The Official Blog of the Independent Community of Educators, a caucus of the United Federation of Teachers
Thursday, November 14, 2019
LITTLE ROCK TEACHERS WAGE ONE DAY STRIKE OVER COLLECTIVE BARGAINING WHILE CHICAGO TEACHERS VOTE ON THEIR CONTRACT (Update Saturday: CTU Members Ratify Contract)
Teacher strike fever across the USA shows no sign of letting up. Today, it spread to Little Rock, Arkansas.
From the Associated Press via the Arkansas Democrat Gazette: Little Rock teachers are striking for the first time in more than three decades over the state’s control of the local school system and a panel’s decision to strip their union’s collective bargaining rights. Members of the Little Rock Education Association are picketing across the 23,000-school district on Thursday in what’s being billed as a one-day strike to protest Arkansas’ takeover of the local system. Arkansas has run the school district since 2015, when it was taken over because of low scores at several schools. Union leaders have left open the possibility of the strike stretching beyond Thursday if full local control isn’t restored. The district has said schools will remain open Thursday. The strike follows the state Board of Education’s decision to strip the union of its bargaining power. The strike is the first in Little Rock since 1987.
We of course support our Little Rock colleagues.
Meanwhile, in Chicago, they are voting on their proposed new contract that contains salary increases that are not too shabby. The Chicago Sun-Times printed the new proposed salary schedules today. It looks like they are trying to get a yes vote by telling the public the teachers are well paid. Here is an excerpt of the salary schedule for teachers with a BA degree:
Even with the substantial increases, I am betting that the contract in Chicago will receive a higher percentage of no votes than the 14% no vote from NYC teachers in the 2018 early UFT contract referendum. In case you are wondering, when the UFT contract ends in 2022, the starting salary for a NYC teacher with a BA will be $61,070 and with ten years it will be $86,280. I know salaries improve in NYC as you work more years and gain more education credits and degrees but my point is Chicago is competitive on salaries while the cost of living is much lower there. In the final analysis, they have a higher standard of living with an activist union. Do NYC teachers need to organize a real union? Update Saturday: My prediction was right but not by much. I just saw on Twitter that the CTU contract was ratified by an 81% to 19% margin with 80% counted. After the 2012 strike, 78% approved. If NYC ever got a 16% raise over 5 years, it would receive a 99% yes vote. We have a quote from CTU President Jesse Sharkey from the Chicago Tribune: "Do I feel like we got everything we deserved in schools? No. And I hope our members aren’t satisfied, either. We live in one of the richest cities in the wealthiest nation in the world, and it’s time Chicago officials start investing in the future of our city — our children,” he said. I just totally respect that fighting spirit they have out in Illinois! P.S. Please no comments on dropping out of the UFT as a protest response. I have answered the same comment over and over. Nobody has refuted my argument that there are no examples in history of workers dropping union representation en masse and then achieving better working conditions. I do not want to spend another minute of time arguing the same old issue. Scabs are welcome to start their own blog. Union dissidents are welcome here as are any and all union supporters.
Jacobin piece by Eric Blanc on what's happening in Little Rock identifies the fusion of the struggle for local control - democracy - and union rights. One note: Teachers unions and labor generally didn't use their political muscle to oppose state takeovers of school districts serving low-income black and brown parents. This new alliance is correcting that mistake but we should note what cudda, shudda been done.
That could include mayoral takeovers like in NYC and Chicago as well as state takeovers Lois.
My thought is that every single person who has a job working in the UFT offices should be required to work at least 50% of their day in a school AND be rated under Danielson. (That includes Mike Mulgrew) Let's see how they feel about walking around with a target on their backs for a bit.
The fact that no group has achieved better working conditions after junking their union is not really a good argument against stopping the dues. There would be immense and widespread satisfaction upon seeing the UFT staffers actually having to work for a living. Call it addition by subtraction. Cutting off your nose to spite your face. Perhaps,but sometimes a strategic amputation has a distinctly curative effect
You said it prehistoric it is cutting off your nose to spite your face. I can cite precedent like Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio that became right to work and then had many defections from unions. Working conditions got worse as a result. Are you saying the UFT would get the message and fight harder as a smaller union? Where is the precedent where that has happened? Anywhere? It does not exist. However, where members have taken back their unions by organizing and winning elections,Chicago and LA for example, conditions have improved. Look it up.
I am not naive. Winning a UFT election is virtually impossible because no dissident group could possibly get to retirees all over the country to answer the three questions from politics 101 concerning voters: Do they know you? Do they like you? Do they trust you?
We need to start by winning over the teachers. That is possible although the odds against are astronomical without a united opposition. If we won over teachers but the UFT still refused to change, we could then and only then demand a certification vote. The UFT does not have a divine right to be the teachers' collective bargaining agent.
Without organizing and just complaining, dropping dues is a dead end as I have argued over and over here. It is also extremely selfish from anonymous commenters.
As for seeing staffers back in the classroom, I would rather see real accountability in a real democratic union.
I kind of broke my own rule on taking defector comments but prehistoric made a new argument so I printed it and responded. Now back to original position.
YahooFINANCE Teacher morale has 'reached a tipping point,' new survey shows
With work stoppages cropping up in all corners of the U.S., it’s clear that many American teachers are in a bad way. The sunny optimism that likely propelled them into the field is rapidly fading as the result of low salaries, insufficient funding, and the often complicated social-emotional needs of their students. This is according to the Educator Confidence Index from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMHC).
The report shows that teacher optimism has fallen dramatically, from 50% in 2018 to 34% in 2019.
The index is a part of the educational publisher’s fifth annual Educator Confidence Report, which is done in conjunction with YouGov. The report and survey of more than 1,300 K-12 teachers and administrators reveals that teacher optimism and confidence has decreased significantly since 2015.
That is exactly what I have been saying and James says I am wrong. A. it is the only option I see. B. it gets them off their asses. C. It shows we have a voice. D. It says if things keep going this way, slowly but surely, we are all out, which can lead to change.
I opened the door so I had to put 8:28 through. Your argument falls apart when we look at the Wisconsin experience.
From CNN https://money.cnn.com/2017/11/17/news/economy/wisconsin-act-10-teachers/index.html:
Along with diminished leverage with school boards, teachers have seen lower pay, reduced pension and health insurance benefits and higher turnover as educators hop from one district to another in search of raises, a new report finds.
Further down:
Nobody disputes, however, that Act 10 had a devastating impact on Wisconsin's unions, which went from representing 14.1% of workers in the state in 2011 to 9% in 2016.
Weaker unions with fewer members lead to lower wages and decreased benefits for workers. Do you just refuse to look at the evidence? Where's yours that dropping out helps workers?
I am glad that almost all of the UFT members are sticking with their union. We learned from Wisconsin. Now let's try to fix the union.
MY POINT IS THAT THERE IS NO OTHER OPTION. It is either keep paying, embarrass myself and keep getting the same...OR...Save the money, hope that produces change. Not gonna keep paying and have them laugh at me double. Been there, done that, for 20 years. The only solace I have is to se no dues taken every check. And you still have not shown me that there will ever be any stand taken by staff. Bottom line, uft not changing, I'm not changing, I stand by choice. There is no magical takeover that you speak of.
You refute nothing I said. It will make all of us worse off if your view catches fire and teachers pull out en masse. Please, this is a pro-union blog. Go comment and read somewhere else. We have had the debate. You have told your side that has been printed. Unless you have something new to add, I want to move on and talk to people who will pay their fair share. Anti union people have plenty of places to go.
If I may chime in...You keep saying that it could be worse. We agree. That is still not good enough. I appreciate the fact that I have medical coverage...But it is getting worse and more costly. I appreciate the raises...But they are way to small. I appreciate my "job protection"...But there is still no discipline code, we still get abused by admin and students, and many teachers, like almost half, quit in the first 5 years, and there is no telling what this job does to your life span. There is also no hardship travel clause, even though there is one. There is also no seniority, even though there is. I appreciate the 7% TDA...Which has gotten worse because of this union. I could go on. I think we just have different ways to deal with it. You keep saying to band together. How long have you been saying that? It hasn't and won't happen. I am one person. What about the other 100,000? That is MY evidence that nothing will change. My evidence is that I have paid for an entire career, as has everybody else, and with 100% dues, we have lost all above and more. I must now vote with my pocketbook.
James, sometimes I think you are just, for whatever reason, putting on an act, but you are in Mulgrew's back pocket. Pay their fair share for what? You go on and on about how Chicago has a 42% lower cost of living, yet just got a 5% plus raise per year, and they max out at 14 years. You go on and on about organization. You have the forum. Why hasn't it happened? How long are will you keep saying we are going to do this? When will we walk out? When will we step up? You get and at the 2 or 3 people who opted out when you have every other person in the city still paying, and we are still waiting for demands to be made and met. ultimately, we all want the same thing, more money, better conditions, etc. But you seem to keep thinking it will happen when others dont. Again, you have the forum. Lead the way. Prove me wrong. If you are correct, better for all of us. I cant just sit around for another 5-10-20 years saying it will happen eventually. Trust me, i have gone around as an ATR, talking about how bad the contracts have been, the retro, the small raises...Nobody knows, nobody cares.
Agree with 348 and 315. Its better than nothing is not the answer. And wait for what? Retirement or resignation or death or heart attack? The proof is kind of in the pudding. its kind of like when they told me in my 1st year that I will get a transfer eventually, im in year 18, still waiting. I am the sucker.
Jeff and Eric, Pay your fair share so we don't end up like Wisconsin. I made the point on what will happen if massive amounts of people pull out. The evidence supports me. Nothing good will happen. It can get worse but it can also get better.
I have been a member of the opposition to Mulgrew-Randi for 24 years and watched firsthand as conditions worsened and UFT did next to nothing in response. Their claim is the political times require their approach which I strongly disagree with.
We did everything possible to stop Jamaica HS from closing. We were a strong union school. I know what a mobilized group can do and how Joel Klein had to shut us up. I could have cursed the UFT then but I realized how we need to strengthen the union, not kill it. I then went to a school where they didn't need to have a union consciousness because of a caring principal. Now if they ever need to stand up for themselves, they at least have a union structure and contract to use. No I don't want to go back to square one.
Complaining here in comments is a waste of time if you aren't going to organize. If forty or fifty people wanted to build an opposition and spread the word, I am more than willing to be a part of it. I agree that it is difficult as there is no union consciousness in many schools but one never knows when the teachers in NYC will assert themselves. I still believe it will happen. I saw many hopeful signs over the years but it just never spread wide enough.
Leaving the union accomplishes nothing but making it even weaker.
I opened the door on this topic. I would like to shut it again so if you have nothing to add to the debate, I again request that we move on.
All us collectively are the union. It isn't an insurance company where you pay a premium for a service and then if you don't like the service, you stop paying the premiums. A union is an organization of workers. I know it is cliche but you are the union, not Michael Mulgrew. If we can't convince our colleagues that it's in their interest to build a better union, then that is on us as much as them. I keep trying.
Churchill (no Churchill bashing comments please Bronx ATR) said it best:
"Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never — in nothing, great or small, large or petty..."
That is exactly what I have been saying and James says I am wrong. A. it is the only option I see. B. it gets them off their asses. C. It shows we have a voice. D. It says if things keep going this way, slowly but surely, we are all out, which can lead to change.
You know all this would be possible if all you guys leaving the union would organize - stand up proudly and publicly declare you are pro-union but not this union. Then organize people and have them pay dues to some central organizing group to fight for a better union from the outside - or fight to get another union to come in.
But leaving in dribs and drabs is meaningless and fairly painless for the union with thousands of new people coming in every year and the union getting ahold of them from day one. Unity has a machine to keep people inside other than the freak sideshows like we see on this blog.
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From activist Lois Weiner:
ReplyDeleteJacobin piece by Eric Blanc on what's happening in Little Rock identifies the fusion of the struggle for local control - democracy - and union rights. One note: Teachers unions and labor generally didn't use their political muscle to oppose state takeovers of school districts serving low-income black and brown parents. This new alliance is correcting that mistake but we should note what cudda, shudda been done.
That could include mayoral takeovers like in NYC and Chicago as well as state takeovers Lois.
My thought is that every single person who has a job working in the UFT offices should be required to work at least 50% of their day in a school AND be rated under Danielson. (That includes Mike Mulgrew) Let's see how they feel about walking around with a target on their backs for a bit.
ReplyDeleteCan we strike for grade fraud?
ReplyDeleteThese are the attendance percentages of a student. Just attendance. She passed every class, with grades as high as 88, except mine. Wow.
62%
65%
50%
43%
63%
52%
58%
56%
Teacher strike fever has shown signs of letting up...Here in NYC.
ReplyDeleteAnd you still haven't shown any proof that we are improving in any way.
The fact that no group has achieved better working conditions after junking their union is not really a good argument against stopping the dues. There would be immense and widespread satisfaction upon seeing the UFT staffers actually having to work for a living. Call it addition by subtraction. Cutting off your nose to spite your face. Perhaps,but sometimes a strategic amputation has a distinctly curative effect
ReplyDeleteYou said it prehistoric it is cutting off your nose to spite your face. I can cite precedent like Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio that became right to work and then had many defections from unions. Working conditions got worse as a result. Are you saying the UFT would get the message and fight harder as a smaller union? Where is the precedent where that has happened? Anywhere? It does not exist. However, where members have taken back their unions by organizing and winning elections,Chicago and LA for example, conditions have improved. Look it up.
ReplyDeleteI am not naive. Winning a UFT election is virtually impossible because no dissident group could possibly get to retirees all over the country to answer the three questions from politics 101 concerning voters: Do they know you? Do they like you? Do they trust you?
We need to start by winning over the teachers. That is possible although the odds against are astronomical without a united opposition. If we won over teachers but the UFT still refused to change, we could then and only then demand a certification vote. The UFT does not have a divine right to be the teachers' collective bargaining agent.
Without organizing and just complaining, dropping dues is a dead end as I have argued over and over here. It is also extremely selfish from anonymous commenters.
As for seeing staffers back in the classroom, I would rather see real accountability in a real democratic union.
I kind of broke my own rule on taking defector comments but prehistoric made a new argument so I printed it and responded. Now back to original position.
ReplyDeleteYahooFINANCE
ReplyDeleteTeacher morale has 'reached a tipping point,' new survey shows
With work stoppages cropping up in all corners of the U.S., it’s clear that many American teachers are in a bad way. The sunny optimism that likely propelled them into the field is rapidly fading as the result of low salaries, insufficient funding, and the often complicated social-emotional needs of their students. This is according to the Educator Confidence Index from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMHC).
The report shows that teacher optimism has fallen dramatically, from 50% in 2018 to 34% in 2019.
The index is a part of the educational publisher’s fifth annual Educator Confidence Report, which is done in conjunction with YouGov. The report and survey of more than 1,300 K-12 teachers and administrators reveals that teacher optimism and confidence has decreased significantly since 2015.
That is exactly what I have been saying and James says I am wrong.
ReplyDeleteA. it is the only option I see.
B. it gets them off their asses. C. It shows we have a voice.
D. It says if things keep going this way, slowly but surely, we are all out, which can lead to change.
I opened the door so I had to put 8:28 through. Your argument falls apart when we look at the Wisconsin experience.
ReplyDeleteFrom CNN
https://money.cnn.com/2017/11/17/news/economy/wisconsin-act-10-teachers/index.html:
Along with diminished leverage with school boards, teachers have seen lower pay, reduced pension and health insurance benefits and higher turnover as educators hop from one district to another in search of raises, a new report finds.
Further down:
Nobody disputes, however, that Act 10 had a devastating impact on Wisconsin's unions, which went from representing 14.1% of workers in the state in 2011 to 9% in 2016.
Weaker unions with fewer members lead to lower wages and decreased benefits for workers. Do you just refuse to look at the evidence? Where's yours that dropping out helps workers?
I am glad that almost all of the UFT members are sticking with their union. We learned from Wisconsin. Now let's try to fix the union.
Friday, November 15, 2019 12:05:00 PM
MY POINT IS THAT THERE IS NO OTHER OPTION. It is either keep paying, embarrass myself and keep getting the same...OR...Save the money, hope that produces change. Not gonna keep paying and have them laugh at me double. Been there, done that, for 20 years. The only solace I have is to se no dues taken every check. And you still have not shown me that there will ever be any stand taken by staff. Bottom line, uft not changing, I'm not changing, I stand by choice. There is no magical takeover that you speak of.
ReplyDeleteYou refute nothing I said. It will make all of us worse off if your view catches fire and teachers pull out en masse. Please, this is a pro-union blog. Go comment and read somewhere else. We have had the debate. You have told your side that has been printed. Unless you have something new to add, I want to move on and talk to people who will pay their fair share. Anti union people have plenty of places to go.
ReplyDeleteIf I may chime in...You keep saying that it could be worse. We agree. That is still not good enough. I appreciate the fact that I have medical coverage...But it is getting worse and more costly. I appreciate the raises...But they are way to small. I appreciate my "job protection"...But there is still no discipline code, we still get abused by admin and students, and many teachers, like almost half, quit in the first 5 years, and there is no telling what this job does to your life span. There is also no hardship travel clause, even though there is one. There is also no seniority, even though there is. I appreciate the 7% TDA...Which has gotten worse because of this union. I could go on. I think we just have different ways to deal with it. You keep saying to band together. How long have you been saying that? It hasn't and won't happen. I am one person. What about the other 100,000? That is MY evidence that nothing will change. My evidence is that I have paid for an entire career, as has everybody else, and with 100% dues, we have lost all above and more. I must now vote with my pocketbook.
ReplyDeleteJames, sometimes I think you are just, for whatever reason, putting on an act, but you are in Mulgrew's back pocket. Pay their fair share for what? You go on and on about how Chicago has a 42% lower cost of living, yet just got a 5% plus raise per year, and they max out at 14 years. You go on and on about organization. You have the forum. Why hasn't it happened? How long are will you keep saying we are going to do this? When will we walk out? When will we step up? You get and at the 2 or 3 people who opted out when you have every other person in the city still paying, and we are still waiting for demands to be made and met. ultimately, we all want the same thing, more money, better conditions, etc. But you seem to keep thinking it will happen when others dont. Again, you have the forum. Lead the way. Prove me wrong. If you are correct, better for all of us. I cant just sit around for another 5-10-20 years saying it will happen eventually. Trust me, i have gone around as an ATR, talking about how bad the contracts have been, the retro, the small raises...Nobody knows, nobody cares.
ReplyDeleteAfter 25 yrs I figured out the rubric.
ReplyDeleteEveryone in my class passed with an 80%! Even the LTAs. Kids I never met a single time passed! I'm a fuckin star.....
Agree with 348 and 315. Its better than nothing is not the answer. And wait for what? Retirement or resignation or death or heart attack? The proof is kind of in the pudding. its kind of like when they told me in my 1st year that I will get a transfer eventually, im in year 18, still waiting. I am the sucker.
ReplyDeleteJeff and Eric, Pay your fair share so we don't end up like Wisconsin. I made the point on what will happen if massive amounts of people pull out. The evidence supports me. Nothing good will happen. It can get worse but it can also get better.
ReplyDeleteI have been a member of the opposition to Mulgrew-Randi for 24 years and watched firsthand as conditions worsened and UFT did next to nothing in response. Their claim is the political times require their approach which I strongly disagree with.
We did everything possible to stop Jamaica HS from closing. We were a strong union school. I know what a mobilized group can do and how Joel Klein had to shut us up. I could have cursed the UFT then but I realized how we need to strengthen the union, not kill it. I then went to a school where they didn't need to have a union consciousness because of a caring principal. Now if they ever need to stand up for themselves, they at least have a union structure and contract to use. No I don't want to go back to square one.
Complaining here in comments is a waste of time if you aren't going to organize. If forty or fifty people wanted to build an opposition and spread the word, I am more than willing to be a part of it. I agree that it is difficult as there is no union consciousness in many schools but one never knows when the teachers in NYC will assert themselves. I still believe it will happen. I saw many hopeful signs over the years but it just never spread wide enough.
Leaving the union accomplishes nothing but making it even weaker.
I opened the door on this topic. I would like to shut it again so if you have nothing to add to the debate, I again request that we move on.
I hear you. Just hear me back. I'm sure why you could see why people are discouraged and believe there is no point and no change upcoming.
ReplyDeleteAll us collectively are the union. It isn't an insurance company where you pay a premium for a service and then if you don't like the service, you stop paying the premiums. A union is an organization of workers. I know it is cliche but you are the union, not Michael Mulgrew. If we can't convince our colleagues that it's in their interest to build a better union, then that is on us as much as them. I keep trying.
ReplyDeleteChurchill (no Churchill bashing comments please Bronx ATR) said it best:
"Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never — in nothing, great or small, large or petty..."
Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteThat is exactly what I have been saying and James says I am wrong.
A. it is the only option I see.
B. it gets them off their asses. C. It shows we have a voice.
D. It says if things keep going this way, slowly but surely, we are all out, which can lead to change.
You know all this would be possible if all you guys leaving the union would organize - stand up proudly and publicly declare you are pro-union but not this union. Then organize people and have them pay dues to some central organizing group to fight for a better union from the outside - or fight to get another union to come in.
But leaving in dribs and drabs is meaningless and fairly painless for the union with thousands of new people coming in every year and the union getting ahold of them from day one.
Unity has a machine to keep people inside other than the freak sideshows like we see on this blog.
The freak sideshows here couldn't organize a Chinese Checkers tournament in their classrooms let alone a union. They are selfish scabs.
ReplyDelete