Sunday, December 03, 2017

UNION PUSHING PAID PARENTAL LEAVE

The cover of the December 7, 2017 NY Teacher is about paid parental leave and there is a major action alert in the latest Chapter Leader Update (see below). The UFT is clearly emphasizing the need to win this benefit.

I am for paid parental leave without givebacks but I think it will come in the form of a lower raise in the next contract. UFT will tout it is another major victory but we all know we will be paying for it. In the end I doubt we will be paying a major price (loss of sick bank days or the .47% city managers gave back along with two vacation days) to get the paid parental leave.



Organize a school “baby shower” for members to share parental leave stories

Take action  To raise awareness about the need for paid parental leave for UFT members, we’re asking you, as chapter leader, to organize a “baby shower” at your school in December. Make a special outreach to members in your school who are pregnant, who adopted a child, or who gave birth to a child while working in New York City public schools and ask them to share with fellow members their personal experiences with the DOE’s current parental leave policy. Here is a fact sheet about the current policy that you can share with your members. Give members who attend the baby shower the opportunity to fill out a card saying why paid parental leave matters to them. You may download and print copies of this card or pick up cards at your UFT borough office. Then, post these cards on your UFT bulletin board. Take photos of the most compelling individual cards — and of your bulletin board display — and send them (large size) to uftphotos@gmail.com so we can share them. Sign up to let us know you are organizing a baby shower.
Please be respectful if you want to comment here.

16 comments:

  1. Go check the UFT Facebook link for the topic of paid maternity leave. Seems like all the posters are demanding "paid" maternity leave but don't think there will be any givebacks. I got news, there WILL be givebacks. The cost of paid leave would be astronomical if UFT teachers get 100% paid leave. It will also open up the floodgates and every other municipal union in NYC will demand paid maternity leave as well. As for me, call me what you will but I am against paid maternity leave if it is going to entail any givebacks at all. Having a baby is a choice. I am choosing not to have kids, therefore I should not fund somebody elses leave to raise a baby. Fairest way to get "paid" maternity leave would be to create some kind of a buy in pool where teachers can contribute a part of their salary if they are planning on having a kid.

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  2. Don't worry the UFT and my buddies at the DOE have it all worked out and it won't cost members a dime.
    Here's the plan: It will be funded 100% through the monies set aside for RETRO PAY. The only catch is those retro payments will now have to wait until 2030.

    That way most of you will have croaked by then.

    -Michael Mulgrew

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  3. I said it several months ago, its pretty clear Mulgrew is setting up to get this, one way or another, despite any potential giveback. They will say "we did it" while we really suffer.

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  4. I never was harassed at school or had to file a grievance. Why should I have to pay high union dues to cover special reps and to NYSUT for lawyers for people who get in trouble?
    Let those who have to file grievances pay a fee and if a lawyer is needed from the union to pay part of it themselves.
    And I teach small groups of children so why should class size matter to me? If they put 50 in a class imagine how much more salary we could earn?
    Just joking but making a point. I'm sure we can come up with more examples of how not everyone

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    Replies
    1. You are so clever you must amaze yourself. I wonder how many hours it took you to come up with that one.

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  5. Smart people will realize that the lower raises will cost you much more than the benefit of paid leave. Most people having kids are young. Your entire career you will be making less and it will far outweigh your paid leave. Maybe if you have 8 plus kids it might work out for you. Everyone will get screwed here.

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  6. Ummm NYSUT lawyers are used very rarely. Please don't even try to compare to cost of NYSUT lawyers to paid maternity leave as it is not even in the same ballpark.

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  7. Oh yeah, pretty much the only reason I pay union dues is because I might actually need a NYSUT lawyer. In this day and age, everybody is a target. UFT dues are the only insurance policy if you get brought up on 3020a charges.

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  8. The UFT Facebook threads on this are a hoot. I agree- they seriously think that the city will suddenly see the light of day, determine that paid parental leave is a G-d given right, and it shall be done- with no givebacks, of course.

    Wouldn't a new contract supersede the current contract? I never counted on that retro money in 2019 and 2020. I can see them saying that yes, there will be paid leave, and btw, your retro money will pay for it.

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  9. There's a lot of young women in the DOE who don't plan on staying in the system as a career. They'll have a kid or two and milk the paternity leave for all it's worth. I fully expect it to be part of the next agreement, in lieu of a more beneficial contract raise that would benefit everyone. Wouldn't surprise me if they cut a significant portion of the retro still owed.

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  10. I get so tired of hearing how the United States is is worse than the "enlightened" counties that have paid maternity leave. We are not Europe. We don't want to pay taxes like they do there to pay for maternity leave. If you want to have a baby, save up your money or your CAR days and plan accordingly. There is no law that says once you hit your early 20's that you have to get pregnant and have a child. Has anyone heard of birth control or personal financial responsibility? I would love to adopt a bunch of dogs and take some time off from teaching in the South Bronx, but I don't expect anyone to pay for my wish. Why should I have to pay for somebody to fulfill their desire to willing get pregnant and have a kid? (And yes, I did compare adopting a dog to getting pregnant. Many of us believe that our dogs are our family)

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  11. This will just get more people to drop out of the UFT. Everyone should get paid maternity leave and it should be paid the mother and father of the child. That's how I did it and my parents and my grandparents. Not easy but everyone thinks they are are entitled to everything - we're not. It's time adults stopped acting like entitled teenagers.

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  12. Appears there are fair concerns on both sides. Much of our teaching force are of child bearing age due to recent objections to experience $$$ vs. $$$ of newer teachers. We live in a cost savings world and now the lower end of the totem pole are demanding their fair share of labor costs rightfully so.
    The question now becomes is that the newer teaching workforce get more than those who never received such a benefit?? The fair way to approach this would be a buy in incentive similar to the last attempt at a buy out, if you are --- years of age and --- years of of experience, you can retire with no penalty. If you choose to receive paid parental leave benefits, calculate your time and years along with your future plans and/or desires to decide if you will buy into the program at ---- rate of your salary, effective by --- years of age upon your tenure you will be eligible.
    Sound complicated??? It is, many teachers and paraprofessionals found themselves
    buying into something or NOT due to complications in understanding or calculating the benefit of buying in.
    Some evasive deal should be made a decision by members who are so inclined to want this benefit for themselves or others. If a member feels strongly about this issue or are of child bearing age and/or have a desire for a family, they should have right to choose their option for the lifetime of their career.

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  13. We are all going to pay for this benefit but the cost is probably going to be minimal. That was the point of the whole post.

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