will actually receive under the terms of the new agreement. The "Annual Loss" column shows how much you stand to lose due to the backloading. Obviously, if you make less than the max, your loss will be less, but still quite significant.
Salary Year Raise Salary with Frontloading Raise Salary with Backloading Annual
Loss
2009-10 4% $104000 0% $100000 $4000
2010-11 4% $108160 0% $100000 $8160
2011-12 0% $108160 0% $100000 $8160
2012-13 0% $108160 0% $100000 $8160
2013-14 1% $109241 1% $101000 $8241
2014-15 1% $110333 1% $102100 $8233
2015-16 1% $111436 3% $105163 $6273
2016-17 1.5% $113107 3.5 $108843 $4264
2017-18 2.5% $115934 4.5 $113740 $2194
2018-19 3% $119412 5 $119427 -$15
If you add up the numbers in the "Annual Loss" column, it comes to $57,670.
That's right. Vote yes for this contract the way it is structured, and you will lose as much as 57K.
Your analysis is incomplete due to the fact that you didn't acknowledge the retro activity as making up that difference. We will be getting the money we are owed through the retro. Very misleading... Oh yeah I forgot that is your purpose... To be misleading.
DeleteBravo to your misrepresentation of the numbers
Even if you include retro...1-Nobody is getting anywhere near 57K. 2-We aren't getting the retro for 6 years, which means inflation eats away at it. What if im dead in 6 years? How do I pay my child's college now?? My mortgage?
ReplyDeleteTop salary would get under $40k retro so if his numbers are right, you're still losing $17k. We are paying for our own raises. Even at $50k salary your losing over $9k.
ReplyDeletePlus inflation losses, plus no interest.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 1:42 PM on Sunday 5/4 is correct in the numbers.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 1:54 - when you say
************************
"Your analysis is incomplete due to the fact that you didn't acknowledge the retro activity as making up that difference. We will be getting the money we are owed through the retro. Very misleading... Oh yeah I forgot that is your purpose... To be misleading.
Bravo to your misrepresentation of the numbers"
*************************
You are incorrect - the retro money is being given as raises and not as retro.
Go back and check your email from Mulgrew and you will see the 2% listed as retro is moving forward as raises based off of 2009 pay starting from THAT TIME PERIOD and not staring since 2009.
This is so bad it should be considered borderline illegal. We need to walk out one day this week. Can we attend the executive meeting at UFT HQ tomorrow? I mean, is it open to all?
ReplyDeleteWhat if I turn down the severance as an ATR, then get fired anyway in December?
ReplyDeleteOMG I just saw the posting that by the end of this contract someone at the top salary will be losing over 57K in interest to the city by waiting for 4% & 4%! Are they insane? Wait a minute they are not crazy at all-- they think us teachers are. You know we will be if we vote this contract in. Everyone get out there and blitz the social media. Vote no to this contract. WE ARE GETTING ROBBED BLIND! Even a 1st grade doing Pearson math could figure this one out. Vote NO!
ReplyDeleteThe most benign interpretation is that all of the 2% retro raises are, in fact, retroactive from Nov 1, 2009. If so, then the contract commits us to defer not only past wages, but also future wages into the future with the promise that the City will settle in full by 2020. I doubt this debt will be paid to us with interest as someone said he or she heard from a Chapter Leader. If I am correct, then all we are losing is compound interest on our principal (not any of the principal). However, this is just the best possible interpretation of Mulgrew's pay chart. There are other possible interpretations. If it turns out that these four 2% retro raises are not actually retroactive to Nov 1 2009, then the compensation package is a sham, the contract should be rejected as Machiavellian, and both Mulgrew and de Blasio should be shamed in public.
ReplyDeleteHere's what I know for sure as of this writing: Three full days after the announcement of a proposed contract the rank and file membership of the UFT remains in the dark regarding material terms of the agreement. I don't know whether this is a good deal or not because the relevant details have not been disclosed, and that has me worried and a little suspicious. Why, in our 24 - 7 - 365, always on-call age of technology and instant communication capability, has leadership failed to fully disclose ALL proposed terms of the agreement a full seventy two hours after the gala public announcement? Sunlight is the best disinfectant, yet the details remain in the dark where the Devil indeed lurks. Something here stinks. At best, such behavior on the part of UFT leadership fails to inspire confidence. It would be better for all if leadership would disclose and disseminate the complete, unabridged agreement without further delay.
ReplyDeleteBecause its terrible and its a sham. They hope we are too stupid to figure it out.
ReplyDeleteAnon 6:00, you are 100% correct with everything you say. The union leadership has given us a flow chart, given us numbers and percentages, some work rule changes such as two extra parent teacher evenings, etc, etc. However, we are still in the dark in terms of how much we'd be getting retroactively factoring in time and compounding. We're also in the dark about the extra "bonuses" and how and where one would have to work in order to benefit by this extra incentive. Three days after a contract announcement, we should have received the proposed pay charts to peruse, because this would shed some light on where exactly our salaries stand at a given time. Also, given the amount of questions we all have, the union should commission somebody like Urban Ed, or somebody similar to provide a retroactive online calculator so that each of us can imput our individual numbers so that we can get a crystal clear picture of exactly what we expect to receive. I feel emphatically at this point, that the rank and file simply do not have enough information, to make a sound, rationale, and informed decision to either vote yes or no. I expect this union to give us more transparency over the coming days, before they send out ballots and and expect us to vote.
ReplyDeleteDon't jump to conclusions. Maybe it is full retro pay. However, we have a good argument to make for the 8% raise to be effective immediately, even if we agree to defer the retro we are owned prior to the new contract into the future. That is a deal I could live with and it is common sense. To agree to defer a retroactive raise still further into the future seems like a fool's errand.
ReplyDeleteWill paraprofessionals per session pay be on a separate check like the teachers or will it continue to be added to their regular check and be taxed ridiculously
ReplyDeleteFor me, the most distressing part of this contract is the delayed and four year stretch of the 8% from 09 and 10. I think we all pretty much expected the cash from those years to be spread out, and I was okay with that. However, I thought it was a foregone conclusion that we would see the 8% right away. At the very least, that would bring us even with the other unions immediately. Many of us were looking for immediate difference on our pay chart to help us pay those property taxes, those bills that keep increasing every few months, and other things that our salaries never kept up with. When they said the contract agreement was imminent last week, I assumed (a very dangerous thing to do in matters involving the DOE) that we would at least see 10% up front in terms of raises. I never dreamed our 8% would be deferred along with our retro.
ReplyDeleteYou people are a bunch of negative people. You got a great contract with plenty of money. How are you going to spend $119,000? All of these questions you ask make me embarrassed to have been a teacher. Take your money and enjoy the $20000 and $7500 plus some other goodies we didn't tell you about. You ungrateful....
ReplyDeleteI appreciate greatly your blog and also of Chaz. The opportunity to hear differing opinions about our union and our profession is the epitome of free expression.
ReplyDeleteOver the last several days I've been going back and forth regarding where I stand on this proposed contract. As a mid-career teacher (10 years) in a D75 school, I believe that I have already experienced a great deal (I've been injured on the job and felt the wrath from the DOE) and know that there is more of that out there for too many of us. With that said, I will vote to approve this contract. Yes, I was looking forward with hope to a larger settlement upfront. Hoping for a much deserved retro settlement now too. But, I am prepared to wait knowing that over the next four years we will be taking home close to 20% more than we are earning now. I understand that that barely keeps up with inflation. But, I am also a realist knowing that if we turned down this contract what reason would De Blasio have to "do better" for us? I can't think of any reason. Yes, the uniformed services may come away with something better.. Perhaps. But. after looking over as much of the fine print (again thx to your blogs, and others) even in the other areas of the contract I see very little that is harmful. So, again, with much thought, I will vote to approve this proposed contract and hope that this new administration does right by us all.
A question for those of you who are prepared to vote no. What are you prepared to give back? Because that is the way bargaining works. You want more - the City will want something in return. So if you voting no - make a list. We don't pay for health care unlike the rest of the USA, is that a good start. Make a list for Mulgrew to take to the table of things to give up.
ReplyDeleteLeroy Barr - I'm currently an elementary classroom teacher - with all the teaching of young minds to question and seek answers that entails. Your being embarrassed of our doing the same says more than you do than it does about us.
ReplyDeleteLeroy Barr - I'm currently an elementary classroom teacher - with all the teaching of young minds to question and seek answers that entails. Your being embarrassed of our doing the same says more about you do than it does about us.
ReplyDeleteWhy should ATR's be treated differently? Remember, you might become an ATR at any moment.
ReplyDeleteI just went to a pension conference last week. I will be 55 in March 2015. I was going to possibly use my sick days and terminal out. They told me to count from the last day of school, back 30 days, leaving me sometime in April. When I left the hearing, they told me my retirement date would be July 1, 2015. According to this article, I won't be able to collect back pay. I wonder why they picked July 1st as the date? Does anyone know if you must go a few days after the last day of school to retire? Or, how does this affect getting the retro money. Please clarify
ReplyDeleteMy advice to everyone who wants to vote down this bogus contract is come Monday morning go into your school with a battle plan. Speak to every uninformed UFT member about how bogus this contract is. Retro delay is retro denied. While you are at it..... lay the seeds to vote Mike Mulgrew out of office in 2016. For now make Mike, Carmen and Bill and the 300 members earned their pay from your dues by bringing back a fair wage contract. Spread the word and be the educators we are suppose to be! Teachers all we have to do .... is do the math! This contract doesn't add up. Speak to everyone in your building! Vote NO
ReplyDeleteDavid,
ReplyDeleteWe know enough to know it stinks. It's Unity style to conceal, why MOA.
Unity hacks are content waiting for Mayor Moskowitz to negotiate with in 2020.
I bet we see raises at 52 and another dues increase within a year.
ANON 716, and all others. Just remember, terminated, no pay, resign, no pay. That's the point. they have the stats, 40% of teachers will be turned over by the time all these raises and retros are due. They know that. They will never pay this money out.
ReplyDeleteI think Mulgrew gave de Blasio something he wants--that is, a very frugal pattern for bargaining, which he is able to bring to all of his subsequent negotiations. It is certainly better for de Blasio to give us the retro raises than significantly larger non-retro raises. So we should get the raises now. That's it. They can pay us later for what they already owe us in back pay, but the raises should be effective immediately plain and simple. Otherwise, we rightfully feel that we are lending the City money we do not have. Many of us are borrowing money for one reason or another because of inadequate personal finances to pay for a middle class life. We pay interest on those loans. So we are getting hit twice: once for the interest we have to pay to defer the raise into the future and once for the devaluation of our "loan" to the City caused by inflation.
ReplyDeletehi to all my colleagues. i agree with the majority of people who posted her. it's the worst contract we ever were faced with. i can't remember one where we did not have to make concessions, but this contract is ALL about concessions. so, by adding the crumbs of the retro they think we feel like we are getting 3-4% WAGE increase? do they think we are that stupid??? this contract has virtually NO wage increase. do the math. the skympy 1% or so a year in actual "increases" is not even enough to keep up with inflation, while the 'retro' is a robbery. look here:
ReplyDeleteon the friday ny times, i read that the city wants savings in the amount of $3.4 billions from the ratifictaion of this contract and similar ones dished out to our other class brothers and sisters across the city. those savings EQUAL the amount of retro that is owed to us. so, on the one hand, they supposedly finally give us that money, but only to immediately turn around it and rob us from it again. MOST IMPORTANTKY: THE HEALTH BENEFITS. not a lot of people here commented on this, probably assuming that our benefits are great (how many teachers have i heard say so!), and also b/c the whole issue is surrounded by mystery, BUT WE DON'T EVEN HAVE TO KNOW THE EXACT FORM OF THE CUTS TO UNDERSTAND HOW SERIOUS THIS IS. the mediator for this contract imposes that EITHER THE CITY SAVES THAT MONEY THROUGH CUTS TO THE HEALTH BENEFITS, OR, IF $3,4 BILLION CANNOT BE SAVED THAT WAY, THE CUTS WILL HAVE TO BE MADE SOMEWHERE ELSE !!!!!!!!! did you hear that???? what else is left??? THE PENSION BENEFITS!!! this contract is a draconian ATTACK AGAINST ALL TEACHERS BUT ALSO ALL OTHER CITY WORKERS, not to mention the divisive tactic (those who are about to retire will probably be lured, but they should not forget that this is NOT A BUYOUT: THIS IS MONEY OWED TO YOU!!!!! and they also should not forget that the same attack on health benefits will be felt by them too, in addition to having to pay for Medicare once GHI is no longer th eprimary). but here is another fact: THERE ARE 151 OTHER UNIONS ALSO WITHOUT A CONTRACT. WHY DON'T WE, THE TEACHERS, LINK UP TO THEM AND STRUGGLE TOGETHER? DON"T WE KNOW THAT ISOLATION BREEDS DEFEAT? i think of course we should vote NO, but that would not be enough to stop our bosses. we need to link up with other city workers, and we absolutely need to do this autonomously. if i had any doubt about the UFT leadership before this contract, now i FOR SURE KNOW, they SOLD OUT for good!!!!!
The union and the city are being, at best, disingenuous about how our health benefits will be effected. If the savings target is not met (and without cuts, how can it be), a special administrator will be empowered to make changes. What changes will those be? What recourse will we have?
Deleteif you retired and subbed or worked F-Status during 2009-2012 are you entitled to any monies?
ReplyDeleteIt's Monday morning makes sure to get out to your schools and spread the correct information regarding this nasty contract. We don't need 1,000 upfront! We need our 4 % & 4% upfront in our steps and our brothers/sisters in ATR protected. Word on the street this contract SUCKS. Tell Mike to take it back and start from this point and move on!
ReplyDeleteThe Citizens Budget Committee, a fiscal watchdog group that has always been highly critical of past contracts, has called this a "reasonable deal".
ReplyDeleteThis says it all. Mulgrew thinks his membership are a bunch of dolts.
The worst part of this is that the fire fighters, police, sanitation, etc have all been making the 8% for the last 5 years. They will be making that 8% for the next four year also while we are slowly getting 2% of that every year. So they'll make us whole for the last 5 years (eventually) with the retro, but NYPD, FD, Sani, etc will be making 8% more than teachers next year,6% more the following year, 4% more, and then 2% more. Then finally in 2018 we'll be equal assuming they don't get better raises. If you're following pattern bargaining how does that work? In some cases we're losing out $20k because they're holding the raises back. We would need future retro or raises NOW to make that equal to all other nyc unions.
ReplyDeleteCan we pick up the contracts at 52 Broadway today? Can we attend the meeting?
ReplyDeleteThere may be a way to salvage this contract and get what we want. If the city says it can't afford to cut us a check for our raises and back pay, they can still put money in our pockets:
ReplyDelete1. give teachers city and state payroll tax rebates.
2. give teachers free mass transit
3. give teachers who own property in the city or the state rebates on property taxes and water and sewer fees
4. Give teachers and their families free tuition at state and city colleges and universities.
This is a short menu of possibilities which would put money in our pockets without the city having to write a check. Some of them might also be good to consider as enhancements to salary for city teachers to help end the "brain drain" to surrounding districts which pay more.
If city hall is sincere about wanting to honor and remunerate teachers for the work that we do and repair the ravages of the Bloomberg Administration, this should be considered as an alternative that could satisfy the amounts owed and as a beginning of a way to entice teachers to stay.
Any word on the ATR Severance package?
ReplyDeleteMy big question is will we get interest? Or, more accurately, will we get a fair amount of interest? If we get this interest on ALL amounts that we should have gotten (calculated from the time that we should have gotten them), then ultimately we will get what we deserve. This must include future salary that we should have gotten but didn't because of the delayed raises. If we don't get interest, then saying we get 2009 and 2010 raises (as well as the other raises) is a sham. I'm not happy with the fact that I have to wait for my money for work that I have already done, but if we get interest on our money, it would ultimately be financially equivalent. Now, whether delayed payment is fair on other levels is questionable, but with interest included, it would be fair in the sense that it is financially equivalent.
ReplyDeletejj UFT executive board meetings`are open to the membership and the food is pretty good.
ReplyDeleteI can care less about the food..get the facts..TIA
ReplyDeleteAwesome. I will be there. Will report anything i learn as many others will. Contract looks terrible to me.
ReplyDeleteGreat..please listen for any retiree questions..I retired in 2012..I'd like to get a few kerns here..What time is the meeting EST?
ReplyDelete6pm
ReplyDeleteThanks..your the man!
ReplyDeleteWhat can we do to help spread the word of our disenchantment with this contract?? Besides posting it on my FB and telling all my teacher friends and loved ones, I wanna know what else I can do! When do we vote?
ReplyDeleteI say we go a step further and recall this disaster named Michael Mulgrew. The fact that he would serve this garbage up to his membership is reason enough.
ReplyDeleteI say we go a step further and recall this disaster named Michael Mulgrew. The fact that he would serve this garbage up to his membership is reason enough.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHow is the Total Retro Payment calculated?
ReplyDeleteHere is how the retro payments and salary increases work:
ReplyDeleteOur retro continues to accrue until all 4 of the 2% retro salary increases in 2018. With each of the retro 2% increases the percentage of retro goes down 2%. Further the 1% 1% 1% 1.5% 2.5% and 3% increases are calculated as if the 4% and 4% raises were in our salary and not being paid through retro payments. In 2018 our salaries will be there and the in 2020 we will have recovered every penny we were owed. We have to vote YES! We have to be focused on getting the next contract on time. VOTE YES don't be misled all of your money is coming in this contract.
So what does this mean from Monday May 5th 2014"
ReplyDeletehttp://iceuftblog.blogspot.com/
""The phase-in of the retroactive raises has no bearing on the final amount of retro payments you'll receive. All in-service and retired members will receive 100 percent of the money they are entitled to, compounded back to Nov. 1, 2009, by 2020.""
I retired in 2012..am I getting the retro loot?
OMG! So much babble, babble, babble. Take whatever crumbs are offered. It is impossible to invent a contract that fits all of us. There is enough blame already and we need to realize that the quibble of the union, the wasteland of the administrators who have little or no teaching experience, will eventually shut up. Good teachers just teach their students to teach themselves. Just keep your mouths shut and be happy that you have every single weekend off and you enjoy MAJOR holiday breaks. Per session is only an offer for more $, not a mandatory event. Let's sign and let be. Do you realize how this economy works? We are not a private company, we are paid by taxes, we teach all children all we can in the time we have them, we can do no more. GEt the ballot out and let us sign it and get the money, we will eventually be made "whole!"
ReplyDeleteI heard the mayor on NPR and he is talking about what an amazing and fair deal we are gonna get.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if there will be an honest counting of the ballots. There are so many against this proposed contract how could it ever pass! The outcome should not be a ratified contract. Uniformed city workers would NEVER put up with waiting for retro pay...I say nay to this contract.
ReplyDeleteSad I worked from 2007-2012 and will not be getting the retro pay!! Oh Well!!
ReplyDeleteAre you on the pension or resigned in 2012
ReplyDelete