I listened to the press conference this morning but I was doing something so I couldn't do a live blog but here is my brief synopsis with some initial commentary.
The City-Department of Education will have to agree to the UFT's three-point plan to open schools with lots and lots of COVID-19 testing and antibody testing or the UFT will not have members go into the buildings. At first, UFT President Michael Mulgrew only said it would be individual schools we would not enter (He should have done this in March) but later he clarified and stated that it could be all of the schools and all along he stated that it would be a job action as defined by the Taylor Law.
He said all of this a little too confidently for me not to believe he cleared it with the Governor's people (or someone in a high up place) beforehand. Maybe I'm too cynical but not a word about Cuomo who also authorized schools to reopen was uttered all morning. The unpopular Mayor de Blasio,who is a very easy target, was the villain.
I think as a commenter on the previous post stated that he should have come to the membership first and not the press about a job action so it is hard to take his declaration too seriously. That said, I will take the militancy any way I can get it and I guess I have to up Mulgrew's grade from Monday on militancy.
It looks like there is no possible way the city can meet Mulgrew's demands before September 10 so now it is up to Mayor Bill de Blasio to decide on the next move. My guess is that a delay in the start of the school year is forthcoming and then at some point later in September the city and UFT will be declaring certain schools free and clear so they will open.
The doctors with Mulgrew stated that we can only minimize the COVID-19 threat in opening school buildings. Opening buildings may just increase the spread even with the UFT conditions. In all probability, there will be new infections caused by schools being opened.
Update- This is from Gothamist to prove the preceding point:
Speaking on WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show on Tuesday, Dr. Irwin Redlener warned that schools are "going to become hotbeds for the infections to take hold again and spread through the community."
"It's almost inevitable if we are in fact going to even hold some classes in real time in real classrooms," he added.
Earlier in the month, Redlener penned an op-ed in the Daily Beast in which he argued that schools should not reopen until point-of-care rapid testing and a vaccine are available.
"Until then, most school systems should hit the pause button rather than run that cruel experiment," he wrote.
A widely respected authority on pediatrics and public health who works at Columbia University, Redlener has informally advised the mayor throughout the pandemic.
All remote learning, until there is a widely available vaccine or a remedy is what my kids will be doing.
Why doesn't Mulgrew ask the members what they think are the acceptable risks?
Back to the presser, the other part that struck me is the UFT is now admitting that they want to be and are demanding to be co-managers of the school system as they would need to certify school buildings safe. I'm okay with UFT inspections but I believe some here won't trust them at all.
Since there has been absolutely no preparation for a strike but it is now on the table, are the members en masse willing to stay out and risk the penalties?
Updated Conclusion: I am really interested in your thoughts. If de Blasio calls Mulgrew's bluff and the UFT calls a safety strike, I will be supporting my Union. I want to make that clear.
There's a reason NYC continues to keep its curve crush: everybody died. There's a reason Texas and Florida have significantly lower death per million rate than NY. That's not covid-denial. That is simple fact.
ReplyDeleteI was busy so I wasn't paying complete attention. I did not hear him say strike. I heard a lot of things have to go according to our plan. But I didn't hear an "or else".
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I just received approval for my accommodation. I applied the end of July, if people are wondering about average time for responses.
I think the Taylor law is ripe for a legal challenge concerning public health crises if the union can document everything.
ReplyDelete"This work is about the needs of the people of this city especially in this crisis,”
ReplyDelete@nycmayor
said about his wife's 14-member, $2 million staff.
McCray, who is considering a run for Brooklyn borough president, has doubled her staff in the past two years, including the recent addition of a $70,000 videographer who captured her baking ginger snaps during the peak of the city’s pandemic in April. The increase was first reported by The City.
ReplyDeleteDont worry, all good. De Blasio cited his wife’s work on mental health without naming her $1.25 billion initiative, ThriveNYC. The program has come under fire from numerous critics for its lack of metrics and transparency.
ReplyDeleteThe mayor also mentioned McCray’s leadership of a coronavirus racial inequality task force.
“The task force on racial inclusion and equity … has been moving big policy changes literally with the purpose of redistributing resources to the communities that are most affected” by COVID-19, de Blasio said.
Bulls&%t
DeleteHere's my take: whatever Mulgrew said today was discussed with Deblasio and Carranza in advance (or perhaps Cuomo, as you stated). It was agreed to before the presser that he would say “strike” to garner headlines. So either Mulgrew is in their pockets far deeper than I ever imagined, or this was lay the groundwork to help Deblasio save face when we have a remote start.
ReplyDeleteI didn't find any of it particularly beneficial. I have issues with the idea of some schools opening and others not, because that raises huge equity issues. I had a glimmer of hope for a full remote start, now I feel that we are definitely going back. OR, perhaps Mulgrew's plan is so complex, and requires so many pieces of the puzzle to come together, he's hoping for a remote start to buy us some time to ensure schools are safe. As usual, these events leave me with more questions than answers.
NOT only did he not discuss or announce to membership first. we did not even get a heads up like email, channel, time for press conference. I am all for a strike on this issue. If the building is not safe for some; it is not safe for all. I would love to know the latest number of parents choosing remote, too.
ReplyDeleteIt's a strong move by Mulgrew to threaten strike. It was a good performance by him and the press conference as a whole. I say that as someone who has never been pro-Mulgrew. Each speaker stated their case very well from all perspectives although while there is blame all around I can do without the anti-Trump stuff since this is a Di Blasio and Carranza issue.
ReplyDeleteBut as this blog has shown the lasting takeaway is the threat of a strike. It's a major gambit but I 100% agree with James, I am not sure the members are willing, especially with fines threatened. Remember 2 for 1 pay loss.
For some of us 6 days on strike would equal our retro. If we don't want to give back our retro why would we make a decision to do something that would cost us the equivalent with probably no per session opportunities on the horizon. He put a lot of eggs in the strike basket with what I believe is very little weight behind it. If September 10th comes along, nothing changes, and there is no strike I am not sure how Mulgrew comes back from that.
I’m pro-strike until ALL are fully remote. I received my accommodation but I want Equity for ALL school stakeholders.
ReplyDeleteI don’t know much about the Corey Johnson but His comment leads me to believe he’s an idiot as well.
Cuomo, DiBlasio, Carranza, Randi And Mulgrew are corrupt.
We are on our own in this. We need to form caravans!
MY THOUGHTS: There is no secret plan to close the schools between the mayor, the governor, or the UFT. The fact is that DeBlasio WANTS to open the schools 100%. He is currently spending millions upon millions of dollars to prepare for the opening in September. We are going in unless Cuomo puts a stop to it or there is a rank and file led sickout. However, even a sickout will not last too long since the city will deem that a job action and will take 2 days pay for every 1 day of action. The majority of NYC teachers can't afford such a financial hit. I find it quite amusing that folks think that there is some kind of secret deal going on behind the scenes to close the schools so somebody high up can "save face". Why put on such a huge dog and pony show as well as spend millions of dollars to prepare to open schools when the easy way would be just to close them? (Especially since every other major school system in the country is going remote)
ReplyDeleteNo wavering. If the union calls us to go on strike to save our lives, we go without question. End of story. The life of each one of us is more important than your retro money and any penalty. I will stand with Mulgrew if he really means it.
ReplyDeleteJames you say we go without question. Not wanting to strike and not believing in striking are 2 different things and this union seems as divided like our country is divided on politics. There seems to be no middle ground. And don't think we are united. We all have family members who are struggling so losing money is not just affecting us but our loved ones. And many of us work second jobs that are closed as well.
ReplyDeleteAnd a big difference being forgotten is a strike is not just about a fine or our retro. It could mean the end of a career as it is illegal and jobs can be terminated. It's rare but with 22,000 layoffs looming we are basically inviting them to terminate us since we have no protection from an illegal strike and don't think they will run out of teachers because there are plenty looking for work just out of college who know technology better than our older teachers and fit the current narrative for fairness and equity better than older teachers do as well.
You will see...they will call our bluff, threaten to our jobs, follow through by swapping out high salaries for step 1 salaries, reshape the doe with inexpensive employees under new tiers that will benefit the city and those striking will be home wondering why the rest of us are still paying dues to Mulgrew.
Ha! The same idiot who tells us we should withhold dues because Mulgrew isn't militant enough now says we shouldn't strike because we'd lose too much money.
ReplyDeleteIf Mulgrew calls for a strike, the membership is going to vote with him: the Unity folks will do what ever he asks and those who can't stand him will say that he's FINALLY grown some balls.
After today, I can't see us opening September 10. Mulgrew has backed himself into a corner by making demands that the city can't meet. Is a strike imminent? No, it won't even come to that. The CSA, tons of individual principals who are willing to put their names on paper, opposition caucuses within the UFT raising money for legal action, and much of the NYC political class are with us. Cuomo's not with us, but the fact that he can't control his deep-seeded infantile urge to get into pissing contest after pissing contest with de Blasio means he'll quietly support us. The mayor can't stand up to all this political pressures and will fold like a deck of cards (especially when enough pressure from his advisors builds up to finally convince him that the alternative of opening anyway is too risky given that any problems that occur in any schools will be a disaster for his future political persuits).