Life is supposed to be a two-way street, particularly when you are a worker in a union. However, when you have Michael Mulgrew and the Unity Caucus in charge of the UFT, you have very weak negotiators working on your behalf. While the UFT-DOE grievance process has been mostly suspended since March of 2020, the UFT and Department of Education quietly agreed last November to open processes for disciplining UFT represented employees. They even made up remote rules. Why didn't the UFT simultaneously demand a fully remote grievance process? (Yeah, we could have had that spring break pay arbitration and many others.)
We don't hear about this agreement on UFT member discipline from Mulgrew in his town halls but Jeff Kaufman put in a Freedom of Information request with the DOE for all UFT-DOE agreements made during the pandemic. While it took a long time for the DOE to respond to Jeff, below is a DOE-UFT agreement concerning disciplining employees and links to other agreements. As part of this discipline agreement, the Union agreed to "toll" time limits so we basically waived our right to timely hearings.
Before we get the comments that individuals should use this as yet another reason to opt-out of paying UFT dues, I think it would be a better idea to organize with your colleagues for a real union rather than throwing out the baby with the bathwater. We need a properly functioning union now in these perilous times as much as ever. Tell your colleagues, please, that we can improve things if we organize and finally get Unity out.
Below the November 18 discipline process agreement letter that we copied in full are links to all of the UFT-DOE agreements that were sent in response to Jeff's Freedom of Information request. Happy reading.
November 18, 2020
Howard Friedman \
General Counsel
New York City Department of Education
52 Chamber Street
New York, NY 10007
Dear Mr. Friedman,
I write to confirm certain mutual understandings and agreements between the United Federation of Teachers, Local 2, AFT, AFL-CIO (“UFT”) and the Board of Education of the City School District of the City of New York (“DOE”), effective November 18, 2020, with respect to the process for conducting investigations by the Office of Special Investigations or the Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity Management during the current COVID-19 pandemic. This Letter Agreement will sunset on June 30, 2021, unless both parties agree to extend, in writing, this agreement no later than May 1, 2021, or upon such time as schools resume full in-person instruction, whichever is earlier.
In the interest of moving investigations forward, interviews of UFT-represented employees shall take place remotely via video conference through Microsoft Teams or Zoom. Such remote interviews are intended to replicate in-person interviews to the maximum extent possible and all parties shall make good faith efforts to participate in such interviews. These interviews may not be recorded by any party. All notifications shall be sent via email to the employee’s official DOE email address and shall include a request for a read receipt.
Investigators will initiate the meeting on one of the approved platforms (Microsoft Teams or DOE-approved Zoom). Investigators must conduct the interview in a private setting that ensures confidentiality. Before commencing an interview, investigators should first ask the participant(s) and his or her union representative, if any, to confirm that they each also have the privacy necessary to discuss the incident. Should there not be sufficient privacy, the interview may not proceed until the privacy issue is resolved.
The DOE’s right to pursue disciplinary action, either pursuant to 3020a or by placing a letter in the subject’s file, has been tolled until such time as the parties commence interviews of UFT-represented employees under this agreement. The DOE’s time to impose discipline shall be further tolled as detailed in the section titled Subject Interviews.
Nothing contained herein is intended to alter any existing right that UFT-represented employees are not mandated to appear for an interview during non-work hours.
UFT-Represented Subject/Respondent Interviews:
1. UFT-represented employees who are the subjects of investigations retain the right to have union representation during the interview.
2. Nothing prevents subjects of investigations or respondents to complaints from being in the same room with their union representative during remote interviews.
3. The UFT will provide sufficient space so that the subject/respondent and the union representative can be socially distanced in the same room. The UFT will also provide the appropriate hardware for the UFT-represented employee and union representative to connect with the investigator.
4. Should the DOE deem it necessary for the investigator to be in the same room as the subject/respondent and union representative, the DOE will provide an appropriate space.
5. In keeping with current practice, should a subject/respondent not be able to join his or her union representative because the subject/respondent is on an approved leave, the interview will be postponed until the subject/respondent returns from the leave. There will be no prejudice to subjects/respondents who are not able to appear because they are on an approved leave. The time for the DOE to bring a disciplinary action pursuant to Education Law 3020a in matters where there has been a delay in scheduling interviews due to the subject’s/ respondent’s approved leave shall be tolled. Similarly, the time for the DOE to place a letter in the subject’s file shall also be tolled.
6. Any documents about which the subject/respondent might be asked to comment will be provided to the subject/respondent during the remote interview and adequate time shall be provided to allow for the subject/respondent to review any such documentation and take notes, including those needed for conferral with the UFT-represented employee’s UFT representative.
7. The UFT-represented employee and his or her representative will be provided opportunities, as necessary, to remove themselves from the video-conference to confer privately.
UFT-Represented Witness Interviews:
1. Witness interviews may proceed via video-conference.
2. Should a witness have reason to believe that the witness may become a subject of investigation/ respondent to complaint, consistent with current practice, the non-subject witness will be interviewed in accordance with the subject/respondent protocols listed above, upon request.
3. In keeping with current practice, if, during the course of an interview, it becomes apparent to the non-subject witness or UFT representative, if one is present, that the witness may become a subject of investigation/ respondent to complaint, the witness shall have the right to stop the interview immediately. In keeping with existing protocols, such employees will be provided with notice consistent with current practice.
4. Witness statements will be collected in a manner consistent with current practice and regulations.
5. Any documents about which the witness might be asked to comment will be provided to the witness during the remote interview and adequate time shall be provided to allow for the witness to review any such documentation.
UFT-Represented Complainant and/or Victim Interviews:
1. Complainant and/or victim interviews may be conducted via video-conference and shall follow the same protocol as set forth in the Witness Interviews section, above.
2. In keeping with current practice, if the UFT-represented employee has representation, the UFT represented employee and his or her representative will be provided opportunities, as necessary, to remove themselves from the video-conference to confer privately.
Sincerely,
Beth A. Norton
General Counsel United Federation of Teachers
Accepted and Agreed:
Howard Friedman
General Counsel New York City Department of Education
UFT/DOE Agreement-Parent Teacher Conferences, Teacher Programs and others
UFT/DOE Agreement on Resolution of Grievances During Covid
UFT/DOE Agreement on Types of Teachers for Blended and Remote Teaching
UFT/DOE Agreement on Remote Interviews for Teacher Discipline
Sounds like a union I'm not paying into. You guys aren't very smart. For the life if me, I just don't get it.
ReplyDeletePerhaps you should close this blog. I opted out already, full disclosure. You print negative article after negative article, how much the uft always screws us, how bad mulgrew is, how bad unity is, how we don't have the strong union we need...Then you follow it up by saying people should keep paying. Meanwhile, nothing ever improves. It's beating a dead horse already. Unity will never lose an election. Most will keep paying dues. Things will continue to deteriorate.
ReplyDeleteA shitty union is better than no union.
ReplyDeleteOn a side note, I heard the projected graduation rate is dropping like a stock market crash in most high schools. Anyone seeing something similar?
ReplyDeleteThat's the excuse. A shitty union is good enough. Sad! We should take bets, after all this, what percent of the vote will the shitty president get from the sheep teachers? 85%? 90%?
ReplyDeleteMulgrew, the union leader that wasn't.
ReplyDeleteThe fucking Gotcha Squad lived through Covid and will more than likely live through the the next nuclear war.
ReplyDelete😂😂😂
Delete😂😂😂
Delete😂😂😂
DeleteNo way 328, they pass without even showing up.
ReplyDelete@Jeff - or you can just stop visiting? If you don't like reading it, why would you continue visiting?
ReplyDeleteThat's like not liking apples but still continuing to eat them.
Yeah, the UFT sucks. But there is still an audience that appreciates the information James publishes.
Doesn't make sense to ask James to shut down his blog (his voice, his freedom of speech) because you don't find it relevant.
Since you aren't part of the union anymore and want to persuade people to drop as well, why don't you start your own blog? Blogger is free and it seems like you have time on your hands since you are visiting websites that have no relevance to your time or view.
So why are there no positive articles? Because, the uft sucks. Sure, one can choose to pay dues, just not sure why you would. Not understanding what the others see. James complains. 90% of the comments complain...With no change coming.
DeleteDon't expect James to make important decisions for you. If you see your relationship with the UFT as a dysfunctional co-dependency relationship, you need to work through it on your own.
ReplyDelete@5:04 PM
ReplyDeleteDon't use James blog to make any important decisions for me or as a determining factor with my status with the UFT. I do like to come here to read the notes from UFT meetings, town halls, and NYCDOE decisions and announcements.
I'm actually competent enough to make my own decisions unlike the people who come here bashing James blog and then using the comments to make decisions regarding their retirement. Seems pretty foolish to take retirement advice from anonymous folks.
As for the UFT, I don't expect them to resolve any of my issues. And I am pretty well-balanced in that I don't have a dysfunctional relationship or co-dependency issues with the UFT or my job. Once the work day ends, I go on to pursue my own life until the next work day. It doesn't matter to me what the UFT is doing or what the DOE is doing.
I don't let stuff like that effect me.
It seems like you are projecting your dysfunctional co-dependency relationship issues. Definitely should work on that and don't mean that sarcastically. Frustration like that only leads to a burden in your personal life and relationships.
Leave James alone. This blog is a valuable service. If you don’t like it then bugger off.
ReplyDeleteGo Jeff Kaufman. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteJames might declare a prohibition on all comments about not paying dues. It's just repetitive, broken record. Also, such people are outside the union and should act the part.
ReplyDeleteGreat job by Jeff and thanks to James for posting.
ReplyDeleteFrankly a member ought to be able to demand a real in-person hearing or file an in-person grievance, not to mention the obvious double standard. Utterly ridiculous.
To the opt outers: I get it. $1500ish in dues and terrible service. This is what happens in a monopoly. However with no Union at all there is no contract, no grievance. The boss tells you if you don't like it, there's the door, don't let it hit you on the ass on the way out.
ReplyDeleteThe answer is to get rid of exclusive collective bargaining and allow competition. I may not agree on national politics but I'd certainly rather be represented by James, Camille, Jeff Kaufman, Norm Scott, Jon Halabi, and some others I'm leaving out rather than the likes of Randi and Mulgrew.
TJL,
ReplyDeleteI tried, for 25 years, to vote against unity. Do you need to every election result with them getting 90%? What do you expect in 2022? After mulgrew gets 90% again, then what? At some point, i just can't keep paying the uft to abuse and ignore me. My principles. Sorry.
The complaints about the uft being awful while you keep paying and nothing ever changes and all i see are more and more complaints on here by James and the commentators are also repetitive.
ReplyDeleteI understand James’ point on dues. But I don’t think it’s a credible argument to keep paying. Things get worse each year. Every year we’re giving something back. This year is healthcare givebacks. The UFT does this because they believe no matter how badly they treat us, we’ll never leave. All dues payers do is prove them right. I’m not paying. There aren’t enough refusing to pay for the UFT to notice...yet. Either enough of my colleagues will join me and the UFT will be forced to make changes or things will muddle along until we’re all paying $1800 month for health care or something else that hurts us. The downward spiral will go on and on until members in droves stop paying. It has to start somewhere. James thinks teachers will one day rise up and change the union from within. I think he is wrong. Maybe I’m wrong. All I know for sure is I am happy I left. I’m no longer paying someone to piss all over me while they insist it’s just a fresh spring rain and tell me I should be grateful for it. We can disagree on this without calling each other scabs and suckers.
ReplyDeleteThe UFT will not change, and will only do less, if thousands opt out. Those thousands are then ineligible to vote so you do double damage.
ReplyDeleteI have worked on committees with many of the Unity leaders. They are not going to suddenly become militant if faced with mass defections unless you are organizing something different like TJL suggests. Unfortunately, competing unions are not really possible but divisions (high school, middle school, elementary school or all teachers) can be peeled off.
If we ever had that type of union, TJL would be one of our pension people. See, I don't care about your politics as long as you help our membership.
James said "The UFT will not change, and will only do less, if thousands opt out." And then he has the nerve to tell us to keep making the people rich who care nothing about us.
ReplyDeleteI still pay my taxes if I despise the government. I vote to change it.
ReplyDeleteI still pay for insurance even when I don't like how the insurance company handles my claim. I look for a better company.
We need a better union, not to be without one. We won't get there if we follow the opt outers advice. You will be totally at the mercy of a not so nice employer, the DOE. We need a better union, not a weaker one. We can do it.
I have had numerous requests here and on email to end the opt out comments. What do union members only think?
Another happy camper. The only people who think something good is going on are the idiot teachers.
ReplyDeleteUFT-endorsed Scott Stringer says he would ‘dismantle’ NYC DOE as mayor
Lol. We are already at their mercy. And I pay dues. Now give me the "it will only be worse" excuse. Sad.
ReplyDeleteI think we are babsitters. Fake teachers. Fake educators. What difference does it make? No wonder we are stomped on. The opt outers have damn good reason.
ReplyDeleteIn an article in the Post Scott Stringer said he would dismantle the DOE if elected. Sadly though at the end of the article it said that Stringer has only a 5% chance of winning.
ReplyDeleteNot sure how you argue 100% dues and membership have helped. All you say is it will be worse. Maybe so. But the counter can be...I've paid for decades and it got worse anyway. You can't possibly argue that we have a good situation now. Just read this blog daily and the various teacher facebook pages. Neverending teacher complaints.
ReplyDeleteBelow are the last few titles by James on this pro union blog (I left out the ones about the DA and Chaz) Every single one was about how the uft dropped the ball. Each one was followed by many dozen complaints about how the uft has harmed, not helped us. We have a lot of problems. The opt outers are not the issue. This blog is like cnn. It has become a left wing group of nuts who won't admit where the problem exist. Therefore, those problems will never end. You wanna opt out, great. You don't, great. You wanna force undeserving students into Brooklyn Tech, great. You wanna have zero attendance students pass, great. All I need to show you is the average SAT score across the city and how we've eliminated student grading and attendance standards. But please get off your high horse telling people what a great union this is and we would make so much less elsewhere and cost of taxes and cost of living is irrelevant and blah, blah, blah. When Portelos was brought up on charges, he went and ignored the fact that he has access to a union lawyer and paid for his own. Many others do the same. When i went to a pension consultation I was given incorrect info which i knew was incorrect. When I asked about the hardship transfer which is already in the contract I was ignored, for decades. When I emailed Charley Turner, James Duncan, Michael Sill, Amy, ignored. Abusive principals, excessive paperwork, in building CL who do nothing, ATR pool, retro, tiny raises, retiree medicare...Please stop with the union is so wonderful.
ReplyDeletePro union when every posting is a complaint about the union.
UFT AGREED THAT DOE OPERATIONS TO DISCIPLINE TEACHERS CAN OPEN IN THE PANDEMIC WHILE THE UFT GRIEVANCE PROCESS REMAINS SHUT
CDC SAYS NO MASKS NEEDED INDOORS IF VACCINATED; WHO ENFORCES IF PEOPLE INDOORS ARE VACCINATED?
UNITY UP TO THEIR OLD TRICKS TO STIFLE DISCUSSION AT DA
EDUCATORS OF NYC FORUM ON WHAT SCHOOL REOPENING SHOULD LOOK LIKE IS TUESDAY @ 7:00
You already censor comments that aren't liberal enough. Whats's a few more? Did you ever stop to think why people opt out? Why they are so fed up? Do you really think its about $1500 a year?
ReplyDeleteHas the powerful uft, with all the dues, stopped awful principals like dwarka, henry stephens, mccgreggor and all the others? Perhaps if they had 110% dues. Or 150%. What more do you want from the people who paid or still pay dues? But keep hoping for change. Have you seen the uft come into 1 building and ask how no shows pass? Or say to a principal if you threaten one teacher about grades we will put you in the NY Post? I didn't think so. And yes, they've been informed, and they did nothing. They did nothing when teachers were assaulted. They did nothing when asked for help. They did nothing except say you are lucky to have a job.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing the uft ignored. Dues well spent. Candidate Kathryn Garcia has referred to Tweed, the DOE bureaucracy, as a "black hole" with layer upon layer of higher-ups.
ReplyDeleteFor me it becomes very time consuming to deal with comments about opting out and then complaints about comments.
ReplyDeleteThe question none of you can answer:
When in history has there been a huge opt out from a union and then working conditions improved for working people?
Still waiting for an example but you follow here all day.
For the guy who says I censor comments that aren't liberal enough: I printed all of the anti-union comments which is decidedly not liberal.
So you are doing the liberal thing, censor people like everything is fine. De blasio let everyone out of jail, is there no crime? California is doing the same. Portand did the same. The doe stopped suspending, are there no violations of the discipline code? We pass everyone and everyone graduates, do they deserve it? James, this blog has become an embarrassment. Hope you're proud. I will opt out of returning here. Check that, I will return in 5 years and your echo chamber will still be saying "I think it will get better soon, we just need to band together." A few questions, if everyone stops mentioning opt out...Then what? So nobody will be saying it? And what happens when Mulgrew gets 86% again next year. And despite 15 billion dollars to NY State we get 1% raises again? And what about the others who pay dues who keep complaining about all the problems. What's your answer? Just live with it? Hope for change? Haven't we hoped enough? Are you going to stop writing bad things about the uft failures? Stop writing about the uft not allowing people to speak at meetings? Stop talking about people in unity being forced to never speak against unity? Wow, for a pro union guy, you speak badly about the union, while telling people to keep paying into the union. Is Mulgrew giving you a cut of his $300k?
ReplyDeleteAnd you did it again, you wrote the same excuse and ignored what 100% dues has gotten us. Nothing and abused.
ReplyDeleteOkay, 4:53, Instead of going in a circle, why do you guys still come here regularly?
ReplyDeleteJames,
ReplyDeleteI imagine people come here because they are teachers and they are not being heard or being ignored in their schools so they need a place to complain. Maybe the uft should have a better presence and there wouldn't be people complaining so much or opting out. That's the point you keep missing.
Who are "you guys?" You say the uft sucks everyday in every thread, get a million comments about the uft sucking, then wonder why people opt out. Let me count the reasons. Is Biden still a moderate?
ReplyDeleteYou censor honest, factual, rightful comments which clearly explain why schools must have grade fraud.
ReplyDeleteYou just had Stringer and Garcia say the doe is a complete mess. They aren't opt outers. Why hasn't mulgrew cleaned it up? He is comfortable, that is why.
ReplyDeleteInstead of asking what would happen if people opted out, why not ask what has happened with everyone opted in? You are framing it in your way while ignoring pretty obvious failures. Actually, you don't ignore it, you talk about it everyday, but then flip it around with your pathetic "it will get worse" excuse. How about "fuck this, we aren't paying until they deserve to be paid."
ReplyDeleteI don't print things that I wouldn't accept from students because they are either unsorted or lead us to websites that any fact checker would call completely unreliable.
ReplyDeleteTo all the morons on this blog. James DOES NOT think unity caucus is doing a good job. He knows they suck. He also knows the importance of having a union. So the solution for the one millionth time is: KEEP THE UNION , GET RID OF UNITY. If James thought that by opting out it would achieve the goal of ousting unity AND replacing with something better, guess what? He would call for an opt out. BUT an opt out will do nothing except leave us more unprotected unless there is something to take unity’s place. Why is this so hard for you idiots to understand. If you live in a shitty house you buy a new house or fix the one you have, you don’t decide to become homeless and at the mercy of the elements!
ReplyDeleteOk, please just answer this...What happens if mulgrew wins by a ksndslide again. What happens if we can't get rid of him? Which we cant...What then? Then will opt out work, or just keep taking a beating. You just keep saying if, if, if...At least opt out is a real action. But im sure you guys already figured this out, which is why things keep deteriorating. When I'm in my deathbed you will still be trying to oust unity.
DeleteThat hasn't worked. If after all this he got 86%, what is plan B?
DeletePlan B 6:05 is a united opposition. Not seen since 1997 in a UFT election.
DeleteThis thread is funny, but true. The complaints are 100% valid. Beat up on opt outers for whatever reason, forget the fact the we have so many shithole schools and shithead principals. That's how to keep teachers together.
ReplyDelete551. We fully understood your “millionth time solution” the first time James said it. We just don’t agree for reasons previously stated.
ReplyDeleteYou are not convincing us and we are not persuading you so why not end the argument 6:07 once and for all? We have limited time in the day.
ReplyDeleteWe need to start thinking about that 2022 election and trying to build a united front to run against Unity.
James being two two faced. He says opt out cant work. Yet, he never says paying dues doesn't work, which has been proven. Meanwhile, we have 90% of the staff unhappy. So much for those dues.
ReplyDeleteIf the overwhelming majority of teachers actually voted instead of throwing the ballot out, we could turn things around and vote out Unity
ReplyDeleteAnother important thing is that only one caucus should run against Unity. If several run, the votes opposed to Unity are going to be spread out amongst the other caucuses.
ReplyDeleteI do vote, every time, against unity. Guess what. Good luck in 2022. Guess what, I can predict the future.
ReplyDeleteWhat was the definition of insanity? Keep doing the same thing and expect a different outcome. James, keep trying, wishing and hoping. You are making a fool of yourself. Wait till you get the barrage after the 2022 election as mulgrew keeps laughing. We are suckers.
ReplyDeleteJames, congrats, you are Mulgrew's useful idiot.
ReplyDeleteDamn.
ReplyDeleteI agree with opt out but insulting James for what he believes is wrong. James has given us his reasons. He has given those who disagree a platform to express themselves. At this point we’re rehashing the same thing again and again and it’s pointless. No one is convincing anyone to change their mind on this issue. Time to let it go on this blog if James wants to.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that I am taking the time to respond to such nonsense is something I find very amusing...but in all seriousness. if anyone that knows James Eterno...knows he is not FAKE!.. what is fake is some comments about James..and what's pathetic is you follow his blog because you are a loss soul without it LOL! LMAO LOL
ReplyDeleteDefinition of insanity is folks coming on this blog when they disagree with everything being posted. And then being frustrated that James isn't changing his stance. James has his own opinion and created a blog to voice it.
ReplyDeleteThose who disagree can always create a rival blog - heck there are so many here that disagree that you can probably create your own caucus at that point.
Could say the same about paying dues and expecting a change.
Delete