Sunday, November 03, 2019

RETIREE LUMP SUM PAYMENT FOUR WEEKS LATE FOR ME

This is from Gene Mann's The Organizer:

Retiree Lump Sum Payments

The Lump Sums for Retirees went out at 2 P.M. on October 25.

Retirees can get their stubs by calling 212. 291.2649
They will also available online at


The Contract says we should get our portion of the money we are owed for work we did from 2009-2011 on October 1. The UFT allows the DOE to pay active people on October 15. Retirees have to wait until October 25 for money contractually obligated to be paid on October 1. When October 25 came around, there was no lump sum payment put in my bank account. There was nothing I could do about it.

I was angry even though I did not need the money to pay immediate bills. I was lied to again by DOE and UFT. UFT did say not to worry the money would be there Monday, October 28 and it was. I waited ten years and an extra four weeks for money without a dime of interest.

My wife, thank goodness, told me to relax on the  25th as this was only a minor indignity. She was right but I am tired of DOE-UFT indignities that never seem to end. October 1 should mean October 1, not October 28. Oh, and  we will wait even longer for the per session and coverage lump sums.

I want a real union.

On the other hand, I was surprised to see no double dipping on union dues this year from my lump sum. Go figure.

53 comments:

Anonymous said...

They double dipped from the current teachers, except for me, I opted out as of July 1. As you just stated, another uft screwup and screwjob. Keep paying them for not doing the job they have. What hapens if I dont have a lesson plan tomorrow?

Anonymous said...

Good for you i saw triple dipping....

James Eterno said...

I want a real union, not no union.

Anonymous said...

You will never get a real union in the UFT no matter how much you pray because all you have left are prayers. I'm finally coming around to the point of view that if you can't have a real union why pay for a phony one?

James Eterno said...

I am eternally optimistic. I may not be around to see it but NYC teachers will some day have a real union that fights with everything it has for all of them and for the kids. That is a goal worth fighting for.

Anonymous said...

Nah, no they won't.

Anonymous said...

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me for 18 years, I pull my dues.

James Eterno said...

I fight harder.

Anonymous said...

We have no union. How else can you explain how out of control the schools are? I mean, these are schools, we are teachers, students do nothing and obviously dont learn. I earned my lesson. Babysit and go home and suffer.

James Eterno said...

We do have a union. It may not stand up for us very well but it is a union and we are better off with it then without it.

Anonymous said...

Everything that goes on shows we dont. I could list everything, but why bother?

James Eterno said...

$60,000 to $120,000 per year, no premium healthcare and a pension and a fixed rate TDA with guaranteed 7% interest (I know it used to be 8.25%. You get that without a union? Uh, no way. With a better union, we could improve our working conditions. We really could. The path has already been shown throughout this country. It is up to us, not Michael Mulgrew, to follow it.

Anonymous said...

Verbal and physical abuse, worsening medical, worsening conditions, below historical raises, retro held for 11 years with on interest, worse tda %, worse retirement tiers, devil admin, racist chancellor, no discipline code, fake grades and joke attendance policy, students graduating hs unable to read and write. How many quit in the first few years? Why?

Anonymous said...

136 is right on. $62 saved every check. And there is much more daily abuse. Nobody has any idea how bad it really is. It is giving people nervous breakdowns, depression, very serious lifelong problems. Who do we complain to when uft wont help.

Anonymous said...

Dont forget open market fraud, ignored hardship travel policy...im only waiting 20 years.

Anonymous said...

Same stupid comments from same anti union teachers or trolls. The teacher who can't get a transfer. I can understand why nobody wants him. Leave the union. Save your 30 pieces of silver a check. We are better off without you.

Anonymous said...

I am saving it. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Ok 356, so I guess they are doing a great job. All those things listed, and the fact that everything is getting worse doesn't matter. Teachers take this job and disappear with 5 years across the board. Seems like a life goal to get abused for 35 years

Anonymous said...

James even says they are lousy, but wants us to keep paying.

Anonymous said...

Now, after all the complaints, we have a new one, retirees didnt get paid. I guess 11 years wasnt waiting enough. And we are anti union trolls? I wish I had a union I could pay for that was worth something.

Anonymous said...

Don't forget disgusting admins who don't follow contract, take preps for staff development with not so much as a thank you, calling teachers in to ask why they need time off to vote when it is a state law? Disgusting! One more year until the final payment and then watch the mass exodus from the UFT and DOE.

Anonymous said...

Really? Why doesn't anybody want him? Pretty prejudiced comment.

Anonymous said...

Let's face it. The UFT will fundamentally take the money and run with any salary package they can accept and not worry very much about improving working conditions (and imagine if we don't have to worry about negotiating for health care - but what would happen to all those jobs at the UFT welfare fund?)

James Eterno said...

I will ask the same question I repeatedly ask the folks that want to leave the union: Can you come up with one, just one, example of where there was a mass exodus of union members and then employee working conditions improved?

Chicago and LA strikes were game changers. We need a real union, not withdrawal from it. Dedham showed a successful strike can happen even in a liberal state where public employee strikes are illegal.

I will keep trying and won't be discouraged because of anti union comments from anonymous people.

Now please answer my question intelligently. Thank you.

James Eterno said...

Oh and NYC is in better shape financially than Chicago or LA.

Anonymous said...

Can you show me why I should keep paying after they keep screwing me? This job should be a million times better.

Anonymous said...

So you admit nyc is in better shape than other places, yet we keep getting ripped to shreds and the other cities got double the raise, and I should, in turn, pay the uft for getting me many bad contracts and destroying my career. No thanks.

Anonymous said...

Remember this? I would pay when my union does nothing? Nah.

Meanwhile back in NYC, what looks like one of the only militant unions left, Transport Workers Union Local 100, held a massive rally yesterday. They have gone five months without a contract, not almost five years like us, and they are angry. They are also threatening action. TWU International leader John Samuelson is quoted in the Daily News article on the rally.

Anonymous said...

They have no answers. Some of the self hating teachers or whatever they are who comment here have the same political outlook as the right wing idiots at The Chicago Board of Trade who spit on Chicago's striking teachers from b uildings as they marched by. That is who you are dealing with.

Anonymous said...

Do you have an answer as to why our union treats us so badly and you let them get away with it?

James Eterno said...

I have run for union office,been elected and do my damndest to make sure members are supported. However, I can't help anonymous members.

Do you guys get it that this is a PRO-UNION dissident blog?

Anonymous said...

I didn't mean you James, I meant 6:18.

James Eterno said...

Okay.

Anonymous said...

dont go down that road of needing time off to vote. we work less than 7 hours a day. polls are open from 6am to 9pm and this year we have early voting. election day is already an easy day for teachers. i know its a state law but be realistic, its not intended for or union, but rather for those who work 12 or 24 hour shifts, i.e. FDNY or nurses

Anonymous said...

dont go down that road of needing time off to vote. we work less than 7 hours a day. polls are open from 6am to 9pm and this year we have early voting. election day is already an easy day for teachers. i know its a state law but be realistic, its not intended for or union, but rather for those who work 12 or 24 hour shifts, i.e. FDNY or nurses

Anonymous said...

The UFT has not been on our side fora long time. They side with abusive administrators like Dwarka who knows how to destroy a school.

Anonymous said...

I requested the 3 hours off. The uft and doe have fucked me backwards and forwards. I, as many others, will take 3 hours off if available.

Anonymous said...

TO 12:31- YOU ARE WRONG. HOW DARE YOU TELL US NOT TO TAKE OFF TIME TO VOTE. THE LAW WAS INTENDED FOR EVERYONE. WORK 12 HOUR DAYS???? I KNOW MANY TEACHERS WHO DO WILL ALL THE PAPERWORK WE DO. WE HAVE FAMILY COMMITMENTS DISTANCE TO TRAVEL TO WORK. THE BULLSHIT THAT WE DON'T NEED IT BECAUSE WE ARE TEACHERS IS JUST THAT BULLSHIT! I APLOGIZE TO EVERYONE ELSE FOR MY LANGUAGE BUT I MUST CALL A SPADE A SPADE. I WAS CALLED INTO MY PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE ANY QUESTIONED-HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO VOTE? WHERE DO I LIVE? I CAN'T ANSWER HOW LONG IT WILL TAKE BECAUSE THERE WILL MORE PEOPLE VOTING. DID I CALL MY POS UNION ABOUT THIS? NO
I CALLED THE GOVERNORS OFFICE! YES, THE MAN HIMSELF WHO WANTS US TO VOTE! HOW DOES CALLING TEACHERS INTO A PRINICPALS OFFICE ENCOURAGING ME TO VOTE? IT DOES NOT! THIS GOES AGAINST WHAT THE GOVERNOR WANTED. HE NEEDS TO BE INFORMED. YOU CAN EMAIL HIM YOUR CONCERNS SO THAT NEXT YEAR WE ARE GIVEN A DEFINED TIME LIKE SCHOOLS WITH GOOD PRINCIPALS GET. WE CAN CREATE THE CHANGE THAT OUR UNION REFUSES TO DO
https://www.governor.ny.gov/content/governor-contact-form

I don't agree with everything the governor does or stands for but he clearly wants us to vote. Tell him he needs to set a time for people who do the same job in the same school system do take off to vote. No questions allowed. Free of intimidation. We can create change.

Anonymous said...

Can we protest the limitless absences students have? I am the only staff member in the school that holds any standard.

Anonymous said...

Just read Arthur’s minutes. A teacher goes there and pleads for help and is told, by LeRoy Barr - the dude that will be crowned after Mike , it’s not a Q and A session or in other words go fuck yourself and get ready for the ATR pool or unemployment line. Then a founding member of the UFT praises the cardboard men and says he knows we ready for a strike (but hopes it never comes to that) and it’s was about DIGNITY. The UFT went against the UN resolution on the human right to strike and wouldn’t vote on teachers being able to do so. Dignity? The UFT has allowed everyone to shit on teachers, do nothing for anyone (but themselves) and lock out all that want positive change. Shankar must be rolling in his grave.

Anonymous said...

What is a reasonable amount of absences when the 1st MP had 25 days. States says under 90% attendance is chronic. There were students getting 65, 80, 85...with 15 absences. That is outrageous. But I get blamed because I'm the only one who fails them.

James Eterno said...

I could easily defend those non passing grades if someone is absent for 15 days in a 25 day marking period. That student missed 60% of the classwork-class participation points. I assume they missed homework too for those days and whatever tests/quizzes that were assigned. There are not enough points left, even with some makeup, to get a passing grade. Contract says our grades are to be respected.

Anonymous said...

But they say I am the only one, which is true, and that the other teachers said it is ok because "I did all my work."

Anonymous said...

What about 8 absences? That is a third. You are telling me a student can be absent 1 out of 3 days?

Anonymous said...

you funny james, thanks for the laugh as I sit here trying not to fall asleep during pd because our great union that we should all be thankful for and continue paying dues too agreed way back when to take away election day. thank you uft

Anonymous said...

Students refuse to acknowledge that this a school with rules. They constantly say "I can do whatever I want, go wherever I want and nobody can stop me." This is common all over the city. Until we enforce simple rules, and start tossing students out, this will not change. Obviously, that will never happen. Things will never change. In life, you have to be civil. We are nowhere near that. The inmates are running the asylum. As a result, we have no attendance policy, work policy, standards, and it is the easy pass attitude.

Anonymous said...

James tosses gasoline on the fire with almost every post and then calls on people to spit on the fire to put it out instead of letting it burn.

Anonymous said...

On my way home as of 1 pm

Anonymous said...

Face facts, there are no standards, we are all in diploma mills, students have learned nothing, have no respect for others, but that is good enough.

James Eterno said...

No, no, no 12:08, I want all of us to get together and make this a better union, not just burn it to the ground.

Anonymous said...

Not happening. We are now locked in to indefinite 1%-2% raises, plus givebacks...

Anonymous said...

We have time to start a union.

Anonymous said...

The UFT leadership will never allow you to make this a better union and if ever threatened with losing power they will burn it to the ground first before they'll let you have it.