Friday, October 30, 2020

DC37 AGREES TO NO LAYOFFS WITHOUT INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS HAVING TO GIVE UP A DIME

This is from the DC37 blog:

District Council 37, the city’s largest public employee union, has reached a tentative no layoff agreement with the City of New York that would save the jobs of thousands of municipal workers through fiscal year 2021.

The agreement would save the City of New York $164 million by deferring payments to the union’s welfare funds in exchange for no layoffs of DC 37 members in city-funded positions through June 2021. 

The agreement further stipulates that should the City of New York be granted $5 billion in budget relief, the no layoff agreement would be extended through June 30, 2022.

The concessions for the no layoff agreement are explained:

·  The deferral of payments totaling $164 million to the four welfare funds (the DC 37 Benefit Trust, the 372 Severance Related Fund, the SSEU Local 371 Health & Welfare Fund, and the DC 37 Education Fund) will have no impact on the union’s ability to continue to provide benefits to its membership. 

· All parties have agreed to an audit and reconciliation of monies owed during the period of the agreement to be completed no later than May 31, 2021. 

·The City will make contributions in two lump sum payments in September and November of 2021 to the union’s four welfare funds. 

I am no math teacher but something does not seem to compute here. DC 37 is deferring $164 million with no loss of benefits to members in exchange for no layoffs. For a no layoff agreement, the UFT agreed to have us postpone payback of $450 million of money we loaned interest free to the city for work we did back in 2009-2011 from now until the end of July. The UFT is not three times bigger than DC37.  Why are we giving up roughly three times as much money?

Either the city does not owe us nearly as much as they said they did in arbitration or the UFT permitted us to be completely fleeced by the city in the latest agreement President Mulgrew made with the mayor. Something does not add up. 

Also, how is it that individual DC37 members lose nothing while most UFTers are giving up thousands of dollars each for almost another year?  To add more insult, as usual the UFT is double dipping by taking extra dues out of the half retro pay.

Can someone explain to me what I am missing so I can update this post?


134 comments:

Anonymous said...

Could this be the reason my metro seems to be several hundred dollars less than last year. I know it is split into two payments but still the half payment should have been a few hundred higher. Can someone explain where the money went?

Anonymous said...

Thanks to Mulgrew's generosity with our money, the other city workers don't have to give up any money. Works for me.Our union sucks. Not the other ones.

Anonymous said...

I can explain it...Kepp paying dues...Because you are suckers.

Anonymous said...

JUNE 2021 opt out of union dues

Anonymous said...

I think you mean Retro, not Metro. Paying several hundred dollars less for Metro would be great.

Anonymous said...

I think you mean Retro, not Metro. Paying several hundred dollars less for Metro would be great.

Anonymous said...

I have $1200 in transit benefit account. I plan to retire soon. What should I do about this amount of transit benefit money?

Anonymous said...

Give that Transit check money to me. I could use it. In reality, just roll it over to some other tax free account. Ask an accountant.

Anonymous said...

One of our beloved
@PathwaysInTech Assistant Principals has died. We are DEVASTATED and weep for our school community and all NYCDOE schools and families. How many more people have to die unnecessarily?? I hate all of this...

Shelley said...

Deferred payments don't cost a dime? How do you calculate that? That sounds like Mulgrew math to me.

James Eterno said...

"The deferral of payments totaling $164 million to the four welfare funds (the DC 37 Benefit Trust, the 372 Severance Related Fund, the SSEU Local 371 Health & Welfare Fund, and the DC 37 Education Fund) will have no impact on the union’s ability to continue to provide benefits to its membership."

No impact on the union's ability to continue to provide benefits to its membership are the key words. To me that means the welfare funds find other ways to provide the benefits. Do members have to pay more? I asked for help. I will correct. I can't find anything. Please show it to me.

Anonymous said...

Through Mulgrew we have aligned ourselves with murderers - (Cuomo) and thieves (deBlasio). The UFT and teaching in NYC is doomed. Do not doom your soul by voting for any politician or political party that promotes child sacrifice and Black genocide through the pinnacle of evil called abortion.

Anonymous said...

Maybe de blasio was focusing on the covid success in schools. NEW: U.S. sets record for daily coronavirus infections (98,000) amid partisan debate over the covid mortality rate. Deaths are, in fact, rising due to massive fall surge in cases.

Educat said...

9:15
Any rational response to a crisis involves a cost-benefit analysis. A fear-based response, which you appear to be suffering from, is irrational and therefore stupid. There is no doubt that the deaths from this despicable disease are a tragedy, but the cost to locking down society are FAR MORE costly and tragic.
CNN, MSNBC, Etc have done a terrific job gaslighting a large portion of our population. Perhaps you are a devoted viewer.

Anonymous said...

The 98,000 infected today should've just opened the window like Carranza said, right?

Shelley said...

UFT got half its money from De Blah.

And kick the can down the road promises that should come through if Biden wins.
The promise:
It gets the other half from De Blah this summer--July 2021.
UFT gets 3% raise in May--agreed to in the last contract.
No layoffs before summer 2021.

This is what the UFT got.
So far we have half the Retro money.
The raise was agreed to in the contract so we only got what we bargained for, no more, no less.
An agreement to pay us the balance of the retro owed by July 2021 with no interest, but at last De Blah will still be in office, the can wasn't kicked down the road and into another mayor's budget.
And an agreement to no layoffs to July 2021, as we've said, is nothing, as layoffs won't come anyways until the school year is ended.

What did DC 37 get?
They too got a can kicked down the road, but their can is kicked into another mayor's budget. I'd prefer the devil I know to the one I don't.
The savings by delayed payments are not free. So saying it won't cost them a dime is not merely a matter of bad math, it's a matter of ignoring the fact that we don't have any idea how that money is being saved, but we can be sure of one thing, the mayor negotiated no layoffs for savings from workers, so the cost burden will be on the members of D 37 not the city. That Dc#& kicked the can with the mayor into another mayor's term is troubling enough, the fact that we can't calculate where the money is coming from, more troubling, but most troubling of all is the fact that the deal was cut behind closed doors. Where be the input from the workers? Where be the clear calculation that explains what was truly negotiated, how the delayed payments add up to concessions by workers to save the city money.

The only way to save money, as I see it, and protect oneself from backroom deals is to stop paying the dealers.

Anonymous said...

Over the summer Milldew had a master plan that avoid layoffs. It took him about three months to come up with a plan to give us half retro owed so the other half could be spent on something else like this. Does he take us for morons. Lets get real. If this is our leadership we are in trouble. A dog could do better than him. We need to vote him out and get a militant type leader in there.

James Eterno said...

Shelley said:
"The savings by delayed payments are not free. So saying it won't cost them a dime is not merely a matter of bad math, it's a matter of ignoring the fact that we don't have any idea how that money is being saved, but we can be sure of one thing, the mayor negotiated no layoffs for savings from workers, so the cost burden will be on the members of D 37 not the city."

The city is deferring the payments, not cancelling them. The benefits that each DC37 member receives are not changing. How is that not a better deal for their members? I notice you also make no mention of how the UFT is paying 3X more. DC37 came up with savings that won't cost their individual members any loss of benefits now. UFT cost us thousands out of pocket that the individual members are paying. This is an argument for better union leadership, not to stop paying dues.

Tom said...

@10:10 "but the cost to locking down society are FAR MORE costly and tragic". Nonsense. The stimulus was poorly managed, abused, and a pittance. Millionaire Mnuchin had the gall to brag that his wife had absolutely no problem getting her monies very quickly. The lawyers for the rich were the first in line. Those taxpayer dollars could have gone a long way in mitigating the financial hardships.

Next you have a group who steadfastly refused to wear a mask because of a lack of national leadership on this issue. If Trump *really* wanted to open up the schools and businesses to avoid the effects of a "costly and tragic lockdown" maybe he should have done a better job of leading us through this pandemic and negotiating for the second stimulus. Not shutting it down via tweet, then it's back on, then he wants "Nancy to get it to him quick" It's insanity.

Screeching and tweeting that it is "the China Virus", or that "we must be open now!!!" is not a strategy for success.

Anonymous said...

What does 9 month interest for the retro money come to at current rates?
My guess is 1% - $75 but my math could be off.

Anonymous said...

All Trump keeps doing is giving people false hope and telling people what they want to hear. He keeps saying we are rounding the corner. How many corner's does this street have? He says it's getting better, it will go away. You have to be stupid to believe him. He doesn't give any specific plans on how to fight it which is why we are in this situation. He said it was going to go away by Easter, then by summer, then by fall, now it's by end of the year. The way he brainwashes people reminds me of Hitler at Buchenwald.

Anonymous said...

Stop paying Dues in June. Tax Scofflaws are charged an 18% surcharge why not give UFT members an 18% interest on delayed payments.

James Eterno said...

The only thing about this post that is about Trump is that if he loses, stimulus money will start flowing back to states and cities. If he wins reelection, we are truly in trouble financially.

I was hoping for some analysis and discussion of the DC37 no layoff deal compared to UFT's. I disagree with Shelley's take but at least it is on topic. Does anyone else wish to look at the two deals?

Anonymous said...

9 months? 12 years. November 2009.

Anonymous said...

What is to discuss? We got screwed again. Why discuss a done deal that can't be changed? Why keep paying dues for this type of service?

James Eterno said...

But DC37 members pay dues too. The point is we can fix the UFT, not further harm it by dropping out.

Tom said...

James - exactly what analysis are you looking for? You want people to chime in to sling mud at Mulgrew for not getting the exact same deal? DC37 had payments deferred to their welfare fund, while UFT got 1/2 payment retro deferred two weeks out and the other 1/2 in July. So DC37 doesn't have loss of benefits but we did because we have to wait. Again.

You say "The city is deferring the payments, not cancelling them. The benefits that each DC37 member receives are not changing. How is that not a better deal for their members?" How is it a better deal? Our payments weren't cancelled either. Would it have been great if Mulgrew had gone in and demanded that they pay us everything by the 15th as promised, or the 31st? I don't know where you the idea that his being 'militant" or demanding that they pay up was going to result in the city folding to his demands. You weren't upset that he didn't call for a strike, even though most people didn't want to go on strike. They were going to have layoffs, and now there are no layoffs. I would prefer that the UFT fights more for the day-to-day B.S. Was it really a priority that in-person teachers spend time and effort on bulletin boards, that are not being seen by anyone? What about the move to have in-person teachers teach live and remote at the same time (although they claim it's not really live since the live students are also on the computer). Those decisions affect me more than whether DC37 member got payments deferred to their plans while they didn't lose benefits.

Tom said...

correction: you "were" upset that he didn't call for a strike.

Anonymous said...

Only the best, right Mulgrew? DOE hides abysmal attendance numbers amid NYC schools reopening: critics

James Eterno said...

I was upset that the UFT cut a lousy deal to open schools and never asked the members.I am sick of one lousy deal after another, Tom.Contrary to what I think you are implying, I am not strike happy. That said, the realistic threat of a strike has to be in every union's toolkit. It isn't in the UFT's. We need a real union.

Anonymous said...

I have analysis. The Dow Jones was as low as 6,600 when contract started, it is now over 26,500. That would've been substantial. We lost it all for nothing. Retro still not fully paid. I was 29 when this started, I will be 41 at time of final payment.

JP said...

$200k in annual salary and benefits to nurses
Substitutes getting $300 daily plus $500 bonus
Ms. de Blasio burning 1 billion dollars for nonsense
Money for a BLM murals to get Trump mad
How many teachers still in the ATR pool?
How many $900 I-Pads for students who don't even attend remote learning?
How many devices have been destroyed or lost or sold?
How many teachers have classes of 1 or 3?

There is no teacher shortage. There never has been one.

Principals are playing a game. They want to make it look like a shortage so they can hire young teachers. Same old dance.

Second, my school has extra teachers. I’m an appointed teacher and I don’t have a program. I do lunch coverages. Oh, and we have 3 atrs. So, you can’t believe the news. Between de blasio and carranza each day I have to laugh at how inept they are. Either they are dumb or playing a game. I can’t believe they are this dumb. Mulgrew and UFT leadership are the dumb ones who keep getting played.
We are dumber for paying Mulgrew.

Anonymous said...

How can this senile dotard who barely knows what state he’s in and what office he’s running for “shut down the virus”?

JP said...

I will analyze it for you, then tell me how great everything is. Yes, I know we need union benefits, but what has gone on is a travesty and is certainly reason to opt out or decertify.

Now that the 2014 contract has been changed again, with no member input, let us review...

12 years of retro with no interest
10% over 7.5 years, averaging 1.3% raise per year, pathetic on every level.
Contract extended twice, with no member input
Extended 1 month to pay retirees, because the city and uft didn't know retirees would have to be paid
Extended 3.5 months so we could pay for our own PPL, which many of us didn't need or want.
Working conditions have continued to deteriorate
Buildings are still unsafe
UFT dues continue to rise
The Dow Jones on November 1, 2009----9,712
May 1, 2014----16,558
Oct 11, 2020----28,586
Today----26,501
July 2021----?
How is that going to be made up?
It won't be.
I hope the chancellor can scrape by on $350,000 a year and I hope Mr. Mulgrew can scrape by on $300,000 plus expenses. I'm glad Mr. Mulgrew declares this unfair and does nothing else to rectify it. But remember, we stick together. What a fraud. I know, the DOE appreciates us. I'm so glad the mayor gave his wife $1.8 billion to flush down the toilet.

How this is ok with anybody is beyond me. Somehow, the 2014 deal keeps getting worse. Another year of waiting with no interest. 12 years. This is another favor we do while we get nothing in return. By the way, trs, uft, doe still closed while we go on infected trains and buses to get to infected buildings while there are no students in those buildings.

Anonymous said...

Yes, there never was a teacher shortage. It was a way to get the hiring freeze lifted so principals wouldn't have to hire out of the atr pool.

Anonymous said...

2:54: Better than the sex creep who keeps believing we're turning corners. This street has infinite corners. All we keep doing is going around in circles.

Anonymous said...

Have you heard of Tara Reade? Anyway, uft members have agreed to get abused by their own union. That is how awful leadership is and that is how stupid dues payers are. What else can i say. Im one of the few opt out people. Keep letting people step on you, it will continue. I hope you all wise up during the next uft election. keep saying this is better than nothing and it could be worse and guess what...You will keep getting this abuse. I hope you all enjoyed paying double dues on the check yesterday. I paid 0, not because I'm a scab, because I have common sense. Now, how about that no show grading policy?

Anonymous said...

England-1 month lockdown. As the stupid nyc teachers continue going into infected building, wearing hats, silent, jackets and ski boots in an empty classroom...Uft is silent.

Anonymous said...

Susan Edelman did an article in the Post about how the doe is hiding abysmal attendance figures. Forest Hills HS is cited as an example of a school with poor attendance, yet this is supposed to be one of NYC's highest performing schools. Imagine what it's like at the low performing schools. It also said how teachers just sit around and do nothing. I'm an ATR, and I just sit around all day too.

Anonymous said...

Who is the smartest?
The guy who teaches from bed
The guy who plays golf all the time
Mulgrew for bleeding the suckers dry
The scabs

Anonymous said...

E- None of the above. ABC and D are all selfish assholes.

Anonymous said...

Mulgrew is a lowlife who forced A, B and D to exist

Anonymous said...

It’s over for NYC teachers. Everyone but teachers know it. Even the king of the turds, Mulgrew, knows it. Nothing is going back to the way it was. Trump will win after a massive judicial fight. Extensive teacher layoffs, deBlasio will break another promise (why would the UFT take his word about anything?) and horny Cuomo will toss the the schools to Eva the same way he tosses off over the toilet while thinking of Ivanka. Fun times.

Anonymous said...

I have several students who say they can never attend live instruction because they have to work. NEVER. They can pass? Then why am I being paid? Why can't everybody no show the live instruction?

Anon2323 said...

Moron Tom and You liberals who hate trump are brainwashed! 95% of stories are negative, if he was liberal and the media was not so corrupt you would be singing a different tune. All quiet little babies when it comes to our union.

Biden has not done one thing in 47 years. I was paying 4.25 for gas under Obama now 1.99. WE had wars in middle east and major tensions, now no wars and peace. We have opportunity zones and the lowest unemployment before china fucked it up. TRade deals are in our favor, Obama said economy and manufacturing will never happen need a magic wand (wrong again there buddy), trumps worst stock market was Obamas best 18,000. Trump has spent more money than any president on historically black colleges, social justice reform, lower drug prices, you guys are sick in head. Impeachment for fake russia and a phone call. Meanwhile, there is real evidence Biden son and Biden have taken money from China and crickets.

I dislike the SALT tax, and secretary of education selection as well as his tweets, no chance frail weak biden who cannot even coherently speak 3 sentences should ever be president.

Anonymous said...

Sorry James, off topic:

The teaching profession turned for the worse in NYC when Bloomberg took over the schools. It was his mission to ruin the schools, get rid of the UFT, and have charter schools all over. I believe he was very frank about this, didn't deny his goals, and did everything he could as mayor to divide and conquer.

DeBlasio is jacking up the NYC DOE budget counting on a Biden/Harris win. At some point in 2021, President Harris will give NYC billions in bailout money. Bleeding hearts cannot resist throwing someone else's money in the money pit. Deblasio will then shift the bailout money to one of his other causes. Nothing will improve for the schools.

The current issues in the NYC DOE start with DeBlasio and Mulgrew. As long as they are in charge, nothing will change for the better.

Shelley said...

How can it not cost a dime? What kind of concession doesn't cost a dime? Please, we know better. Concession bargaining is about giving something up. You give up wages, raises, payments due, or time off, or restructure time, or pay more for health ore retirement or lose benefits, there is a hit to total compensation ... etc. there is no free lunch in American Labor since Reagan.

If a blogger for DC37 depended on the newspapers or the official announcements by the men who meet in back rooms to cut deals, where the devil is always in the details, to compare the deals the municipal workers got to the deals teachers got, said blogger would not meet your standard, James. Our deal, as described in the newspapers, or in the press releases by the dealers, is but an outline of the deal we got. One needs to, as you usually do, dig back into the previous agreements and see how they have been changed, research and discover, read and re-read like a good lawyer all the details the devils have hidden and obscured.

You are not doing that here. Why not? First, it's not your wheelhouse. And DC 37 is a far complex organization than UFT. Reading The Chief article we note that the agreement included some bluster by the mayor about an ERI, but not all workers and pension systems would get the deal, if it is ever offered and that the mayor is still blabbing about getting authority to float debt in the capital markets and he plans to have his coffers replenished by Biden and the blue Wave. One would need to read up on the contracts and retirement systems and see who is owed what and who is eligible for what, who has not been payed, how much and for how long before one concludes, based on the headlines, that the deal didn't cost a dime. You admit that you can't figure it, the math seems simple enough, but it's more complicated. It's more stochastic than a matter of deferred payments without interest.
from The Chief
"The union's executive director, Henry Garrido, said in an Oct. 28 phone interview, after his delegates accepted the terms the previous evening, that having the terms structured along the same lines as an earlier deferral of retroactive wages by the United Federation of Teachers and ensuring job security for his 120,000-plus members were the key components of the deal."

Here, one backroomer plays the old pattern concession bargaining card. But the UFT doesn't have to wait until 2022 and accept the promise of a mayor who breaks promises and here makes a promise he won't even around to keep. He'll be out of office and his promises of what the next mayor must do are worthless.

The ERI promise is more fog. And note that it's a divide and conquer too.

COBA's Objections
But Mr. Boscio, who is just four months into his tenure as COBA's leader, made clear he did not think the city was offering fair value in return for the deferrals it was seeking from Correction Officers.

In a letter to his rank and file that was obtained by this newspaper, he said he had requested expedited arbitration of the dispute, stating that the city's move to delay implementing payment of retroactive money that members had been scheduled to receive Oct. 30 from raises provided under a wage agreement ratified in June was an "egregious violation of our contract."

Not a dime?

Noting that the city had also failed to pay $9.45 million in health-and-welfare fund benefits negotiated under that deal that were retroactive to Feb. 1, he said during an Oct. 29 phone interview that he had told Ms. Campion that "we would not willingly agree to any deal that further delays the monies the city owes us, nor will we divide our membership by agreeing to a provision that prevents layoffs only until June 2021."

Anonymous said...

4:06- schools remain open in UK even in lockdown. If we lockdown again, they won't close schools again.

nerd said...

We have a new MOA that wasn't voted on by the membership. It's toughh to call us a "union."

James Eterno said...

Shelley, Please show exactly what INDIVIDUAL DC37 members are giving up in benefits in this deal and I will gladly change the post.

This is from the official DC37 blog:

"The deferral of payments totaling $164 million to the four welfare funds (the DC 37 Benefit Trust, the 372 Severance Related Fund, the SSEU Local 371 Health & Welfare Fund, and the DC 37 Education Fund) will have no impact on the union’s ability to continue to provide benefits to its membership."

Anonymous said...

There is a good chance biden wins, whether we like him or not. Nothing will get better in the doe, obviously.

James Eterno said...

We will get the money to keep teaching jobs in NYC if Biden wins. We need to be a real union to make the job better.

Bronx ATR said...

It’s crazy to assume Biden will win. That assumption has the assurance of devastation for NYC teachers. The city and UFT should be planning with the assumption he will lose - which I believe he will (- but it won’t be official until December). It’s incredibly bad planning to put all your eggs in one basket while walking on a tight rope in the pouring rain.

Anonymous said...

644 is exactly correct!

Bloomberg destroyed teaching in nyc.

To this day, his superintendents and principals are still working and their mission is to attack and 3020 teachers.

To Bloomberg’s credit, he never tried to hide this fact. This current mayor has tried to be our ‘friend’ while still twisting the knife.

This is why I feel anyone who works during lunch periods, off the clock or on weekends just makes everyone else look bad.

We need to be united and do what is contractually required. Nothing more. Nothing less.

This is also why I make the doe work for me and will avoid admins etc to make my stress level less. Trust me, the more you fight, the more mentally best you you get which is worse than a physical exhaustion.

James Eterno said...

Bronx ATR, I said we get the stimulus money "if Biden wins." I certainly am not predicting it or guaranteeing it.

Bronx ATR said...

I’m not inferring you did, James. What I’m saying is that the entire system is relying on it. It’s gambling at its worst, as teachers are the stakeholders and the gamblers (deBlasio, Mulgrew, etc) can shrug their collective shoulders if things don’t pan out.

Bronx ATR said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
waitingforsupport said...

@ anon2323

You said the media is corrupt so who are your news source(s)? Just curious

Tom said...

Hey Dummy @Anon2323 - Obama inherited a complete economic disaster so he had a LOT worse situation than what Trump was handed so it is disingenuous to compare the two. Trump's economy was good until "China fucked it up". Well - boo fucking hoo a crisis got in the way of his riding Obama's coattails.

How nice that Trump the rode the waves of an extremely healthy economy until confronted with a crisis and then led it straight into the toilet and all he has done since there is whine, blame, and screech. There is ZERO EVIDENCE that Trump, the failed businessman and even worse failed PRESIDENT can get out of this catastrophe. NONE. He has defrauded THOUSANDS, including contractors, students, the elderly and children. Has alienated allies. Unemployment went all the way to an 80 High. You are the sick fuck if you think supporting an authoritarian "anti-labor" RACIST/BIGOT/MISOGYNIST is in the country's best interests. Your argument that Biden is "weak and frail" and can't speak in complete sentences have been thoroughly debunked by the debates and you sound like a complete moron regurgitating right wing propaganda. One thing is certain Trump can't even answer coherently. Gets asked a question about a PLAN and rambles on about nothing. You want to claim that the Trump investigation was fake - tell your story walking to Trump's right-hand man Steven Bannon - ya know - sloppy Steve the guy who wanted to dismantle our system of government? Because HE called it treason and that is when he was shown the door.

As for the Ukraine "phone call". Well, aren't you special. It wasn't just a phone you dumb fuck. There was PRESSURE put on Ukraine to put out an announcement claiming there was an investigation (there wasn't). to smear Biden. And then unceremoniously dumps the Ukraine Diplomat, Yovanavitch to get her out of the way, and then smears and disparages her.

But what should one expect from a brainwashed cultist who is still regurgitating the lies that is it solely Liberals that are against Trump:

The Lincoln Project is not made up of Liberals. Neither are Republican Voters Against Trump. Bolton is not a liberal. Mattis is not a liberal. Gov. Hogan, Romney, Powell, Fiorina, Flake, Cindy McCain, Scaramucci, Neither is Trump's ex-attorney. The list is so long I'd be typing all day - and it is LONG and DISTINGUISHED, unlike people like you who have no morals, no conscience, no dignity, and lack common sense.

Anonymous said...

Lol. As Democrat-voting business owners board up their shops and homes in anticipation of riots, will they reexamine their voting patterns? You want his sources? Why is the media corrupt? Do you have eyes and ears?

Anonymous said...

To Anon2323 —Seems to me that you are suggesting that this blog is ‘fake news’, Now you are entitled to your opinions—however this blog is not the place for a commercial to vote for Trump.
Thank goodness there is a blog as a venue for educators/union members/parents—to find out first hand important info about union activity and to be able to sound off about the very real labor issues that they face on a daily basis in this city —whether it be now or pre-Covid .
And by the way, the real political enemies (both Republican and Democratic)-to the teaching profession, have always been Bloomberg/Klein—for being anti-union, pro Charter Schools, and wasted millions on making Tweed a Chancellor’s palace..Bush/Cheney with the No Child Left Behind, Act and then the Obama/Biden years with Race To The Top And don’t forget Cuomo pushing his demands of unrealistic teacher evaluations ,the mandates of a Core Curriculum that included testing, testing, testing. And of course the phony graduation rates under DeBlasio. So, there goodness there is a union -although it may have its imperfections—to push back against all the bad policies—that never seem to really seem to seek out the realistic input of the stakeholders.

Anonymous said...

Every fact Anon2323 listed is just that—FACTS. Verifiable, provable facts. With respect to news sources I watch it all, including podcasts, to hear different perspectives. Then do a little research to verify or disprove any facts they presented. I agree with Anon2323 100%.

Anonymous said...

It is sickening that business owners are boarding up their storefronts because they know liberals will send out their thugs on election night to burn cities down.

Democrats are the party of hate, intolerance & violence.

Anonymous said...

Really? Well then I can do remote teaching from bed. Who cares? I have 2 out of 34 attending and carranza says attendance doesn't count.

Anonymous said...

How anyone who's been paying attention, and who is living/working in a D-run city and state as we do, could support any D candidate...well I've tried, but I just don't understand.
Among other things, I see the identify politics that is built into the leftist mindset, as anathema to any healthy and functioning society.
These people are MLK Dream Killers.

Anonymous said...

Not just conventional media and Hollywood and the social sciences, as in 2016, but big technology companies/social media, non-profits, the physical sciences and medicine, which have been relatively non-partisan, and most shockingly much of the national security community...

Anonymous said...

Tom, What neighborhood do you live in? The crime infested ones or not? You sound like Pelosi and Maxine...Talk about how wonderful the poverty areas are anbd then live in 6 million dollar houses.

jeff said...

Yeah, all we do on this blog is complain like bitches then keep paying dues to a corrupt union and passing undeserving students. Some of us need to look in the mirror.

JR said...

I voted for Trump. Biden is going to win. Covid, recession, media, Trump is disliked...Too much to overcome.

waitingforsupport said...

@247...
Do you have eyes and ears? Yes i want his sources. If he's saying the "liberal" media is corrupt WHO ARE HIS SOURCES????
FOX? QANON? TRUMP? WHO?

waitingforsupport said...

@2:48...
Correct.

Anonymous said...

Trump reminds me so much of Hitler. Usually it's uneducated dumb folk who fall for rhetoric. Trump just tells people what they want to hear. He just keeps saying it's getting better and the economy will get better but never gives a solid plan on how it's going to get better. All he has done is brainwash all these dumbasses. You vote for Trump, you are admitting you are easily swayed and brainless.

waitingforsupport said...

@2:50...
Hah. You're opinion.

waitingforsupport said...

@3:01 pm
Go back to bed.

Anonymous said...

Still waiting for an indictment for left wing riots and destruction or bail reform allowing criminals to terrorize the innocent.

Anonymous said...

Forget Obama. This is about, to me, dem vs gop platform.

waitingforsupport said...

@3:15 pm...
Mlk dream killers? Puh-lese.
Trump speaks to hate mongers and conspiracy theorists. Those people wouldn't have a problem seeing all people of color, gays or jewish folks tossed into the ocean. Many of them spit on the memory of MLK. Trump's own family knows he is a fraud. However he told YOU that the world is against him and you bought it. He KNOWS his market. The media is fake. The Chinese are theives. Don't believe scientists. Just believe Trump. The dumbazz without a plan

waitingforsupport said...

Im sure Tom lives in the USA. That area. It's crime infested and overwhelmed by a virus that the man without a plan thinks is "over" like a fu$king movie. He should grab a big mac and go back to the bunker

waitingforsupport said...

Sheep.

Anonymous said...

Per my average of polls going back to 1948, Trump has set a new record as the first incumbent president to poll below 47% of the national two-party vote every day since June 1st of the election cycle.

Anonymous said...

NYC: “I hope ALL of your children get raped and killed”

Triggered Antifa rioter spewing vile rhetoric toward NYPD officers

waitingforsupport said...

@jr...
That's what im talking about. Own your voice. I didn't vote for Trump.
I just hope that whoever wins, focuses on healing America from Covid, hatred, intolerance and the fiscal well-being of the country.
Stay safe.

Anonymous said...

Over
-BIDEN LEADS TRUMP BY 6 POINTS IN FLORIDA, EMERSON POLL FINDS

*TRUMP AND BIDEN TIED IN TEXAS, EMERSON COLLEGE POLL SHOWS

*TRUMP AND BIDEN TIED IN NORTH CAROLINA, EMERSON POLL FINDS

Tom said...

@Anonymous @3:39 - er, are you a teacher? Because that is a very stupid post totally unrelated to anything I've ever posted. Clearly you have a problem with the written word, and can't read and comprehend.

Tom said...

I wonder how long it will take for someone to claim I'm hurling insults, after I've responded to the hurling of insults. Makes me wonder if all these whiners who complain about the students being insulting are the same ones who demean the students in their classrooms, and then cry when they get a taste of their own medicine.

Tom said...

Oh look - it's so hard to know who to believe. A couple of random anonymous brainwashed cultists psychotically fixated on Obama, or over ONE THOUSAND ECONOMISTS focused on the future:

"More than 1,000 economists, including several Nobel Prize winners, have now signed an open letter urging voters not to re-elect Donald Trump on November 3.

As of Friday, 1,027 prominent economists from major institutions across America, including numerous Nobel winners, had signed the open letter, which is being updated until Election Day.

The number of signatures has increased by more than 300 since last Friday, when it was first created.

Alvin Roth, who shared the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 2012, told Business Insider he signed the letter because he was "concerned that some voters might believe President Trump's essentially false claims that his careless stewardship has been good for the US economy."

The letter claimed Trump's "selfish and reckless behavior" had weakened the economy and described his actions as a "sustained assault" on democracy. It also slammed his response to the coronavirus.

Roth, an economics professor at Stanford University, believes the re-election of Trump could severely damage the US economy. This is because the majority of economic progress in the US is made through working with trading partners, he said.

But "President Trump prefers trade wars, with government subsidies to help staunch the bleeding in those parts of the economy that are harmed," such as the damage to American overseas agricultural markets, Roth added.'

Tom said...

@2:47 "in anticipation of riots"? You mean like this: "The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota on Friday announced that the FBI brought charges against a member of the far-right “Boogaloo Bois” group for organizing and participating in an effort to “incite a riot” outside a Minneapolis police precinct in May amid protests against the police killing of George Floyd." "The documents claim that federal agents obtained a video from the evening of May 28 showing an individual walking up to the door of the Third Precinct in Minneapolis and firing 13 rounds from “what appears to be an AK-47 style semiautomatic rifle.”

That's terrible, right??

Trumpanzees have been out shutting down freeways and highways across the country. Driving people off the road, vandalizing people's homes and lawn signs, AND we know for a fact . I guess you want to dictate the type of "protest" that is acceptable?

Anonymous said...

Most of our cities in our great nation with high crime and crumbing infrastructure are under Democratic leadership.

Anonymous said...

Watching a CNN anchor lament the ongoing riots is like watching Godzilla go, “Oh my gosh, oh no, Tokyo is all ruined now.”

Anonymous said...

I wanna know after 4 years of Biden and after 8 years of obama why black america has to blame for not succeeding. Go back to 2016 and forward to 2024.

James Eterno said...

Isn't there a better place to argue the election? This is a dissident union blog. Say what you want but I very much doubt you are going to change too many voter minds here. I am amazed by the response. This post had virtually nothing on the election.

Tom said...

@6:11 - 9 or the 10 poorest states are red states.
Mississippi has the highest homicide rate. As for crumbling infrastructure - Trump's infrastructure plan - ANY DAY NOW.

Tom said...

@6:21 - Don't drink and post. You sound incoherent.

Anonymous said...

James, dont you get it? Teachers have given up. Won't walk out, opt out or strike. It is over. You saw that pic of the teacher in the classroom wearing all that winter gear? Is she a circus animal? Why smile? Why not walk out? That is an embarrassment. Why did the uft not wlakin there that day and close the place down. That is why I refused to go in and my principal didn't say shit to me. I would've exposed the fraud school. I knew nobody had my back. Covid, freezing temps, fake grades...Get the fuck outta here.

waitingforsupport said...

@anonymous
Please focus on the topic. You cannot handle Tom's smoke. Just stick with what you can do to stand up to the city and union. Tom is way too logical and intelligent to debate. Sorry.

Tom said...

@James - true enough, but you've allowed a lot of Anti-Biden, Pro-Trump garbage on this site before I even posted my first response to one. Then after their insults they cried that I was insulting and I guess by giving them an audience at all it only drew them out of the woodwork, or rather the sewer. I definitely don't try and change the minds of brainwashed cultists, but they love for their lies to stand unchallenged and they take a dump everywhere they go. Maybe going forward, as you're the moderator, you should not allow any election type posts on this blog.

JP said...

When I posted this, nobody seemed to care that they were being robbed blind and being beaten to a pulp. Suckers paying dues. I will analyze it for you, then tell me how great everything is. Yes, I know we need union benefits, but what has gone on is a travesty and is certainly reason to opt out or decertify.

Now that the 2014 contract has been changed again, with no member input, let us review...

12 years of retro with no interest
10% over 7.5 years, averaging 1.3% raise per year, pathetic on every level.
Contract extended twice, with no member input
Extended 1 month to pay retirees, because the city and uft didn't know retirees would have to be paid
Extended 3.5 months so we could pay for our own PPL, which many of us didn't need or want.
Working conditions have continued to deteriorate
Buildings are still unsafe
UFT dues continue to rise
The Dow Jones on November 1, 2009----9,712
May 1, 2014----16,558
Oct 11, 2020----28,586
Today----26,501
July 2021----?
How is that going to be made up?
It won't be.
I hope the chancellor can scrape by on $350,000 a year and I hope Mr. Mulgrew can scrape by on $300,000 plus expenses. I'm glad Mr. Mulgrew declares this unfair and does nothing else to rectify it. But remember, we stick together. What a fraud. I know, the DOE appreciates us. I'm so glad the mayor gave his wife $1.8 billion to flush down the toilet.

How this is ok with anybody is beyond me. Somehow, the 2014 deal keeps getting worse. Another year of waiting with no interest. 12 years. This is another favor we do while we get nothing in return. By the way, trs, uft, doe still closed while we go on infected trains and buses to get to infected buildings while there are no students in those buildings.

Anonymous said...

2020
Biden: 52.0%
Trump: 43.4%

It is over. Welfare for everybody. No more jails.

Anonymous said...

Oil is tanking overnight, means biden wins.

waitingforsupport said...

@621 pm...
Start your own blog.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, Trump supporters do this all the time. "Every city, every town, burn the (police) precincts to the ground”

BLM chants in the streets of Philadelphia and then Antifa girls hit my camera

Saying “you’re not allowed to film protesters”

Anonymous said...

Asians can do this but not blacks?
Ya think work ethic might be the reason? Earnings for Asian women surpassed white male earnings for the first time this year! Asian privilege? Female privilege? Narrative-destabilizing development. #EqualPay

https://bls.gov/news.release/pdf/wkyeng.pdf

Anonymous said...

Not that long ago, Kamala Harris was slamming Joe Biden for "praising and coddling" racist segregationists, expressing "adoration" for white supremacists, and noting Biden's 1994 crime bill led to the mass incarceration of Black men.

"This is a very serious matter," she said.

Bronx ATR said...

Interesting comment. I just read two current articles and a referenced third that compare Trump to Winston Churchill. Back in 2016, I enraged more than a few when I wrote if the US were faced with an devastating threat, and if Trump rose to the occasion he would indeed be compared to him. (Objectively he is much more like Churchill than Hitler, and that’s not a compliment from me - I despise Churchill. Biden is like an brain addled Chamberlain.)

Anon2323 said...

@2:48 you must not have been on this blog until recently I do not make Trump ads when I see other points of view I challenge them, since the election is here now more than ever I will make my case.


@ Waiting I do what we did in 80's and 90s I research and try and come up with conclusions. Democrat Chris Wallace, Maria Bartiromo, Brett Baier, Tucker are people I do like to listen to.

@ Tom awwwww you were wrong about Kavanaugh, you were wrong on russia, you were wrong on the phone call, go watch don lemon or rachael maddow, you have no credibility. Go watch Tucker Carlson interview with Bobo you will see there is clear and real evidence Biden and his family took million from china and is compromised like he is with Ukraine, nut job.

Anonymous said...

I can confirm that Biden’s tax proposals will raise taxes on most families making far less than $400K. I prepare tax returns for over 50 middle-income families. Running their 2019 returns using Biden’s tax proposals shows that 95% of them will pay thousands more in higher taxes.

Anon2323 said...

@4:10 I am not a violent guy, I would sock you like you couldn't believe if you said to my face what you said on this blog " trump reminds me so much of hitler" you mean the person who had 6 million jews and 13 million killed in ways you couldn't dream of including my family. Do not say it was about listening and going along, that is a disgusting example, reflect on that before spitting out Hitler's name, scum.

Anonymous said...

The Biden Media mafia teamed up with #MeToo to weaponize it and shield Joe Biden. An Exclusive with Tara Reade: the woman Biden buried.

Tara Reade
@ReadeAlexandra
is a survivor on several levels...

Her story goes beyond surviving Joe Biden.

TONIGHT 10pm EST.

Anonymous said...

I was making a comparison the way Hitler brainwashes stupid people the way Trump does. I didn't say he was Hitler, but it's because of Trump's ignorance that so many people died of covid including a family member of mine.

Anonymous said...

I cant wait to hear after 4 years of a dem pres, gov, mayor...why school system is failing and students graduate hs unable to write a sentence. I mean, it can't be the student population.

James Eterno said...

Keep replying to the MAGAs Tom. You make logical well informed arguments. Saves me some time. Don't say we don't hear their views generally.

waitingforsupport said...

@ anon2323
Pot meet kettle.
You rightly take offense at the mention of hitler. However you let your disgust for the bronx inhabitants spew from your fingers rather easily. Your hatred and intolerance for those students and their families is offensive to me. You want people to be empathetic? Why aren't you? It's welfare this. Can't pass that. Criminals. Wear expensive shoes. Blah blah blah You haven't said a single kind or nice word about the students. It's degradation every chance you get. You haven't walked in their shoes. Just so you know, there would be a whole lot of "socking" if you say to the students what you say on this blog. Why didn't you just work with people who look like you?
And you sound crazy when you bash "liberals" and the "liberal media" but Tucker is who you subscribe too. Wtf. You live in a bubble, earn your living by working in a community that you don't like or respect and then turn on Tucker at night. You're a sanctimonious person. You can dish it but can't take it.

waitingforsupport said...

@anon2323

Yes they are all media sources. Why do you continuously sort everything or everyone into groups? Dont you think that's dangerous? I do. There's one USA. We've seen what can happen when we start grouping people.

Anonymous said...

I know I don't steal or murder, they do.

Anonymous said...

Anon2323 is the reason 1 group lags in every measurable category, forever.

waitingforsupport said...

@415
I think they are in the same box as the corrected and accurate US history books. Hopefully they will arrive soon. Fingers crossed

waitingforsupport said...

@6:11

It's a reflection of the thievery killing raping stealing lying cheating and denying that so many have witnessed for many years.

Anonymous said...

One usa where one group makes up the jail population.

waitingforsupport said...

@728 pm

You sound like you're one of those who love to try and pit blacks against asians. That divide and conquer sh#t is outdated. I think Asians are amazing people but don't ask Trump. He's a hater.

Anonymous said...

If you’re boarding up your businesses for Election Day, you’ve been electing democrats.
No boarding up in ND, SD, IN, IA, UTAH...

Anonymous said...

I thought James valued police. How sad. His brother was a cop. Now he likes blm terrorists who run over cops with cars, shoot them, spit on them, etc...

Anonymous said...

Interesting none of you who spew hate at Anon2323 can dispute the FACTS he presented. Hope and Change Obama didn’t do squat. In fact he tied us to test scores. Lefty DeBlasio has ruined the city and the schools. Anon2323 listed Trumps accomplishments and all y’all can do is call names. Biden crime bill put non violent black fathers in prison for long sentences. Obama and Biden had control of house and senate and did nothing for black people. Trump got first step act passed freeing black men Biden locked up. Facts are so inconvenient to marxists. As for the polls, check out latest cbs poll that basically says if Trump’s base shows up tomorrow, he wins. Check out non main stream poll analysts on YouTube. They show the main stream is skewing the numbers..... just like 2016. In 2016 right before election I saw a poll that a Trump down in Ohio by 5 points. I thought, that’s it, over for Trump. Then he takes Ohio by 8 points. Polls are nothing more than a crapshoot.

James Eterno said...

I abhor violence. It does not matter left or right. You would be surprised but I know NYPD not voting Trump.

Anonymous said...

No president, left, right, black, white has been able to help certain groups.

Anonymous said...

Is looting equal to reparations? Why do some use that excuse? Why not just finish hs and college to become qualified for higher paying jobs? Why not stop committing crime? That would immediaty end mass incarceration.

Anonymous said...

He says this as people are boarding up storefronts in preparation for the violence & chaos that his supporters are going to unleash on our country.

Joe Biden
@JoeBiden
I promise you this: I’ll end Donald Trump’s chaos and end this crisis.

Anonymous said...

Lol. It is over.

Toward Dems

AR-02: Lean R -> Tossup
NJ-03: Lean D -> Likely D
NJ-05: Likely D -> Safe D
NY-18: Likely D -> Safe D
PA-17: Lean D -> Likely D
TX-10: Lean R -> Tossup
TX-24: Tossup -> Lean D (Flip)
TX-31: Likely R -> Lean R

Anonymous said...

Here's how you know NYC taxpayers are tired of
@NYCMayor
: People who can are leaving the city because they fear for their safety on election day. Yes this is anecdotal, but when a bunch of Millennials tell me they're heading out as they see stores boarded up, that signals a trend

waitingforsupport said...

@711am

I don't believe the polls. If Trump wins, he wins. You and I will still be in the same place post election. Not everyone who says BLM, supports the organization BLM. Not everyone who says BLM hates law enforcement. Believing in one doesn't mean hating the other. I happen to LOVE law enforcement officers and actually stop to say hello and thank you when i see them. However I despise those hateful people who tarnish the uniform (i won't call them police officers) and make it difficult for the true police officers. We all know that It's a tough job so those officers who view all people in their work community as criminals should step down. Sorta like those educators who teach from their bed...time to step down.

Anonymous said...

Dems elect dems forever and wonder why things don't improve in cities. Chicago, Baltimore...real smart. Oh well. Keep complaining about rotting and empty buildings along with all the shootings.

Anonymous said...

The party of tolerance.

‘I Will Never, Ever Forgive Them’: Maxine Waters Blasts Black Voters Who Choose Trump | The Daily Caller ????!!!

Anonymous said...

Keep electing Dems. Keep paying dues. Keep hoping for change that never comes. That’s not a strategy. It’s a fantasy.

waitingforsupport said...

@ 845...
Where is trump? He's the "law and order" some say frauder president of the United states (i believe dem cities are included). Why would anyone vote for him and get 4 years of the same? He's law and order NOW. You're buying this madness? Oh well. He will either win or lose tomorrow. I hope he really does love the USA and his supporters and leaves the white house without incident. Most spoiled big babies typically have a tantrum when they don't get what they want.

James Eterno said...

I am going to close this out by saying that I don't have the time to respond to every off topic comment so it's time to close this discussion out.

I will take the blogger's privilege to get one more comment in.

If Trump wins, it will more than likely be by a minority vote again like in 2016. If this happens for the third time in 20 years where the person who gets the most popular votes doesn't win the presidency, we are going to have to acknowledge we have a kind of minority Republican apartheid presidency and spend our energy trying to change the system. There is a valid reason why the majority will be going nuts if this happens again but I do not condone violence to change the system.

If it went the other way where a Democrat won the popular vote but a Republican won the popular vote, the Electoral College would be done within a year.