Along with just about everyone else, this week my UFT membership card came in the mail with my new membership number and a letter from UFT President Michael Mulgrew. I feel the need to go to the dictionary today to define some key words for our union's leaders.
What is the primary job of a union?
This is from Webster:
an organization of workers formed for the purpose of advancing its members' interests in respect to wages, benefits, and working conditions
That is fairly straightforward. We are members and not customers.
Well, not to the leadership of this union. From Mulgrew's letter we learn that if we have a question about attaining a discount we can email "or call UFT customer service at 212-598-9512."
Customer Service? Is he kidding?
What is a customer?
Let's go to Google:
Customer: a person or organization that buys goods or services from a store or business:
" was a regular customer at the Golden Lion"
I am a customer if I go to eat at McDonalds Mr. Mulgrew. When it comes to the union, we are all members of the UFT. We are union members, not customers.
Keep the discounts and defend our working conditions Mr. Mulgrew. If you supported our rights instead of setting up a customer service line, you would not have to worry about Janus.
mmm, interesting, customers aren't obligated to buy anything right? Like would you pay for a lawyer that sucked? Or kick up to a Mob boss who didn't actually offer you protection? Or keep going to that restaurant where there is always hair in your soup? Or keep using that broker who only gets you 1% a year for ten yers on your money? Or keep using that doctor who says you are healthy as a horse even though your hair is falling out and you have lost 50 sounds in 2 weeks?.....Just sayin'.......
ReplyDeleteIt’s the Telly Savalas Players Club card.
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/v6FQNPmJFLs
The UFT is in much worse shape than most realize. This latest surreally trivial stunt is an unconscious public acknowledgment that it is a union in name only. That it wouldn't send out a letter of support, for the many issues that plague the rank and file, speaks volumes of its impotency and indifference.
ReplyDeleteI'm just browsing.
ReplyDeleteThe UFT is not enforcing the contract by denying almost all the grievances, negotiating secret agreements to make the firing of ATRs easier, and turning a blind eye by not enforcing the fact the termination papers have to be signed by the PEP.
ReplyDeleteWhat will we be after Janus? Guests?
ReplyDeleteHi Uft, still waiting for hy hardship travel transfer, which is already in the contract, on a 5 hour roundtrip, bus, ferry and train, for almost 20 years. All satisfactory and effective by the way.
ReplyDeleteWow! Sign of the times. I guess Mulgrew thought he’d join the Customer Service ranks of say, GHI, another I’m not your customer outfit.
ReplyDeleteNauseating the heights of depraved that the US has taken capitalism too. We ain’t seen the end of it yet.k
Pretty soon, awards points ...
ReplyDeleteSince Mulgrew now views me as a customers, that means I now have the power of the boycott, which I fully intend to exercise.
ReplyDeleteYou know the reason why our working conditions have deteriorated precipitously over the past decade? The UFT. Administration knows it can do whatever it wants with no consequences, but the UFT isn’t going to do a damn thing. Save yourself the $1400 and join Costco for a lot less.
ReplyDeleteLast fall I went to the Bronx UFT office on Halsey Street. While I was waiting there I started talking to a new teacher who was financially struggling. She told me she had ten years prior experience teaching in NYS. I had just told her to apply for salary steps when she was called in. I was still there when she came out. She told me she was asked Do you want a job or want to be targeted and fired because of your salary? She was told she shouldn’t apply for her salary steps. This lady was single with 4 kids. I guess that’s the new reality the UFT has allowed to happen. I have no doubt the UFT rep was telling the truth. This is but one example of why I will no longer be paying dues to the UFT.
ReplyDeleteThe Queens office of the UFT remained on the sidelines while Dwarka was getting rid of good experienced teachers.
ReplyDeleteManhattan UFT too...document everything, get witnesses, try working it out with admin, speak with your CL (who is best friends with admin), pick your battles, go on open market, did i mention document everything...puh-lese.
ReplyDeleteNow that we're all customers, we can withold our business until we get what we pay for,because as it it stands right now we get SQUAT
ReplyDelete19 days of instruction till I resign, how sad its so bad it has to be done.
ReplyDeleteIt is useless.Field supervisors have a blank check to go after ATRs, they know that the UFT will not challenge any type of observations on ATRs, or unfair circumstances. Out of license, in a bad class, students the ATR just met, ATRs having close to 8 days absent or excessive days absent.... Everything even unfair observations, and circumstances are good to terminate an ATR. Any reason is good to make an ATR uncomfortable.
ReplyDeleteAs long as these field supervisors can carry their dirty agenda on high expectations that are unreachable everybody is happy. At the same time they need to hire new inexperienced fellow teachers to replace all those experienced teachers that are becoming ATRs. It is a perfect plan designed by our leaders and Union. The plan is to make ATRs useless, overwhelmed and discouraged. They are working together to hire less qualified teachers.
By refusing to enforce the contract. By refusing to file grievances that are legally legitimate. By creating the ATR pool. By agreeing to field supervisors that are only there to go after veteran teachers. By not allowing a chapter for ATR's. By making us third class citizens. Which per diem subs are being observed by field assassins? By eliminating seniority. By agreeing to fair student funding. By destroying thousands of teachers careers. By agreeing to rotation in a vocation that is built on relationships. By refusing to respond when we are vilified in the press. By telling us that we are lucky to have a job and benefits. By refusing representation in any situation that they should be helping. By theft and denial of services. I can also mention racketeering. They colluded with the DOE to not only create the ATR pool but to assist in the psychological warfare that they the Human Resources enforcement arm of the DOE.
ReplyDeleteThe UFT had sold us out at every turn. The truth is that because of NYS civil service laws they can't have us fired . So all you can possibly say about the UFT is that they pupport to represent our interests and take our money for it. They just hurt us terribly. There is a special place in hell for these sociopathic parasites. I eagerly wait for JANUS. I'm going to keep my money. They need to be starved.