The post below is copied in full from Stronger Together Caucus. ST is the opposition to Unity Caucus (Michael Mulgrew's political party) at the state level. If you know any Representative Assembly Delegates, urge them to vote for ST at the RA in April. Many NYC chapter leaders are RA Delegates. All NYC RA Delegates belong to Unity Caucus and should be held accountable by the membership. It is our responsibility to ask these people tough questions and not let them get away with rubber stamping Michael Mulgrew's choices, not ours.
ST Caucus Stands in Opposition to NYSUT’s Outsourcing of Union Work.
It has recently been brought to our attention that NYSUT has begun outsourcing work previously performed by NYSUT employees who belong to the Communications Workers of America (CWA). Secretary-Treasurer Martin Messner is now requiring that NYSUT managers send receipts and expense reports to an out-of-state company for processing. The work which was previously completed by CWA members is now being done by Certify, a non-union company.
Participation in this outsourcing is required for managers and optional for members of the Professional Staff Union (PSA), who are all refusing to participate.
ST Caucus stands in opposition to any type of anti-union outsourcing. NYSUT members across the state are fighting charter schools, distance learning, and similar outsourcing schemes. We are perplexed and disheartened by the decision made by our current officers to subcontract the work of our union brothers and sisters. According to Secretary-Treasurer candidate Nate Hathaway, “This flies in the face of our core values as unionists. We must not fall into the trap of pursuing expediency at the expense of what is right. Union workers are paid more because they defend the value of the individual worker and the concept that a worker should have protections in the workplace and be compensated with a reasonable, living wage. What do we stand for as an organization if we espouse these principles in grand platitudes, yet pursue a policy of employing the services of those not afforded the very rights we claim to fight for? This is very disheartening news.”
To address the budget issues that exist within NYSUT, our officers need to reduce costs through a transparent process that honors the work and commitments made to our unionized staff. Any local leader who experienced the devastating budget cuts of the last decade knows the key components to an effective cost savings strategy. To reduce the budget of an organization and not have it lose its core purpose, cost savings must be transparent, involve shared sacrifice, and be mutually agreed upon by all parties. ST Caucus supports the elimination of one officer position (a 20% savings in officer salaries and expenses) and a 15% reduction in officer salaries.
Unlike the current officers, ST Caucus believes that fiscal responsibility starts at the top, not by outsourcing the work of some of our lowest paid employees at NYSUT.
People don't know what party their CL belongs to. They don't care either for the most part either.
ReplyDeleteA letter to the editor in the recent "Chief" defending a union leader, referred to union leaders as "politicians". Like all politicians, they will say one thing and do another, especially if we are not paying close attention. I believe Weingarten, soon after she took over the UFT, crossed a hotel picket line where there was some sort of educational conference. The PBA tried to downgrade the health insurance of their union office workers, but the backlash stopped them. Unfortunately, we must watch them like hawks.
ReplyDeleteFor this aspiring doctor, attending one of Mayor de Blasio’s Renewal schools was the wrong prescription.
ReplyDeleteHidekel Reyes Lopez, 18, decided to attend the HS for Health Careers and Sciences because it was convenient to her home in Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood — and then a knee injury inspired her to pursue a career in orthopedics.
But despite its name, the school offered no specialized courses on health or medical professions, she said, and little in the way of science beyond the “very basic” classes required to graduate.
Even worse, the lackluster instruction left her unprepared when she got her high-school diploma last June and applied to CUNY’s Borough of Manhattan Community College — where she promptly failed the math-assessment test for incoming freshmen.
“I think they actually shouldn’t have graduated me,” she said of the city Department of Education.
“The next step after high school should be college, and if I wasn’t ready for college, I shouldn’t have been let go.”
The vivacious, athletic teen wound up spending two months last summer in “CUNY Start,” an intensive, 25-hour-a-week, remedial program where she learned the “four years of math that I didn’t get in high school.”
Grateful for the challenge, Lopez wound up getting a perfect score of 100 on her final math exam, she said.
Despite de Blasio’s vow that his School Renewal Program would “transform” the 94 low-performing schools targeted, Lopez noticed little impact at her high school after Hizzoner unveiled the plan in late 2014.
“For the most part it was the same. It didn’t really feel like a big change,” she said.
The most obvious differences, Lopez said, were an increase in the number of after-school clubs and a new health clinic.
And while she credited English teacher Lisa Brown with sparking a love of reading by introducing her to classic literature such as “The Catcher in the Rye,” Lopez said most of her classes were “very dull, very plain.”
Lopez also said her other instructors “just teach so students can pass the Regents” exams required for graduation, using old tests to guide the curriculum.
“They’re not really teaching so the students can learn, explore and go deep,” Lopez said. “I wanted to go deeper.”
While Lopez joined 70 percent of her classmates at Health Careers who graduated in four years, DOE statistics show a mere 10 percent scored high enough on standardized exams to enroll at CUNY without first taking remedial courses.
“Students are going into college unprepared,” Lopez said. ‘They don’t have a level of thinking that allows them to succeed.”
To Anonymous, March 15, 2017 12:48:00 PM
ReplyDeleteWhile interesting, I fail to understand how your post reflects the topic at hand?
outsourcing job can be a more affordable option for businesses.
ReplyDelete