Word has pretty much spread around the city that UFT members are getting paid back nothing this October for the interest free loan we made to the city back in the 2014 contract.
Some people are still asking why we are not getting any money this year and have to wait until the middle of October of 2017 to receive the next 12.5% of what we are owed up to that point for work we did from 2009-2011 and should have been paid for back then. Other municipal union workers received 4%+ 4% increases in salary between 2008 and 2010. Educators had to wait until 2014 to get a contract but for some reason we agreed to defer the payments for thosee first two years.
The reason was the city untruthfully cried poverty and the UFT bought it so teachers and other UFT members made an interest free loan to the city. The city is paying us back in interest free installments in 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020. In addition, only half of the 8% raise other unions received eight years ago has even been added to our semi-monthly paychecks as of now.
Meanwhile, the city has been doing quite well financially as the UFT set an abysmal pattern in 2014 for the current round of bargaining of 10% salary increases over 7 years that other city workers are stuck with. This is because of pattern bargaining which means when one municipal union settles on a raise with the city, then other unions have to follow that pattern in negotiating their contracts.
Throw in those health care cost savings which are still not done and the bottom line is we were given a lousy deal but three out of four teachers voted for it.
Yes, some teachers are still arguing that we got a great contract and that we're getting another installment this month. I tried to tell one and she started foaming at the mouth - a Chapter Leader who said President Mulgrew would never lie - the city was broke at the time. If you're an intelligent person stay out of the Teachers' Lounge. It's 77% infested with blithering idiots.
ReplyDeleteYour job is to convince those blithering idiots to have some self respect.
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ReplyDeleteThey think they have self respect, so it's a lost cause.
sAt the Chapter Meeting on, at that time, the upcoming vote on whether to give up 8.25% on our fixed monies in TRS in exchange for returning to school after Labor Day, one member shouted out that she doesn't keep her money in fixed (so it didn't matter to her if we gave up 1.25% interest for the rest of our lives)
Dumbbell!
No wonder this profession is under attack. Too often we have people who work in education who seem to be nimwits. These are people who went to school all their life and then come to school to work and never really having a real job working in the private sector. Combine that with no nothing twenty something year olds who are really clueless and its no wonder the reformies are circling over our heads. Yes the lounge is where you can find this clueless bantor but its really everywhere including all the paras and teach assts who speak spanish all day long in the lounge and only GOd knows what their complaining about. Mix in advanced educators in the ATR pool who are forced to sit in the lounge with no real assignment and you have an environment that is toxic - all due to a system of dysfunction - hiring new teachers who know crap and throwing them into classrooms - the result is loud classrooms, poor test results and not a bit of learning going on as students clearly take advantage of no nothing newbie teachers who were never mentored. However, the DOE seems to be upside down. Why in the world are they hiring new teachers and having experienced teachers sit around?? No where in history does this crazy shit exist where a twenty two year old is giving work to a 18 year veteran teacher who was also an engineer!! This was the talk of the day among the Atrs in the school laughing so loud they had tears coming down their cheeks....as they say you cannot make it up....
ReplyDeleteAs far as "voting" to give up 1.25% on our TDAs in exchange for coming back after Labor Day, we, as the rank & file never agreed to this. This was agreed to by Weingarten, and the Bloomberg administration. The CSA still has 8.25%, but the UFT has only 7. Plus, this was agreed to as far back as the 2005 contract. We were happy at the time to return to school after Labor Day, as it was traditionally, but the news of the missing 1.25%. just slowly dribbled out. Most of the membership did not know this for years.
ReplyDeleteWhat else has the UFT done behind the members' backs? We're lucky if we see the 12.5 retro lump sum in October of 2017. If we have another Sandy before then the City will claim poverty and the UFT will tell us to swallow it. Like Mikey said, retro isn't a God given right. Maybe DiBlasio will make sure we get that retro payment because it will be an election year. What will happen to the lump sum retro payments in 2018, 2019 and 2020? What will the next mayor do? Just because it's part of the contract doesn't mean the city will have the money to pay it. Those payments are for 25%. The city can claim poverty as usual. What will Mikey do then?
ReplyDeleteThe quality of staff, much like the quality of student, has really declined...this has become a last chance job that people do when they have no other options...
ReplyDeleteSome of the most simple people on the planet made the union movement tick for a long time. It is just a question of workers holding out for better conditions.
ReplyDeleteToo late now. December 2018...
ReplyDeleteWe gave the mayor a decent deal and he has not reciprocated. We should not support him for the next term unless he immediately turns around working conditions and restores jobs to those he cast out in order to get mayoral control. There is an entire list of things he can do to regain our respect.
ReplyDeleteHe could start by GIVING US OUR PARKING PERMITS BACK.
ReplyDeleteInteresting point made here on de Blasio reaching out to work with us to win back our support. What could de Blasio do to regain our support? He is not going to give us the retro money early. However, there is plenty he could do to improve teaching and learning conditions in the schools. My own feeling is he has been as bad, if not worse, than Bloomberg by giving us a lousy contract while keeping most of Bloomberg's people and policies in place such as retaining the army of lawyers whose job is to get rid of teachers even if it is not justified.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Chaz. If the mayor wants to get re-elected, he really needs to get some support from NYC teachers. Of course the UFT leadership will back him. However, the rank and file teachers are pissed and are not too happy with him. He needs to throw some bones in our direction if he wants us to actually show up and vote for him. He could start by pushing the DOE and Farina to give us a decent and fair evaluation system. This would cost him nothing but would make him gain our trust. And yes, as mentioned above, he should restore our parking permits to how it was prior to 2008. Every teacher who wants a parking permit should get one. Those permits are only good for parking in front of schools. That is another no brainer that the mayor could implement.
ReplyDeleteThe UFT ROYALLY screwed its membership by negotiating down the TDA from 8.25 to 7%.
ReplyDeleteThey very quietly STOLE tens of thousands of dollars out of members pockets if you compound that over a career. ANOTHER example of this union being in bed with the city.
And the fact that NYC'S "Brightest" proved that they don't understand math, the city just did it again with this interest free loan called "Retro". STOOOOOOPID.
The progressive mayor who is suppose to be the champion of the middle class (with the help of our union of course), low balled the union members with deferred payments that are not retro and without interest. Even though the city is sitting on billions of dollars a lump sum payment to teachers would automatically be spent(at least I would put the money back into the economy). This spending would help promote economic activity. Unfortunately our union has become less of an advocate of middle class workers and is becoming useless.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, an early loan repayment would be seen as a giveaway and would get de Blasio slammed in the press. He could make non monetary gestures like the earlier comment talked about on the evaluation system or giving schools ATRs cost free for five years in schools where the principal would want to hire us. This would cost the city $0 since ATRs are being paid anyway. How about getting rid of fair student funding as Chaz has suggested and I agree with? Parking permits aren't happening from a mayor who considers himself green. Getting rid of 3/4 of the DOE lawyers and totally restructuring the Office of Labor Relations would also be a good start and would save money. Real negotiations at 3020A hearings would be nice too. Telling Principals to settle their problems in schools and only let the most egregious stuff get beyond the school level would help also. There is so much they could do to say we understand how difficult the teaching job is and how the DOE is supportive.
ReplyDeleteOr a contract extension, 2 years, 6 percent, $1000 signing bonus. Considering the last contract, teachers would be thrilled...
ReplyDeleteThe contract was a corrupt deal made that shortchanged the members. Mulgrew should be ashamed of himself for being disingenuous about the cup being bare and having to wait at the end of the line and for saying he truly does not believe in retroactive pay.
ReplyDeleteUFT passed a resolution in June of 2013 to push the Deblasio to restore a fair system for parking permits. This is a fact. However, just like most resolutions, the UFT is just paying lip service to it's members.
ReplyDeleteExact date of UFT resolution to restore a fair system for parking permits was JUNE 11, 2014. Mayor can still be green and give us our parking permits back. They are only good for parking in front of a school. School parking should be FIRST COME FIRST SERVE FOR EVERY TEACHER IN A BUILDING. The permits simply allow a first come first serve basis for those parking spots. Why should only a handful of teachers have the chance to use those spots at any given time? All teachers in a building get a permit and those who show, get the spot.
ReplyDeleteCity council is planning to give out a ton more food cart permits. That does not sound to "green" to me. Restore our parking permits to how it was prior to 2008!
ReplyDeleteThe city hates drivers. Get over it. Liberals usually want us to stop driving and take the slimy subway while they get in their limos.
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