We have data from the not exactly pro- union NY Post reporting that 3% of city workers have stopped paying union dues in the weeks after Janus.
From the article:
More than
10,000 city workers stopped paying their union dues after the landmark Supreme
Court decision in June gave
them the right to end the payments.
City records
show that there were 314,770 city workers paying union dues prior to the Janus
v. AFSCME ruling on June 27 that found government workers can’t be forced to
pay dues to unions that represent them in collective bargaining.
By the first
July pay period following the decision, the number dropped by 10,328 – or 3
percent – to 304,442.
There was so much publicity around the Janus decision so if only 3% of workers decided to quit their unions in the immediate aftermath, this is encouraging news.
I don't know of too many people who have been more critical of their union's leaders than this blog has been however we need a union now more than ever. I am hopeful that people realize our problem is the leadership and not the idea of union. Or maybe, it is the ironic inertia of mass member apathy that just marches on.
We will learn more when we have UFT specific data.
34 comments:
It’s apathy. Once the UFT screws us again in some way individually or en masse, watch out - the fat cats will be screaming that they had to lease a Caddy instead of a Lexus.
We don't care enough to even bother to opt out.
i did
Count yourself among the stupid 3%.
Why? Should i pay the uft to help abuse me?
I totally believe that if the next contract is dog shit in regard to our working conditions that a ton of people will stop paying dues this coming June. Although I am not endorsing that personally, I do know others at my school who will pull dues. I really do not believe that the UFT has an inkling of how angry veteran teachers are right now. Veteran teachers have been handed crappy contract after crappy contract since 2005. (Yes, they were ratified by the rank and file but the structure of the contracts were negotiated as always behind closed doors)
What makes you think they are going to do better this time? UFT has little leverage and no desire for any kind of battle except with critics like me.
How do we opt out?
James: I do not think the UFT is going to necessarily do better or worse this time in the next round of contract negotiations. However, this will be the first time in UFT history where dues members will have the ability to not pay dues if those members are not happy. You as well as I know that the Unity machine simply wants to keep the status quo where folks pay dues while the head honchoes at the UFT sit nice and easy upstairs at 52 Broadway. The game is 100% different this time. As mentioned above, there are plenty of silent teachers in the trenches who are pissed beyond belief at the UFT and they are willing to go with the nuclear option by pulling dues. As much as I do not agree with this option, I totally get it. When Janus came through, Cuomo created a very small window of time where members can opt out. That window was literally 2 weeks in June right after the Supreme Course case was decided. Cuomo already had the plan in place. 99% of pissed off UFT teachers did not know that there was only a 2 week window to drop out of paying dues. However, the cat is now out of the bag and most pissed off teachers know of the upcoming 2019 out out window in June. You can bet your bottom dollar that these pissed off teachers are going to spread the word about this opt out window to teachers who are on the fence about their feelings in regard to the UFT. Thus, the UFT has a make or break moment and that moment is the next contract. I am very curious to see how this plays out.
I ask again how does that give UFT leverage with DOE/NYC? What you are saying makes city's hand stronger. Give a lousy contract and watch thousands of teachers opt out which makes UFT even weaker. So many people need to figure out that the time to fight is now. Reacting after the contract comes out is too late, particularly if 80 or 90% of teachers approve it.
James, if thousands of teachers opt out, this would or could be the big "shot in the ass" that the UFT needs to actually take the elevator down from the ivory tower at 52 Broadway and fight to get us a decent contract. You are wise enough to know that Mulgrew and his crew spend the majority of their days simply doing NOTHING. It breaks my heart that the goons in Unity want a seat at the table to keep the Mayor calm. Well, fuck that. There are teacher uprisings all over our country right now and we are sitting around with our collective dicks in our hands. I really wish there was a simple solution but there is none. Unity has literally run the UFT since the 60's despite opposition trying to defeat it. If we miss the boat right now with the upswell of other teacher groups fighting the good fight, I think we are doomed here in NYC. Unity is a cabal. They are secretly run and we will never know what their agenda is. I totally understand why folks want nothing more that to kill the beast. I hate to say it, but I get it and I am a pro-union person through and through.
I rarely agree with commenters on this site but I do agree that it would be foolhardy to draw any conclusions about the Janus-effect from these numbers.
First, we know nothing about which City workers pulled the plug. It is entirely possible that more or fewer teachers stopped paying dues than other employees. We have absolutely no way of knowing from these numbers.
Second, readers of this and other edu-blogs are a highly motivated and utterly unrepresentative sample of all teachers and give us no-none-zip-nada insight into what most teachers think about the UFT beyond hearsay about what might or might not be the anger-frustration levels in their schools. Unhappy and angry people tend to find evidence for their unhapoy and angry state wherever they look—in the teacher’s lounge, online, at the water fountain, in their teacup leaves, in the entrails of birds they slaughter. It’s called ‘confirmation bias.’
Third, I wonder how many not-angry, not-activist teachers know yet a lot about what Janus is or does. But, certainly, since Janus came at the end of the school year followed by such a tight opt-out period I wouldn’t expect a lot of teachers or City employees to have stopped paying dues this year. As word circulates during the next year I suspect that the number will be significantly higher next June and rapidly rise over the next few years to the 20-25% levels that unions in states like Wisconsin experienced in the aftermath of changes to state law.
Last, I find it very hard to believe that there is not already a court case being ‘manufactured’ by the Koch Brothers that will challenge the legality of NY’s narrow opt-out period. The Supreme Court ruling said nothing about opt-out periods; it said that public employees can opt-out, period. If we ever go to an ‘opt out whenever you want’ procedure in NYS....fugeddaboudit.
Out of the 10,000 plus union workers that opted out how many are UFT?
In my school there is violation after violation, wont bother listing them all now. CL does nothing. DR knows about this. This is the extension of UFT dues. They do nothing. That's why I opted out.
8:51 and 10:06 are outstanding posts.
I am inclined to follow James and try and change things from within but legends like James, Jeff Kaufman and Norm Scott all tried that for years and nothing changed so why should I think I and other like-minded "silent majority" (at least in the high schools) teachers can make any difference?
UFT and other Unions should not be doing any victory dance. Whether or not I remain next June will depend very much on what kind of working conditions improvements there are, assuming a new contract comes, by then.
We already have the framework of the new contract in place. It is the DC37 deal. If UFT can get two observations without strings attached, are you staying?
No, not sufficient, while we are still waiting for almost 80% of retro, 10 years later, as the contract ends, with no interest, as i get abused everyday.
2 observations and and end to Danielson or I am seriously thinking about leaving the UFT. (And remember, we can always leave the UFT and then sign up again if they actually start working for us.) When was the last time Mulgrew visited an actual school? Patrick Lynch goes above and beyond for his officers in the NYPD. The PBA takes out ads in the newspapers demanding a fair contract. The UFT leadership are cowards as they hide from the rank and file. I have literally not seen a district rep in our school since before Christmas 2 years ago. The UFT does not answer or return phone calls or emails. We are paying those fat cats big bucks and are getting nothing in return. I really hope that the UFT reads these blogs since they need an earful of what we in the trenches are thinking of them.
To 7:44:00---
There is absolutely no way to figure out how many of these opt-outers are UFT members.
I respect PBA President Pat Lynch but he blusters on low pay but his blusters have not allowed the cops to meaningfully break pattern bargaining. Still, he is behind the cops 100% as far as I can tell and I think they feel protected by their union leader. He is light years ahead of Mulgrew as far as supporting his members goes.
If you leave and sign up again, you will have to pay retroactive dues I do believe to be fully reinstated.
And the uft had all the dues in the world in 2005 and 2014 and we got the worst 2 contracts in history. And all the dues in the world to get us 6 observations instead of 2 and get us 7% tda fixed instead of 8.25%. And still waiting for 80% of retro. And watch the next contract. And worse medical...
All well taken points but not having a union or having an even weaker one will make an already bad situation worse. People need to step up.
Step up for a union to be specific.
Got it. Or stop the pain and resign.
Again, you are saying what the uft says...well, its bad, but it will be worse, that cant be the answer. its awful and wont get better. to me, the only choice is to stop dues. we have been burned too often.
Come on James, we are fucked. Nobody is walking out of schools en masse, so many young, uncertified with zero contractual knowledge. We are just the working poor settling for whatever we get from the city, despite,the abuses. By the way, these teachers in general arent too smart.
James, you are actually saying that if a teacher leaves the UFT and then come back they have to pay retroactive dues? What kind of shit is that? Where did you get that info? Seems like all the more reason to leave the UFT and never come back. Save the $1,300 a year and put it in a savings account in case of a 3020a hearing.
Its $1500
It shows the cowardice if the uft that we had a few day window to opt out and now we must wait till next June.
Is the UFT going to pull that double dip again and charge agency fees to the retro check for people who opted out?
4:41, I don't know if paying arrears is a requirement but I am basing my opinion on what Norm told me about when dues check off was suspended after the 1975 strike and teachers had to pay arrears to be back in good standing. I don't know the rules now.
James I am 100% in if the Unity leadership gets us an improvement in working conditions particularly 2 obs.
Unfortunately much of the current system is in State law, and can't be negotiated with the City. One unannounced obs is in State law now. Danielson needs to go too but would have to replaced by a similar rubric. We need someone like Nixon to gut the whole APPR/HEDI system.
Of course they will take double dues, expect about $150 to be taken out. Another scam.
I think I have been ooen that I will be voting for Nixon Thursday.
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