Unfortunately, the reality is that the UFT has little or no leverage when talking to the city and is basically doing collective begging. We go to the bargaining table and probably say this: "Please Mr. Mayor may we have paid family leave?" The city more than likely replies: "You can have paid maternity/paternity/family leave as long as you pay dearly for it. We want our cut too."
To make their case at the bargaining table, the city can cite the city managers who were granted paid family leave over a year ago. One of the managers' representatives asked the Independent Budget Office how much the managers' paid family leave was costing the city and the managers? The IBO's Ronnie Lowenstein sent a letter back to the managers explaining how the city is obtaining substantial savings by granting paid family leave. In order to obtain a paid family leave benefit, all of the city managers had to give up a .47% raise and lose two days of vacation.
From the Lowenstein letter:
The primary savings to the city from rescinding the .47 percent raise is almost $4.4 million in fiscal year 2018. This figure only includes the savings on base salaries. In addition, the city will save about $1.3 million through reduced pension obligations, FICA and MTA payroll taxes, and other employee benefits. Savings from eliminating two days of paid vacation is an estimated $2.5 million annually.
So how much did the city pay out for the new parental leave benefit?
Lowenstein provides the answer:
In the first year that paid parental leave was available, 230 employees--with an average and median age of 37 years--took advantage of the benefit, at an estimated cost to the city's payroll of $2.4 million.
A $2.4 million benefit costs employees $8.2 million!
The city does great in ripping off its workforce, even if they are managers.
Granted, teachers on average are a little younger than city managers so we would probably have more members who would use a maternity/paternity benefit but the city wants to profit from giving this benefit to union workers.We pointed out the potential cost of all of us possibly losing some sick bank days in a posting this summer that turned very controversial in the comments section. The UFT to their credit has said no so far to givebacks for family leave.
We will probably get paid family leave by accepting a lower raise in the next contract. The only way we could possibly win this benefit for parents without decreasing the next salary increase, or accepting some other dreadful givebacks, is if we were ready to fight like a real labor union for a decent contract.
For this union to act like a real labor union is a pipe dream so get ready to have everyone pay for paid maternity/paternity leave.
Pardon my French, but fuck that! I am a male and I have no kids, and I have chosen to never have kids. The city wants to give me a smaller raise so females can go raise their spawn? Total crap if you ask me.
ReplyDeleteSpawn? I teach spawn. Got it. Can fathers take advantage of FMLA?
DeleteI learn so much from folks on this site.
You would think that the ultra leftist mayor DiBLAHsio would be all for a benefit like this, especially since the city is flush with cash($3 billion+ surplus)
ReplyDeleteIt just goes to show you what a phony bastard he is and how dumb the uft is for supporting this clown for another term.
If there is "paid" maternity leave for teachers in NYC and it is funded by teacher givebacks, there will be a massive rift between teachers who want kids and those who do not.
ReplyDeleteSolidarity forever!
ReplyDeleteSounds like 8.25% to 7% in the TDA and retro with-held for 11 years with no interest and 1% raises for an additional 85 months.
ReplyDeleteDon't forget the higher copays for each visit to the doctor.
ReplyDeleteYou won't even know you are giving back because the UFT won't ever tell you what the next raise would have been if there was no paid maternity leave.
ReplyDeleteWhat about those that had our kids already. I didn't get crap for them, so why should I have to give up anything for future workers?
ReplyDeleteDONT TOUCH MY CAR!!!! If you want to breed, do it on your own time and your own dime. TEACHERS GET MORE FAMILY LEAVE THAN MOST!!!!!!! STOP! We have real problems now! Contact issues:
ReplyDelete1)Get a one time buy out for 20/50 @ 40% FAS. - you could have my CAR for this!!! but not for a breeder!!!!!
2)Get rid of Danielson unannounced observations!
3)Get rid of Fair Student Funding!
4)Bring back Senority transfer
5)Lower class size
6) Get rid of Parent Teacher conference night - make it afternoon conferences during school day hours or pay me per session for the time - ridiculous - we sit there for free for 3 hours
People need to understand how contract negotiations work. City tells municipal unions how much money they are willing to spend on contracts and then unions work off that number. If a union wants more, you have to pay for it with givebacks. If a union wants a different contractual work rule gains, the union has to give management something back. Only way to change this basic formula is by threatening a real job action.
ReplyDeleteThats why people like me have to quit by 40 years old, lose the retro, salary, etc...Not worth it.
ReplyDelete"Thats why people like me have to quit by 40 years old, lose the retro, salary, etc...Not worth it."
ReplyDeleteTHAT'S THE PLAN.
Right now it's push out the Tier IV people.
After they're gone, it will be a - keep 'em miserable 'til they leave - situation. Saves money for pensions and saves money for health benefits. WIN-WIN for state & city.
Sad thing is administrators are just being USED for this goal. The screws will turn on them too. If they don't want career teachers, they will not want career administrators.
That's right! Administrators need to protest being used to do evil. Administrators these days are not true leaders. Educators of all levels, that includes administrators, wake up and fight back. Everyone knows this is bullshit!
DeleteI teach spawn but don't want any of my own, therefore I should not have to provide any givebacks to the DOE. If women or men want to have kids, they should be the ones doing the givebacks, not I or the thousands of other teachers who are never going to have kids which is our choice.
ReplyDeletePaid family leave is the law in NYS paid for by everyone is the law in NYS. Just a matter of time before the UFT agrees to accept it and all of us will pay with a smaller raise. Get over it complainers.
ReplyDeleteIf a lower pay raise is on the table, perhaps the paid family leave should also extend to paid leave for the birth of a grandchild and to care for a sick family member. The deal may be more palatable for veteran teachers who just may agree to a paltry "minimum wage" type of raise,...
ReplyDeleteTherefore it is not a "paid" leave. Everyone, (including NYC teachers who will never have kids) are going to "pay" for it. Just because it is the law that does not mean that it is a good thing. Feel free to beat on me and the countless other thousands of teachers in NYC who will never have kids. Hear this clearly: we think it is crap! Having a child is a choice. If you can't prepare with the proper funds to have a child, then you should not have one. Why should I pay for others to take a maternity leave? Having a baby is not the same as getting sick which is unpredictable, I have no problem paying into insurance to help my fellow sick teachers. Having a kid which is a choice is 100% different.
ReplyDeleteHow about I get paid dog adaption leave? I have no kids but I adopt a lot of dogs. My dogs are my life. Should other teachers pay for my dog adoption leave? The answer of course is no. There should be no paid maternity leave unless the NYC is paying for it 100%. (NO GIVEBACKS IN PAY OR SICK DAYS)
ReplyDeleteAfter reading some of the comments on here, I am very disappointed in some of my union brother and sisters. This is why our movement never really takes off.
ReplyDeleteWhatever, this has been a downward spiral for 15 years, keeps getting more out of hand.
ReplyDelete@1:33PM - First thing is first and that is to stop the harassment and attack on veteran teachers FOR NO REASON, but MONEY. Newer staff are being attacked as well. This is what needs to stop FIRST before something like paid parental leave should be on the table. The latter is not a pressing issue.
ReplyDeleteWhat would you suggest we do 12:37?
ReplyDeleteI support teachers in their fight against horrible admins and the DOE. I do not support my fellow teachers by taking away my money or sick days so moms can get free time off. Having kids is a choice, being abused by a corrupt principal is not a choice.
ReplyDeleteHow utterly enlightening?
ReplyDeleteWorkplace issues have to be resolved first - harassment, age discrimination, Fair Student Funding, Danielson rubric for evaluations, being targetted, etc. These pressing issues need to be addressed first. How would you like to be a new parent and get harassed for being absent to tend to your sick child? How would you as a parent feel that as you climb the salary scale you are harassed, but you need to support your family? How would you as a parent feel that as you get older the more insecure you feel at your workplace? How would you as a parent feel to have to go to work and feel like a guinea pig like you have nothing better to do? How would you as a parent feel that no one wants to tolerate your moodiness because you did not get enough sleep since there are other pressing issues? Paid parental leave is not worth my sicks days and less of a salary raise. Plan ahead like everybody else. Difficulty high risk pregnancies are another issue.
ReplyDeleteSolidarity forever.
ReplyDeleteTo the first comment:
ReplyDeleteI don't have kids. Why should I pay taxes for schools?
I am against wars and a massive defense budget. Why is over half my taxes going to that?
I hope everyone stops having kids and then see how much money you make when schools are empty.
I do wonder if the aging spawn who are harboring such unnatural opinions would have enjoyed being thrown to the day care dogs at six weeks of age in their own childhood.
ReplyDeletePaid maternity (and paternity) leave is of universal benefit because children who are nurtured on mother's milk from the teet grow into healthier, happier adults. A year of paid leave allows parents to develop the deepest possible bond, to learn their child's nuances, to gain confidence in their own parenting, and to begin instilling values immediately.
Quinn, that has got to be the most liberal, left wing statement I have heard in a long time. You want a kid to suckle your teat for a year? Fine, you pay for it. As to being thrown to the day care dogs at age 6 weeks: Nobody is forcing anybody to throw kids to the day care dogs. Practicing safe sex and proper savings will ensure that that will not happen. If you can't afford a kid, don't have one. Don't expect me to pay for your wishes.
ReplyDeleteNot on the backs of people's sick days and salary increments. No way!
ReplyDeleteYou got that right! Leave my sick days and salary alone. Teachers who have kids should be the only ones who loose sick days or get a decrease in salary. I should not be punished for choosing to never have kids of my own,
ReplyDeleteThis is the way that will be used to lower our sick days to 5 a year. Then it will still be deemed to expensive a added giveback will be added to the next contract. Count on it, its coming.
ReplyDeleteWe live in a very overpopulated city, country and world. There should be an incentive not to have children. If you decide to do so, it should be on your dime - as it has been for all time, unless you're on welfare and are rewarded for every child born. This is not a racist statement, as I have just returned from Monsey and Kouris Joel (unsure of spelling) where most are poor, have 5-10 kids, are on welfare and are White. It's like that movie Idiocracy, the intelligent are limiting their offspring, while the unintelligent are breeding like rabbits.
ReplyDeleteI am very thankful that there are a bunch of vocal teaches who are against "paid' leave. It will not be "paid" leave if teachers are loosing sick days or getting lower raises. As mentioned above, having kids is a choice and those who choose not to have kids should not be penalized by loosing sick days or getting a reduction in salary. I will be beyond livid if the UFT/DOE hash out a secret deal to get paid maternity leave by taking away sick days from teachers who are never going to have kids.
ReplyDeleteNo paid leave on the backs of others. Bank sick days and get the UFT to pressure DOE to free up CAR days to care for family (children or elderly sick parents etc...). The current 3 days per year out of the 10 for such care is bullshit. We save days and can't use CAR unless we are personally ill. Caring for loved ones is a personal responsibility not a collective responsibility. I've taken FMLA without pay when necessary because it was my responsibility, not the responsibility of the membership at large, to care for my ill family member. I took a medical leave without pay. It was my responsiblity to suffer the consequences of my own stupidity that caused me to fall and break a bone. I didn't want to use up all my days in case I needed them 10 or 20 years down the line for something far more serious. Saving days and saving money for such emergencies is a personal responsibility. Case in point: Teacher I know drove a 60K car and then was upset she couldn't get a paid leave when an emergency popped up. Others, myself included, drive a modest vehicle and save money for emergencies. This is a terribly divisive issue and the UFT needs to tread carefully. Why not have a buy in program like they did with 25/55 or other creative way where those who want it in their future, pay for it now. Roseanne McCosh
ReplyDeleteI have 128 days in my CAR and I have no desire in loosing any further days by a UFT sellout! If a teacher wants to have a kid that is fine. Just make sure you can pay for it yourself.
ReplyDelete