Our daughter Kara directed this video of the Eterno family voting for United for Change. Please get out the vote.
If you don't receive a ballot by Monday, April 18 or yours is incorrect, call the American Arbitration Association at 800 218-5524 (Monday-Friday 9am-5pm) to get a new one. You can also email UlerioS@adr.org. April 25, the day after vacation ends, at 5 pm is the deadline day to request a ballot. They must be received by AAA by May 9.
Those dates are tight as UFTers are on vacation next week. That's more evidence the UFT wants a low turnout. It is why they rejected electronic or in-school voting.
79 comments:
You win for cutest and best campaign video - God bless you, your wife and adorable, smart children. You two are doing something right!
You win for best campaign video! Mom and Dad are doing something right with your adorable and brilliant children. God bless you and yours
On behalf of Kara, thanks, Mike.
Nice video. But, I'm voting for Mulgrew. He's a proven leader and has guided us through the most treacherous time in our union's history. Without his leadership, we would have been sunk long ago. UFC leadership would be a disaster. The coalition would fracture on day one. The leftists would be clamoring for an agenda way to the left of mainstream rank and file. Camille would be under attack from her own caucus, and would be looking for support from UNITY reps, who understand how things work. Rather than have this chaotic fire drill, let's stick with Mulgrew.
11:40: Thank you Mrs. Mulgrew.
You are wrong, 11:40. Camille and United for Change give UFTers hope for a better future. If we won, it would shake up the entire labor movement.
Unity people have predicted the coalition would fracture from the moment we came together but instead we have come closer in many ways. United for Change is going to set priorities based on where the members are, not the Democratic Party elites like Mulgrew does. Mulgre offers nothing but new concessions.
UFC offers a better union.
1140 is an example of why nothing changes and we are left with the same problems year after year.
Anonymous 11:40 Mulgrew has not reduced class sizes. Mulgrew has not returned the fixed TDA to 8.25% like all administrators enjoy. Teachers have lost thousands in over 11 years. Why should Mulgrew and his cronyies get a UFT and a NYC pension as well. Vote Mulgrew out.
1140 lost credibility the moment they started with leftist labeling. People have different views. There's enough room to compromise. Unity didn't help me at all so I will try UFC.
Let's face it any person who hasn't been in the classroom in the past years is not prepared and should not be considered for the presidency of this Union.
12 years out of the classroom is like a whole new world.
Muldrow and the cronies don't understand what's going on and they don't really care clearly.
Do you think Camille will take a pay cut and refuse UFT pension when she starts working 24/7 as president?
Leo is DSA. He is socialist.
This will probably be more than you want to know.
Leo Casey first became prominent in the New
American Movement (NAM) after 1970. NAM had about 900
very active members. NAM grew out of that section of
Students for a Democratic Society(SDS) that did not
want to become Maoist or Weather People.
It was also joined by about 150 people who left the
CP-USA (Mostly Dorothy Healey's frinds. Some people
described NAM as Left Social Democratic. Others said
it was the closest that ever came to a EuroCommunist
grouping in America. Barbara Ehrenright (spelling?)
was a typical NAM member.
When the proposal to merge with the Democratic
Socialist Organizing Committee (DSOC) was made, Casey
was one of its strongest supporters. After the
merger, Casey went to work in the national office.
The merged name was Democratic Socialists of
America(DSA).
11:40 obviously is one of Mulgrew's workers or cronies that goes around blogs and writes positive things about him. It's like employees writing good things about their hotels, restaurants and stores on Trip Advisor and Yelp.
A former retired colleague tends to throw out her ballot. This year she will be voting United for Change. My vote has been mailed: United for Change.
If it weren’t for the America hating commies in MORE I would vote UFC. I despise Mulgrew but I despise commies more. That’s what it comes down to for me. I don’t trust that Camille can withstand their influence. Maybe I’m wrong but I’m not willing to risk it. MORE is the reason I can’t vote for Camille. I’m not a Unity troll. My family knows about communism first hand. They are a cancer in our union and in our country.
United for Change tilts left but consists of UFT members to the left, center and even to the right of the political spectrum. No group within the coalition has a majority. Vote for us based on how we would run the UFT. We stand for me member empowerment. Watch how we conduct business within our own chapters as chapter leaders or how we operate as delegates, not some world view notion.
639 clearly you know very little. wanting to save our union, or America, is not hating it. that level of dedication is quite the opposite.
the red bashing is really crazy. is this Unity's move? just hate on communists? i guess people really miss the cold war.
A person who follows communism has bad judgement. Not about cold War. I'd say the same for birthers or climate deniers.
1210. I'd say that about those liberals that bow to capitalists and just go about accepting being exploited. But, some people are naturally just submissive. And i guess they don't understand why some of us choose to fight for better things. Kinda like the Unity caucus.
The leftists on this blog are the reason why I will not vote for UFC. I don’t think Camille is a communist but I don’t trust the company she keeps. Red bashing? Did you mean red baiting? Red baiting is falsely accusing people of being communist. Right here in this blog nyc teachers have praised communism. It’s not a false allegation and dismissing those of us who have legitimate concerns about the leftists nut job ideology doesn’t gain you votes. I don’t need to have a “world view notion” The small view of teachers on this blog is enough to say no to these leftists whether Camille is one of them is irrelevant. I can’t side with these people. They will not be satisfied with bread and butter issues. They will insert their commie agenda every chance they get. Ideally I hope I am wrong about communist influence and Camille wins. But she’ll have to do so without my vote this time. If you want conservative teachers to vote for you try taking us seriously. I work with a good number of conservative Christians and Jews and even a couple of conservative Muslims. None of us are pleased with the left’s gender/sex ideology being taught in schools. We don’t think leftists have any business pushing their values on our children any more than we should be pushing our religion’s values on our students. But keep calling us crazy or racist or transphobic instead of admitting that some on your side have lost their minds. Do what you want but don’t expect our votes. And for the record I think Mulgrew is an incompetent boob.
@10:07 am. Some of these folks are beyond ignorant. I sure hope they aren't educators. I guess they are who some people say are our best and brightest.
United for Change is made up of UFTers from across the political spectrum. If you really believe: "And for the record I think Mulgrew is an incompetent boob," then why wouldn't you vote him out?
By not voting, you are essentially saying you are fine with three more years of Mulgrew. Only a huge vote for United for Change will give us any hope of a better union.
125pm...but you don't mind collecting that paycheck. Puhlese
Easter! Problem is that both current uft and ufc are both leftists.
Imho, politics don't belong in the union.its our money, it should be for member issues.i stated this to my d.r.via email in response to the survey about which issues were important. she was unclear about what I meant.
God bless you and yours too, Mike
"SINCE THE early 1960s, the leadership of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) has tried to project itself as a union of professionals, paid and treated accordingly. The largest teachers’ union in the country, representing 200,000 members, practices traditional service unionism, focusing on benefits and salaries. This approach, however, has sacrificed democratic involvement of the rank and file, community alliances, and the building of “shop-floor” power, a neglect that has resulted over time in deteriorating working conditions."
And lower wages, reduced health care and retirement benefits or total compensation. This is what we are getting from UFT and this is what we will continue to see if we re-elect them. So vote them out.
If you are a bread and butter member, it's a no-brainer. Don't worry about communists or socialists or whatever . . . these are not going to pinch your bottom line.
The paragraph quoted above is from a book a recommended here, read it here---->
https://isreview.org/issue/80/different-kind-teachers-union/index.html
What does your response mean 3:51? Who is bothered by collecting a pay check except lazy oafs who don’t want to work? Don’t most people want a paycheck? Don’t see relevance of paycheck to the topic.
Will ufc continue to support blm just like unity so blm can go buy another 6 million dollar mansion. Now that's good use of our union dollars
@911...it's as relevant as 1:25 pm's opinion piece.
If the UfC slate wins, that means all the current officers, with all their on the job experience, get replaced by people with zero experience. Every officer of the UFT went through a long apprenticeship, first working PM staff at the local borough office. Then, they became lower level full time staff. Then, after years of learning and establishing relationships with DoE counterparts, they were elected officers. If you vote UfC, you are replacing these seasoned officers with teachers who have no experience at the UFT. Let’s take an example. Debra Penny is the Treasurer. She worked as a teacher for 32 years, then as a PM staffer in pension at the Staten Island office, then full time as an Ed liaison, then as a Special Rep, then a borough rep of Staten Island. Only then did she become a trustee of the pension, where she was mentored by Mel Aronson. After all these decades of experience, she became our treasurer. Do you think it is wise to replace her with Luli Rodriguez, a very fine person and great teacher who has absolutely no experience in pension matters? When you call Debra Penny you are speaking to 40 years of experience. Luli will have none. How can she possibly answer your questions or advocate effectively for your pension priorities? How will she know what to do as Treasurer? Vote UNITY slate. Preserve hundreds of years of collective expertise.
The three teacher representatives on the Teachers Retirement System board would not change if United for Change won. Pensions are protected by the New York State Constitution. By 2:39's corporate logic, there could never be a change of leadership from Unity at the UFT.
That collective Unity experience has failed the membership repeatedly. Luli has an accounting background. She will do just fine as treasurer.
The next two biggest teacher locals in the country, United Teachers of Los Angeles and the Chicago Teachers Union, both changed leadership groups in the 2010's. The members of those unions ended up with better working conditions. It can happen here too. Vote United for Change.
Mulgrew has 13 years of experience selling us out. Camille and company will not sell us out and they will enforce the contract. Vote United for Change. End Unity one party control.
Unity sucks.
Will UFC back BLM like unity does?
Will UFC back BLM like unity??
Look at the UFC platform. Not even there.
EXTRA EXTRA read all about it! Former principal of Maspeth convicted of grade fraud gets to keep his job with the DOE and earn his $187,000 salary while doing a desk job. Great job Banks and Adams. You're really making a difference! I can picture this principal smirking at all the teachers who turned him in and other principals in the DOE saying "Ha Ha Bitches!"
I actually respect the hard conservative anti-communist view expressed - I think you are wrong but I can see where you are coming from. There is a right wing in the UFT. You should form a caucus.
I think there is so many reasons to be anti-capitalist. Think of this. We find oil on public lands and instead of doing what Norway does -- own it and run it and make the profits available to everyone in society we hand it over to private interests. Like Mulgrew handing over our Medicare to profit makers.
You are right to vote Unity - they were formed to oppose the left and support capitalism. You are perfect together.
While I am a member of DSA I consider myself a soft socialist - Scandinavian style - and also have reason to mistrust those who are revolutionary socialists -- one party - like Unity by the way - and ultimately lead to a strong man -- and I emphasize man.
So let me point out how this coalition - UFC - was formed to make sure a hard left group did not become the voice of the opposition in the UFT. That will never be able to challenge Unity for power. The Eternos are not hard left at all and Solidarity certainly isn't. ICE has always been left but open to all points of view. Retiree Advocate leans left. We've been discovering that with so many new members even MORE is not monolithic.
It is funny how you opt for a system of one party control that echose the roots of Unity -- out of the anti-Stalinist Trotsky wing of the left using the same party structures. You reject the more democratic model of UFC with its wideer range -- much more parliamentary like.
I think BLM as a concept is worth backing. How it has been presented is problematical. But you can't erase history. Black lives have not mattered compared to white lives. Look at the numbers over the past century. And that is not CRT but truth.
BLM is still not in the UFC platform.
Every unity person in power, except one has being unhelpful, stupid or both.
My school needs help and my DR isn’t smart enough to answer basic questions to protect the teachers in my school.
When a higher up UFT Unity person appeared at my school they took the side of the Principal and against the teacher and contract.
Can’t wait until they are voted out.
To be fair, not all unity people are bad.i can say that from personal experience.mulgrew is, but there are hard- working people there and it isn't fair to lump everyone together.i like my D.R.for starters.
If Mulgrew is ousted, things can improve via domino effect, ie how things roll, for starters.we have to respect the honest work people did for many years and not just clean it all out.ill be happy to see Mildoo out for starters.
I have not seen a response on how Camille plans to handle the teachers with exemptions that are expiring in june.hoe will she help, or not?
She will help every UFTer the best she can.
District reps will be elected if United for Change wins as they were before 2003 when Randi turned it into an appointed position.
James, what I am asking is will she fight to protect us as a group against termination. We all want to return.what happened was political charades.looks like Adam's is stuck on stupid, allowing the athletes and musicians to work, but not the people worked during covid, including teachers.i hope she has the desire to fight for our return,(or at least to continue exemption working separately, if the politicians won't budge).with this assurance, she can earn my vote.
Focus needs to be on working conditions of the members in the trenches...that's why I joined the UFT...and why I want Mulgrew and crew out of the leadership.
Very important. One of my schools was in a district with CLs of varied caucuses plus unaffiliated. DR worked hard for everyone. He got personal flack from Unity but CLs lined up with strong support each DR election. Last district, DR makes deals with principals left and right, even ignoring staunch Unity CLs. We always wondered why we paid UFT dues to protect the principals. Did I mention, DR is a member of Mulgrew's circle ... This sorely needed change will increase the diversity of voices from the membership and enable accountability at the district level.
Still no responseto a vital question.Raises are irrelevant if you don't have a job! People on exemptio feel it will be more of the same...
There's no way Camille should take up the fight for workers to continue working UNLESS they are on verified medical exemption. You don't want to abide by the rules, find another job. I'm sick of picking up the slack for employees who are are not on the ground.
7:40 no answer is an answer. Ufc is pro firing unvaxed teachers. They will do nothing for you. Unity not much different but I'm not voting for new caucus unless that caucus is vocally anti mandate
Voted #UFC_ SLATE
Voted #UFC_SLATE
10:37 I am on medical exemption, hence my question.will she throw us under the bus?
I'm picking and choosing.ehen I see names of people I like, I bubble them in.
10:36 I would agree if the rules were fair and valid-and now, you can ride on a plane maskless for hours.
I am pro choice for jab but pro mask mandate at this point. Masks don't guarantee, but a good mask can protect.the flimsy doe masks are a waste.
10:36 I am not on religious exemption, but I do believe that people should not be forced to do what is against their morality.a physician has a right to refuse to perform abortions without job loss.
Question to consider for all:how much are you willing to do something unethical to keep your job? People report grade fraud because it is unethical.i applaud their courage.
If a person chooses not to utilize products for ethical reasons, it should not cause job loss.(use of fetal tissue in this instance).people choose cruelty free personal care products, choose sustainability, eat vegan, donate to humanitarian causes.even our tda has such an option. By the way, people I know on exemption, people I know who were terminated, people I know who chose retirement over this, people I know who took leave:EVERY PERSON I KNOW PERSONALLY IN THESE CATEGORIES WAS A VERY HARD, WONDERFUL WORKER.How do you equate this situation to YOU pulling THEIR load?? Many teachers I know do nothing and are still working.We pull their load.Is it possible that you are one that we are pulling??
Your reasoning is faulty and unfortunately, the students suffer for having lost great staff and are being staffed with day to day subs.
Adams and Hochul do not care about kids, you, me, or anyone else they proclaim to serve.
And to reiterate, I resent your accusation that you pull our load.im on medical exemption and I teach a full load. I hope you retract your offensive statements.
Meanwhile, UFC is still silent.i haven't mailed my ballot yet.i am awaiting an acceptable answer before I cast my vote.i don't like Mike, but I will only vote otherwise if I think all members will be valued, including those of us on exemption. Those terminated or on leave should be reinstated and compensated.the city wasted the covid money on subs.that money could have gone towards raises and other improvements for all.
We want to return!
The DOE waste money! Oh Contrare! Don't forget the principal of Maspeth gets a desk job for the next 7 years at 180,000 bucks a year. Don't forget all the money wasted on the ATR pool for 15 years and don't forget all the money wasted on consultants and the renewal program. The DOE waste money. That's a novelty?
Absolutely huge wasters and claims no money for raises or smaller class sizes ir books, or equipment, blah blah.it is disgusting.
A musing...when we closed in 2020, I was fearful and grateful.i was grateful that those with medical conditions qualified to work remotely, as I am one of them.
Now a report comes out stating NY came in 49th place in dealing with the pandemic.even though I disagree with Florida's lack of masking as I saw their crazy numbers, they came out as number 1 in dealing with the situation. I'm scratching my head.
10:11 - LOL @ "loss of great staff". At my school we lost ONE person who didn't want to vaccinate and I for one am glad to see her gone. She was far, far from "good staff". Right wing wacko who did nothing but spread wild-eyed conspiracy theories. Hooray, Hurrah that she's gone. And YES, those of us who are here are pulling your load so if you're not going to be coming back, then there is no way I would support this nonsense of keeping you on the payroll because as you say "being staffed with subs". I don't care that you think my comments are offensive.
It's offensive that you folks are on here day in and day out haranguing James and Camille on this topic, crying and whining, as if they have the final say over the Mayor on vaccine mandatates. I specifically said "UNLESS they're on medical exemption", so if you're still offended, learn to read and comprehend, and stop claiming you're such a star employee when you can't read a simple sentence.
PLENTY of things I don't approve of in the workplace. Don't want to utilize a product because of your "ethics"? Find another job.
The people who didn't want to vaccinate couldn't be reasoned with. Initially the city called for widespread testing and that too was an issue with the incessant complaining about testing on their own time, waah, waah, to the point that the city had to offer time off with pay. They finally realized that the right wing kooks were going to have an issue with it all because they just like to hear themselves rant and complain. Whoever wins should spend their political capital and energy on better working conditions, pay that is better aligned with our increasing workloads, and another look at Tier VI.
At one time when COVID appeared to be slowing down I thought those who weren't vaccinated would be allowed back. Once Omnicron came around that was the end of any chance of that and anyone thinking that a NY Mayor would reverse course at this time because a UFT President is making noise about it, is just not rational. More teachers left because of working conditions, NOT because of the vaccine.
Yes I forgot about all the teachers who refused to get vaxed who stayed on payroll. Now there is a report out that teachers who got fake vax cards got an email saying not to report to work on Monday pending review. They were taken off payroll, but will still keep their benefits for now.
For some of us the vaccine mandates are the reason we’re not running into UFC’s arms even though we don’t like Unity. I’m vaccinated and anti mandate and for the first time I will not vote in a UFT election. Screwing us on healthcare was bad but I’ll take a financial hit with private insurance over voting for a caucus that was on board with forcing teachers to choose between an experimental vaccine and their jobs. A caucus that does that has not earned my vote. To be fair, I do like a lot about UFC but the mandates sunk them for me.
12:56 Boo hoo mandates. Then don't complain about workloads, grade fraud, abusive administration, and lousy pay, because that's exactly what's going to continue.
@624pm. You're right but some people love cutting off their nose to spite their face. Sick
Are their far right schools where they can go to work?
Sure @9:37 - they can move to Texas, or Alabama. Lol
@10:11 - here's one person's answer to your question as to "how much are you willing to do unethical to keep your job" (of course it's only YOUR OPINION that requiring vaccinations for a job is unethical:
"The officer, who declined to provide his name because he’s not authorized to speak to the press, said the notice came shortly after he discovered his wife was pregnant, which influenced his decision-making process.
“This is a situation where I have to disregard my beliefs in order to get a paycheck, and it doesn’t sit well with me,” the detective said last week, before he made the decision.
After getting his shot, the officer said he said he felt “as violated as a man can feel,” but admitted that, physically, he felt fine."
So yeah, people have to make hard decisions that go against their personal views every day in order to FEED AND SUPPORT their families. You're not being asked to kill anyone or to harm another person. Not being asked to lie, cheat or steal to keep your job. Yeah they do put pressure on people to pass students but the most you'll get is an earful from your administration, you won't get fired for it. Don't want to hear it, WEAR EARPLUGS. Enough of your egotistical and sanctimonious yapping.
I am 10:11
Well don't dare dream of holding the city accountable when you develop health issues from the jab.not everyone will, of course. Probably, nobody will even connect the dots to their conditions.for religious exemptions, injecting serums tied to dead/aborted babies is way more immoral than grade fraud.why is that hard to respect?do you make fun of people's garb or dietary practices they adopt due to religious belief??people have had litigation about those rules as well.there is a pandemic of intoleration and disrespect, it seems.
Coercion is not consent!
I know much of my staff did not want the shot. They were coerced to to keep their livelihood. Shame on Hochul, Diblockhead, and Adams.Shame on members who don't respect individual health choice. I'm done ranting.que Sera sera...
12:19 - why would people blame the city? BEFORE the mandate people were lining up for hours and crossing state lines to get the vaccine. You think that people took the shot because "the city" forced them. They didn't. Not all, and not most.
It's not hard to respect that injecting "serums ties to dead/aborted babies" is immoral, that's just some crackpot garbage that you wackos came up with, that has no relation to science "the COVID-19 vaccines do not contain any aborted fetal cells. However, fetal cell lines – cells grown in a laboratory based on aborted fetal cells collected generations ago – were used in testing during research and development of the mRNA vaccines, and during production of the Johnson & Johnson vaccines. The Vatican and bishops agree. The Vatican has issued clear guidance that permits Roman Catholics in good faith to receive COVID-19 vaccines that use fetal cell lines in development or production"
In your twisted little thinking you are more moral than THE POPE.
And your comment asking "do you make fun of people's garb or dietary practices" is nothing more than a lame, elementary, and idiotic straw man.
2:57 - Shame on YOU for not respecting that others have different opinions than on on the vaccine, and for blaming others for the decisions made by those in power. Shame on YOU for trying to shame members if they don't support your views on the vaccine. Members didn't make the choice to take people off payroll so get over yourself.
The point is that everyone has a right to an opinion and that opinion should be respected even if it is different from someone else's. The politicians have tried to sow division and try to cancel people's opinions if they differ.they were successful because it seems like two sides.personal choice!Had they been transparent and ethical, many of us would have confidently submitted.BUT instead, they threaten a doc who questions, suppress treatments,lie and hide data, etc.
You correctly state that people sought out the jabs, without force;but many did not.they held out.they are my coworkers.i don't shame anyone for their opinions.i shame them for not respecting others'.To each his own;if you choose a lifetime of boosters, that is your choice.i respect your choice.however, it is not my choice(and others) and it should be respected. If you reread my previous post, I wrote shame for disrespecting others' choices.notice I did NOT say shame for your choice.
And for the record, for the second time, I am stating that I am NOT on religious exemption! But I respect their beliefs.some clergy actually that high up clergy were bought out.obviously, I do not know if it is true or not.but with the tarnished history of the Vatican, I wouldn't trust them anyway.finally, Michael kane rightly pointed out that nobody should compare one's beliefs to the top clergy as everyone is an individual.i know you will run with this one and I get why.nevertheless, medical decisions are personal involving physician, clergy, or whomever.
At least you can express an opinion here, try that on a Unity site. You will get nowhere. United for Change.
12:12 - You seem to be arguing with yourself and hopefully you're not a teacher because that's one long unintelligible rant.
From what little is decipherable, I saw exactly what you wrote, all in the same breath condemning anyone who doesn't agree with you and calling the comments "offensive". Just as you are baselessly claiming that "high up clergy were bought out" which you then try to soften by saying "I do not know if it is true or not, but". You talk out of both sides of your mouth and spread things that are not true.
NONE of what you wrote excuses the constant bashing of teachers and UFC, and threatening to withhold your vote if Camille doesn't publicly change her tune. LOL - SURE that'll get the city to reverse course. It's STUPID. Moreover, you wrote earlier "Those terminated or on leave should be reinstated and compensated". I DISAGREE and you have been on a rant due to that disagreement, so how the hell is that respecting someone else's opinion? It's not simply respecting someone's right to vaccinate or not. Nobody gives a shit whether you do or don't. We don't have to agree with, or support your call to return. Do you get it NOW? Probably not. You'll just find something else to screech about.
Your comment is contradictory.i will no longer address this point.At the end of the day, all is an exercise in futility as none of us have political clout to move mountains.i find it not helpful that people on this blog can't respectfully agree to disagree but be united as a union. It is embarrassing and doesn't speak well for us. People talk about Mulgrew but we are our own worst enemy. Seems that way with every issue brought up.
@10:06. If you want to see people respectfully agree to disagree maybe you should start with yourself.
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