Saturday, March 13, 2021

SOLIDARITY SPONSORED CHAPTER LEADER-DELEGATE ELECTION WORKSHOP SATURDAY, MARCH 20 @ 1:00 PM

Anyone who genuinely wants to improve the UFT is welcome to join me on Saturday, March 20, 2021 at 1:00 PM for a UFT Solidarity sponsored Zoom workshop on running for chapter leader or delegate. 

The school chapters are the backbone of the Union. If multiple UFTers with integrity and some guts are willing to step up and defend the rights of the UFT members in their schools and also to make UFT policy, then we can take the first steps toward changing the UFT in a positive way. 

The UFT Constitution mandates chapter elections for this May or June. Chapter elections are fair and this year will be conducted by phone by the American Arbitration Association. Stand up and get involved. Stop making excuses and expecting the UFT to magically improve. It is up to you to fix the Union and not opt out of it.

If you've ever wondered why school chapter leaders and delegates do not follow the will of the members of their schools but instead just vote the way Michael Mulgrew tells them to vote, it is because they join Mulgrew's political party called Unity Caucus. To join, they sign a Unity Caucus obligation application that binds them to "support the decisions of Caucus / Union leadership in public or Union forums." It is nicknamed the Unity Loyalty Oath.

If your chapter leader or delegate belongs to Mulgrew's caucus, they are not allowed to disagree with the party at Union meetings. The Unity leadership wines and dines new chapter leaders at chapter leader training weekends with offers of free all expense paid trips to NYSUT Representative Assemblies and AFT Conventions and then part time and full time Union jobs. The main qualification to be accepted into Unity  is that someone has to sign up to be loyal to Unity, not the members of the chapters that elect them.

UFT Solidarity has asked me to be a presenter at Saturday's workshop. I said yes I would do it. ICE stands for the Independent Community of Educators. I would like to propose our own loyalty oath for chapter leaders and delegates.

If elected to a UFT position, I pledge to be loyal only to the will of the majority of the members of the UFT Chapter that elected me and to my conscience, not to the decisions of any caucus or whims of school administrators.

If you really want to move the UFT ahead, we need many school chapters to break free of the Unity stranglehold over our chapter leaders and delegates. Change starts with all of you.

Now is your chance!

The link to sign up for the workshop.

41 comments:

Anonymous said...

Unity is a one-way street.

Anonymous said...

I’m happy Solidarity’s platform is rank and file centered. However 20+ years in this system makes me doubtful of change. In my experience teachers bitch but continue to support Unity controlled chapter leaders. I’ve seen others try to step up with very little support from colleagues. Teachers are so sheepish they prefer to keep the status quo then elect someone with balls who isn’t beholden to Unity or the administration. It’s astonishing to watch the meek kowtow to Unity and administration and sell out the only person in the school who actually is on their side. As I said to one of these good CL candidates, “ Don’t bother. These people aren’t worth saving.” I stand by it. Majority of nyc teachers are sheep born to be sheared and eventually slaughtered.

Anonymous said...

I am retired. What is the anti-Unity retiree group? I don't see 100 comments complaining about Mulgrew here. When asked to do something, it suddenly is eerily quiet here. Where are the loudmouths today when asked to stand up and fight?

Anonymous said...

Still no takers. See the problem.

Marc said...

I opted out in 2018 so I can't run or vote

Anonymous said...

Opt back in you stupid ass so you can run and vote or stop bitching.

Anonymous said...

Nah, I'm good. Although, I'm more qualified to be a cl than Meisha is to be chancellor

Anonymous said...

Some of us are already MORE and Solidarity members. Though, i do wonder just how many. We have to promote it more, around schools, over social media, as much as possible. Push it!

Anonymous said...

The loudmouths have figured out a way to take care of themselves without UFT. As one of those loudmouths I’m not risking one thing to help protect sheep. Been there. Tried. Sheep cannot be changed. But I do wish Solidarity well and will vote for them.

James Eterno said...

Then please stop complaining here if you are not willing to do anything. This is a chance to do something.

Anonymous said...

Lol. Opt back in and pay 1600 a year to vote in an election where mulgrew gets 88%. I hope you aren't serious. Good luck. By the way, where is the spring break money after the welfare stimulus was passed?

James Eterno said...

The chapter elections are fair and will be done by phone. Did you even read the posting to find out which elections we are talking about If? If you aren't willing to stand up and at the very least support good people for chapter positions, then in my view you are part of the problem and have lost the right to be complain about Mulgrew, spring break pay or much else within the UFT.

Anonymous said...

I don't work for the uft and they don't work for me. We were forced to work on vacation days. It is now 11 months later. Mulgrew has gotten nowhere. Not even a negotiation date.

Anonymous said...

In 2014, there was 100% dues. We got the worst contract in union history. 12 years waiting for retro. 10% raise over 7.5 years.

Lol. If I paid, this would still happen. A teacher just shared with us that during COVID testing this week only 1 or two kids in a class were tested. And COVID cases were still found.
UFT-why are less than 20% of students being tested?

James Eterno said...

If non Unity UFTers controlled the chapters, none of this would happen. Reread the posting please to see how the UFT operates.

Anonymous said...

Jason Goldberg worked at Brooklyn College academy. He sold his members a bill of goods about the 2014 contract. The suckers believed him. He was so devoted to them he quit and got a special rep uft job for 170k a year.

Anonymous said...

James, you are very much an idealist.
but you are not realistic, sorry.

Unknown said...

Meisha Ross Porter only have 1 and a half years as a classroom teacher and was never full certified as a teacher yet she will make policies for teachers. I wish I could make policies for the Police Department.

James Eterno said...

We have our loyalty to the chapter pledge. One would have to resign if one crossed the chapter. That is the whole point to get people not to go Unity but to support their chapters as their main priority. If everyone is just going to be bought off, then we are done and may as well just accept things as they are.

ed notes online said...

Retiree Advocate is running a slate in the retiree chapter election against Unity. Our platform will be included in the mailed ballot to 70,000 retirees. Unity uses this election to help control the delegate assembly by electing 300 retirees to the DA. We usually get 20% of the vote which in a smarter of democracy would give us one fifth or 60 delegates. We asked for just 5 this time. They said no. James is running with us.

nerd said...

I'm a delegate for my high school and it boggles my mind how one-sided the vote tallies are in favor of Mulgrew and Unity etc.. I don't know anyone at my high school level who admits to voting for the last contract nor Mulgrew. I don't hear anybody praise Mulgrew. I would expect the votes to be much closer. These days with electronic voting, I don't trust the results at all.

I know we mail ballots in to some official neutral vote counting organization (American Arbitration Association?) Maybe, I'm conspiracy oriented but it wouldn't be too difficult for Unity to sway the counting since they are paying for the service.

I have no faith in the UFT.

Anonymous said...

But then janes tells me to opt back in and pay 1600 dollars just to vote in an unwinnable election.

James Eterno said...

Chapter elections are very winnable.

Anonymous said...

James, how do we assess if our cl is a Unity member. (Yes, we can just ask, but they seem a little deceptive and untrustworthy in our school.) The admin is in it with our award winning CL!

James Eterno said...

Good question, 9:12. Get me the name and I can check if she/he was one of the 750 who ran with Unity in the 2019 election for Convention Delegate. Email me if afraid of exposing school. Confidentiality assured.

Anonymous said...

I'll be there. Most of the CL are Unity and useless. Most of them only care about a free period. There are few who really go the extra mile to find out information to advocate for their constituents. This is not the case at our schools

Anonymous said...

HR 842 the dems want would force me to start paying dues again.

Anonymous said...

And again: where is the mention of students/staff eating meals unmasked in-person in school? Can't say safety measures in schools are done when people need to eat/drink water on a regular basis. This is especially crucial as people try to push 3 ft over 6 ft social distancing.

Randi Weingarten
Teachers agree: if the proper safeguards are in place we can absolutely #ReopenSafely. Getting those safeguards consistently has been the hurdle here. https://k12dive.com/news/cumulative-research-shows-benefits-of-reopening-schools/596598/

Anon2323 said...


This is good James I will let my CL know, exposing the leaders like cuomo, diblasio, and mulgrew will surely help as well.

People seemed pretty confident to eat lunch with their students or other classes during flu seaosn without a mask when nearly 50,000 people died a year. If you wear a mask and are not on top of the kids and have ventilation that seems safe. Hydroxchloriquine which the dems immediately denied as a good drug is jiust as effective to help with Covid.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/new-study-hydroxychloroquine-benefit-treating-coronavirus

Anonymous said...

DOE policy on eating in school is that students need food to stay focused. There is zero guidance on how to do it safely. Each day I sit in a room of unmasked students taking their time, screaming across the room because it's the only bit of social they get. Unmasked lunch is something nobody wants to talk about.

Anonymous said...

2323, observational, not scienceb in your reference to the hydroxi. The clinic trials were stopped because the science showed no benefits and possible dangerous (heart related for example) side effects. Do a Google science search for "double blind" studies on the drug.

Anonymous said...

It may be anecdotal but I know someone who recovered on hydroxy and antibiotics combo. Her son had to drive out of state to fill subscription. If patient and doctor agree on a drug who the fuck is anyone or any government to stop them. Big Pharma and the politicians in their pocket will never admit a cheap drug works. Wish I could still believe in science but wankers like Fauci and WHO have shot that to shit.

Anonymous said...

Anon.. 50000 < 500000

Flu has more readily available treatment and vaccination. Cuba has safer treatments than hydroxychloroquine. No mention from either useless party or news media.

Anonymous said...

@11:00 As an example, I have a family household member taking hydroxy DAILY for 21 years, and she is NOT the exception in the auto-immune world. . Do a google search for a double blind test? LOL OK How about this. it's been administered almost willy nilly for over half a century. It is given WITHOUT a single EKG or ANY heart test, or any test, for that matter, and not just in the case here at home, but to literallY THOUSANDS of patients all across the fruited plane. My goodness, if the former president mentioned Vitamin D you all would avoid milk and the sun. Don't believe me? Ask the hundreds of thousands of people with autoimmune disorders about it. Ask the people in countries with malaria about it. It's safe. But you do your google searches. Enjoy!

And to Mr. Eterno, that chart you posted? It is showing, and, correct me if I am wrong, sincerely, it is showing a total number of school-aged children infected from September to March, over time, and not some alarming rising RATE of infection ((which CONTINUES TO DROP EVERY SEVEN DAYS--- HOW MANY TIMES CAN THIS BE REPORTED???)) taking place from attending in-person NY city schools. But anyhow, WHILE KEEPING THE TRULY VULNERABLE ON ACCOMADTION IS PRUDENT, that chart doesn't justify closing an entire school system, OR CITY. How many of you on here, with intellectual honesty, are going to say you are 100% avoiding Shop Rite, Target, Costco, Walmart, etc. And spare me the lectures on ventilation. One sneeze in aisle three and you're done for. My point is that the lockdown mentality needs to go away and fast. You whiners will be screaming after covid is gone about the flu, and then the sniffles. Stop it. Cashiers at Stop N Shop are braving it, for far less salary and benefits.

Anonymous said...

It IS anecdotal but I know someone who recovered on hydroxy and antibiotics combo.
Tuesday, March 16, 2021 12:32:00 PM

Tell me why a MD wouldn't give a treatment that works? If this is part of the grand conspiracy with vaccines and 5g, ok.

Is this supposed to be political? The science clearly doesn't support it. Science is just that, not anecdotal. Tell us about Cuba, what is it?

Back to school discussion. How many of you spent more than 15 minutes pushing paper today? Let's organize the UFT march on Bway. Bring it on.

Does student lunch make you cringe?

Anonymous said...

459. Interferon is one of the medications used in Cuba to great success in treating the disease. US government turned down assistance from Cuba and also pushed other countries to deny assistance from Cuba and their teams of doctors.

Anonymous said...

357. Our system leaves people with no other option. People are not braving it, we are slaves to the wage. Work or die, and now it's work at risk of disease or die. Profits over people, so it goes in the US. These workers need a union, a union better than ours.

Anonymous said...

4:59. The NY doctor prescribed hydroxy but Cuomo made sure it couldn’t be filled in ny. NJ filled the prescription.

Anonymous said...

Inteferon is being studied in the US and UK in actual scientific studies. Have you read the actual trials? Cleveland Clinic and the Lancet have some preliminary information. Mentions of some serious health implications/risks that need to be considered.

Hydrox is and has been given to people with common medical conditions for years safely. It also can and did cause enough (double bind) severe reactions for the trials to end early for safety reasons. It has not been proven in double blinds to do anything-multiple studies with statistically relevant #'s.

I hope your friend filled up the tank in NJ and enjoyed the trip. It's a good thing they're safe and healthy. But, the Hydrox with a high degree of certainty had nothing to do with the recovery.

correlation and (vs) causation, scientific method, placebo effect, bias, presumptions, and so on.

If all of these treatments are working and it was all a big hoax, why didn't the numbers "go away, one day, like January 6th, maybe after the stimulus was passed, whatever?

Everyone enjoying their Danielson?

Anonymous said...

Interferon has been used safely for decades. One of the biggest breakthroughs was its effectiveness against dengue fever and now it is found to be effective against Covid. All meds obviously have side effects, including hydroxychloroquine. Cuba uses Chloroquine (not hydroxychloroquine), and Lopinavir as well. The more studies, the more testing, the better. If we had international solidarity, and a health care/pharmaceutical system not interested in profit, it would help greatly. There is a lot to learn from Cuban medicine and health care.

Anonymous said...

They deliberately fuck up studies to show things dont work if there is no huge profit. They threaten the scientists professionally unless they conclude studies according to their narrative.pharma supports the media.media wont give up all the advertising income so they support pharma's narrative.look at all the TV commercials for drugs and how fast they rattle off the side effects.pharma has mega control.