UFT CONTRACT EXPIRES AT MIDNIGHT

Did you know that the UFT up until the 1990s the UFT had a "No Contract=No Work" policy. It made the end date of a contract mean something. Strikes by public employees were illegal back then just as they are now in NYS but the UFT was an actual labor union. Obviously, that expiration date meaning something is as obsolete as my cassettes from those days. era.

Today as the current UFT Contract expires, we get an email from President Michael Mulgrew (see below) and a collective yawn.

I am trying to think of a fitting slogan;

"No Contract = we'll beg Adams to pretty please negotiate."

"No Contract, so could we please sell out the retirees on Mulgrewcare so DC 37 can set a lousy wage pattern we can give to UFTers?"

They both don't have a ring to them so can readers kindly help me out.

Your slogan in comments. We'll find a prize for the best. Thanks.

Mulgrew's email

Dear _____________,

As of midnight tonight, we will be working under an expired contract for the first time since April 2014.

The UFT is ready and willing to sit down at the bargaining table with the city to negotiate the next DOE-UFT contract. Our 500-member negotiating committee has been meeting since March. The responses from 32,000 UFT members to our bargaining survey last spring will direct our negotiating strategy once talks begin.

The Adams administration, however, has yet to begin bargaining with any municipal union and is crying poverty despite having deep financial reserves.

Under state law governing public employees, the terms of an expired agreement remain in effect until a new one is reached. The list of important reasons for securing a new contract is long. At the forefront, however, is our need for a new contract in order to secure across-the-board pay increases. Salary steps and differentials still remain in effect as we work under the expired contract, but they are nowhere near enough.

We plan to move as aggressively as possible to reach a deal given how inflation has raised the cost of living over the past year. The mayor’s reluctance to bargain is a slap in the face to all the city workers who helped our city get through the pandemic.

And at a time when New York City has unprecedented financial reserves, the mayor has called upon his agencies to slash their budgets. New York City will never rebound from the pandemic if we don't have a better plan for the future.

During the Bloomberg administration, we were denied a contract for more than four years. The labor strategy at that time was to stall negotiations to make workers desperate and willing to settle for less. It is no coincidence that Mayor Adams appointed many Bloomberg-era people to many city agencies including the DOE, and the same delay tactics by the same players are possibly being used again.

As the working people of New York, we are calling for the mayor to meet us at the bargaining table. The city must prioritize reaching fair contracts that recognize educators and other city workers for the important work that they do.

We will keep you updated on any and all developments.

Sincerely,

Michael Mulgrew

UFT President