UFT "DOG WHISTLE" ROBO CALLS TO RETIREES TELLING US TO VOTE

My home phone has been bombarded with robo-calls the last few days telling my wife and me to vote in the UFT election that is ongoing.

The call for active teachers (my wife) is from an anonymous voice and it is basically impartial. It does say that we are the strongest and largest union in the country that needs you now. Then the voice says that we need you to cast your vote and that turning out matters to demonstrate the strength of our union and that we vote. The implication is that we are the strongest and largest because of our democracy. I give this call a fairly neutral rating.

However, the message from Retired Teacher's Chapter Chapter Leader Tom Murphy in his robo-call to retirees is not very neutral at all. I have received the call three days in a row. It may as well have been a Mulgrew/Unity campaign ad. It starts with Murphy's recognizable voice and then the reminder about the ongoing election. Murphy then praises the UFT as one of the only unions in the country that allows its retired members to vote for the entire leadership of the union. The praise then turns to scare tactics as Murphy tells retirees to "vote as if your economically secure life depends on it. It does." This is a loud political dog whistle if ever there was one to vote for Mulgrew.

He may as well have said that we have to vote not to let those lefties from MORE or New Action or those Solidarity people get a hold of your pension and then you may end up broke.

Could you imagine Governor Andrew Cuomo calling us with taxpayer money on election day telling us to vote in the election as if our economically secure life depends on it? The non Democrats would go nuts. That is the equivalent of what is going on here. Murphy is actually on the ballot for a Convention Delegate for AFT/NYSUT position and he is making robo-calls.

I have said many times that the UFT Election is a highly sophisticated rigged procedure designed so that Unity Caucus will always win but appear democratic. Opposition groups and candidates are allowed an ad in the NY Teacher once every three years and an email. That exposure, or lack thereof, would never be sufficient to answer the three questions of politics from the electorate that every candidate needs a yes response to in order to have any chance of winning:

1-Do they know you?

2-Do they like you?

3-Do they trust you?

People as UFT politically savvy as Norm Scott and I even vote for the ones we know and like.

For example from Norm's EdNotes endorsement for President:

President: Lydia Howrilka, Solidarity 

I like Mulgrew a lot more than you would think. I've had almost no contact with him personally, but get a kick out of him. If we were in a different world I could sit down and have a beer with him. But I can't vote for him.

After some thought, including considering not voting for president, my vote goes to Solidarity's Lydia Howrilka who showed great energy in running against Mulgrew and also bravery in taking on this task while fighting for tenure.

I first met Lydia 6 years ago at the Portelos hearings. She was discontinued, which in almost all cases means the death of a career. I've never seen anyone put up the fight to stay in the system Lydia has. I also grew to like Lydia who attended some ICE meetings and made some passionate comments about why she was active in the union.

He knows her and likes her. I was considering burning the ballot since retirees should vote for a vice president but not the President who represents active people but I got to know Lydia too and many in the Solidarity crew and had no problem voting for them. (This is me speaking, not ICEUFT.) We have to work within the rules that exist, not the ones that are fair so I voted as did my wife.

If you don't think the election is a joke, check out the page on the ballot for the Functional (non-teaching) Executive Board. Nineteen candidates for nineteen spots and all from Unity. I have to vote as if my economically secure future depends on it Mr. Murphy? Yeah right!

For Unity to have to resort to political dog whistle robo-calls to retirees when they know they have every advantage, including being the only ones on the ballot for hundreds of positions, is rather abhorrent.

I did not vote for any Unity candidates. It is basically a morally bankrupt political machine and anyone who runs with them is just feeding it and the corporate Democratic Party interests our union endorses that in so many ways hurt teachers and public schools.

The UFT ballot for Functional (non-teaching) Executive Board. Notice all of the candidates are from Unity.