LIVE BLOGGING FROM OCTOBER 24, 2022 EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING

Moment of silence for Barbara Miley, retired former District 30 Representative who passed away.  Current DR gives a small tribute. 

Three speakers for Open Mic. 

Speaker 1- Early childhood educators who came to Executive Board on September 12. Tell of meeting with UFT that did not go well. Met with DOE and it didn't go well. Next meeting went better. UFT seemed sincere. All were excessed. We think you are working with the City and not us. We are not trusting leadership. We need to help those who cannot help themselves. Work together to save public education.

Melissa Williams is speaker 2. Unpack what happened Oct 3. Nick Bacon introduced a resolution opposing Medicare Advantage. Ilona gave a heartfelt speech. Reply was to take a sign down and to tell her she had to watch what should be bought. UFT supports the healthcare for all act for all in 2015. Many UFTers lost family members in the pandemic. We've seen how broken the healthcare system is. Why isn't resolution on healthcare allowed to get to DA. Opposition doesn't come from a naive place. We have educated opinions that differ from leadership's.

Norm Scott-We need hours to discuss things. Mulgrew's FAQ is full of fiction. Healthcare costs up 24% going to stock buybacks, higher profits. What do companies have to gain by giving us unique health plan. Mulgrew said administrative costs. 15% administrative costs. Medicare is 2% administrative. This is like charter schools. They want to privatize Medicare. Medicare is public. Using same argument Eva Moskowitz uses to justify private schools. With Republicans in charge, public schools will be on life support. 

Staff Director's Report

Leroy Barr gave a set of dates including Teacher union dates. 

Question Period

Ibeth Mejia-Why do retirees pay any premiums for healthcare.

Joe Ustach: Retirees do not pay a premium for their healthcare plan. They pay but they get it reimbursed.

Second question: Why are we calling for a change in 12-126 when the 1992 agreement protects us with very strong language that says the city and MLC must AGREE on any healthcare changes?

Answer: We have to change the code to keep choice.

Lydia Howrilka: Why has there been no para chapter leader election yet?

Leroy Barr Answer: There is an IA Chapter Leader and there will be an election soon.

Mike Schirtzer: Where is the federal money going as we have no budget for extras like clubs and other extracurricular activities?

Mike Sill answers DOE says federal money will dry up. Extracurricular activities shouldn't be cut. We will look at your school's budget. Where is that federal money for things like enrichment.

Followup: What can we do? We are fine with opening up our books. What do we do with Freshmen who need transition to high schools?

Sill Answer: Money is hiding at City Hall.

Ronnie Almonte: Question about data and NY Health Act. Mulgrew concern is with the numbers. Where are those numbers? Can we see the data? FAQ links to article with pro charter Manhattan Institute. Where are the numbers that show the New York Health Act is something we shouldn't support? Where are objective numbers?

Joe Ustach from Welfare Fund answers that there were discussions at the MLC. There was questionable language in the bill. Questions about step therapies and colonoscopies. This will bankrupt NYS and put us in a financial crisis. This needs to be done on the national level. No checks and balances. He will go back and try to dig up more information.

Nick Bacon: Question on how many teachers are calling Member Assistance Program sfor help and not hearing back?

Leroy Barr answers that he wants to know who has not gotten a call back. Email Leroy but we must acknowledge the great work MAP has done. 

Followup from Nick: Given that GHI may not be the provider, is this problem going to get solved?

Joe Ustach: National crisis with psych assistance. Not enough providers in the nation to support the amount of people who need help. We have partnered with Hello Hero to meet needs. Emblem Health outsources to someone. It is being talked about, discussed, and pushed. We are triaging as we do the health benefit exploration we are doing. Conversations with Emblem about what we are speaking about. Email

Raul Garcia Social Worker Chapter Leader says there is an issue with identifying providers. We had a presentation from Hello Heros. Tina has a connection with them. They are doing an amazing job. 

Ilona Nanay: Thanks rank and filers who came out to speak. Why other members who came to speak did not speak during open mic?

Leroy Barr says he only received three emails. They could have raised their hands if they were in the house. That time has passed. They did not raise their hands when it was time.

Ilona says it is an intimidating space. What are the next steps for the early childhood instructional coaches? They are being replaced by non-union people.

Michael Sill answers that these questions were asked last Thursday. We saw a new crisis last week. They are being shown as in excess but not on other sites. There was confusion. Person wanted to see vacancies throughout the system. DOE taking snapshots of vacancies to show what is available but they used Excess Staff Selection System wrong. Why didn't they tell anybody? They should have shown us this. We wanted to send communication out. They are in excess so they shouldn't be going to the same workplace.  We still didn't hear about vacancies. This is not the year for this reorganization to go in place. Still waiting for DOE response. We will fight to see you don't end up in excess.

Lydia Howrilka: Over 50 teachers came to her were discontinued or didn't get tenured and are being held back from getting other positions. They have to go through OPI. They wait 3-4 weeks while waiting for a position. What will UFT do to move this along?

Mike Sill answers that OPI investigations and nominations. If someone is discontinued, they get a problem code which means a person can't go on automatically to a school's Table of Organization. High schools are a citywide district. Can't get hired in the same district, even if it is a new borough. Acknowledgement protocol goes in. Principal can hire someone then. Principals will sometimes see problem code and then blames system. Principals sometimes try to avoid difficult conversations.  We can move this with the DOE if principal wants to hire someone. 

Amy Arundell adds that District Reps call people and we provide openings for Excess Staff Selection Process. We help people who are discontinued. 

Ilona follows up with CUNY people coming in for coaching. What is UFT doing?

Mike Sill answers and then someone says we are all the UFT.

Pre K teacher with 3k and PreK class and no services yet for this year. If I fill out a sped complaint, am I burning bridges with the administration?

Mary Jo Genese says you or parent can file sped complaint. You can file anonymously.

Karen Alford adds something else. 

Reports from Districts

Several reports including Mary Vacarro talking about how many teacher centers there are. Mike Schirtzer reports on other events including making strides against breast cancer and a meeting for students to introduce them to union jobs. More reports follow. Tom Murphy reported on polls not looking good for the election but urged people not to be complacent and to vote. He added he didn't want to imagine what losing one  or both of the Houses of Congress and how we could lose rights. Carl Cambria (I believe) Anne Goldman credited with work at NYU for the Federation of Nurses. She put staffing ratios into contracts. We've grieved and gone to arbitration to force hospitals into compliance with staffing ratios. 1,000 nurses filed grievances. Hospitals had to pay 734 nurses $100,000 for work they did. Other unions can't grieve staffing ratios. Debbie Poulos reports on SBOs. October 31 on deadlines.

Leroy Barr reports on Smallheiser Award winners. (I didn't catch all of the names but one of them I believe is Mulgrew's wife.) Leroy says there are 3 motions and the final report on the election complaint.

Janella Hinds reports on NYC Central Labor Council's presentation on the election. 1,000,000 union voters in NYC. Worker-based agenda. 76% Democrats, 10 % Republicans, and many unaffiliated. 52% between 35 and 54. Only 31% union households turned out in 2021. 27% of union people turned out but 26% of the general electorate. We are all impacted even if we don't live in NYC. Goal is to ramp everybody up. Need unions to come out for Hochul, Delgado, Tisch James, Comptroller DeNapoli, Senator Chuck Schumer. All our friends. We want a yes vote on all 4 ballot initiatives.

1. Clean air-clean water bond act to sure up infrastructure. These will be union jobs to retrofit buildings.

2-4 are racial justice issues and LGBTQ too. We also want to measure the true cost of living. 

Vote early or on election day. Turn the ballots over to vote yes on the ballot initiatives.

Tom Murphy mentions the bus trip to the Philly suburbs. We will do another one this Saturday and another on November 5 maybe. Murphy asks about the sense of the room at CLC

Janella says labor vote is better in certain district. We are concerned about the downward trend.

Resolution on minority time at the Delegate Assembly moved by Nick Bacon. Resolution would establish a ten minute minority report at the DA from President's Report. Also, if literature is put out, the minority would have a chance to give their view. 16,000 votes.  There is precedent in the US in deliberative bodies. 34% of voters, 42% of teachers and majority of high school teachers who voted went for United for Change. Things we agree on and things we do not agree on. There was a 45-minute presentation. Disagreement on healthcare. Not asking for a lot of time. We get time at Exec Bd. It has been one year since we were heard from at the DA. FAQ on healthcare. responding to opposition says Medicare Advantage is privatized; union says it isn't. 

Philomena asks about automatic adjournment at 8:00. Leroy Barr will look it up.

Sean in Unity opposes. No right to minority report. Resolved shows this is political in nature. 

Lamar Hughes opposes. Can't find logic behind limiting President. 

Ilona says we should set aside time at the DA for all sides. Much discussion about organizaing the rank and file. Hearing about just getting information is antithetical to that. We want to hear dissenting views.

Lydia Howrilka supports the resolution. 114 people on the Zoom and countless others in Shanker Hall. People are hungry to hear all sides. What are teachers in schools thinking. To silence people who don't have the same perspective is anti-union. Why can't we have this space at the DA.

Leo Gordon opposes as there is enough adequate space to allow all sides to speak. We are not representing caucuses.

Ed Calamia says we need all sides to debate. After speeches, only 15 minutes to do work. We must allow the work to be done and allow opinions to be heard. Vote in favor as it will do a lot of good for our union. In the end, we will be stronger.

Mike Schirtzer raises a point of process. Hard to vote and decide if we don't have information in writing in advance.

Leroy Barr says we can't do anything if we don't get things until 5:45. All you need is 5 people to sign something, even if they bring something up the last minute. 

Mike Sill- Can't have it both ways.

Question called: Vote in favor

Motion to have a minority report at DA.

It is overwhelmingly defeated. 

Resolution on pension. Debra Penny calls for an audit of the DOE BERS pension system. Post found this information on the leader at BERS getting a big raise. Trustees said Comptroller resolution to fire leader and deputy leader. We asked Comptroller Lander to audit BERS retirement system. 

Tom Brown follows up and agrees. Over 5,000 UFT members are BERS members. We have an obligation to them to see that their pension is run well. 

Another Unity person does not identify himself but is a UFT BERS members. Occupational-Physical Therapists in BERS. 

Leroy Barr puts it up for a vote and the motion carrries.

Motion to limit question period to 15 minutes.

Amy Arundell argues to limit questions to 15 minutes because people are using the time to advocate.

Two other Unity people speak in favor. Says we are recycling questions. 

Edward Calamia speaks against saying 15 minutes is an arbitrary amount of time. A complicated question may take a long time to answer. That will discourage people from being.

Nick Bacon speaks against. Important questions won't be asked because people want to go home. 

A Unity person says we never needed to have the same people monopolize question period. 

Another Unity person says question period has become a political platform. Same questions every single time. We want to move on. Questions have been answered already.

Leo Gordon calls the question. Unity votes to call the question.

Unity votes in favor of limiting the question period.

Election Complaint. third and final report.

Leroy talks about complaints 2, 8,9,10, 19, 22 and 30. Leroy summarizes. 

2-Unity uses union resources to campaign for Unity with social media posts. 

8-Denial of access to distribute literature. It did not impact election. Concern that literature was removed from staff mailboxes. These cases were resolved. UFT responded and dealt with issues in a timely manner. UFT can't be held accountable for non-UFT members. UFT cannot be held accountable for denied access. Only in two instances could UFC fliers weren't distributed.

9-Allege conduct of Unity Chapter Leaders did not impact the election. Principals must enforce Chancellor's Regulation D-130. UFT had no chance to address them. Newtown and Cardozo, there were no copies of alleged email.

10-Unity Chapter Leaders engaged in conduct against UFC. Denied. Small number of violations but no impact on election. Allegation should be rejected.

11- Union violation on union time did not impact on election. DR gave UFT bag. UFC does not allege impact on election. UFT bags given away does not an improper use of union resources.

17-Beth Norton (UFT lawyer) didn't impact election with her yelling at UFC candidates. Norton says there was no yelling. It is not a violation of LMRDA

18- Mulgrew did not electioneer at the Feb 16 using the phrase of we do the work.  Camille Eterno appealed. Mulgrew called Camille out of order. He called things to go back in order. 

19-Mulgrew ruled Sill out of order when he denounced Ms. Eterno. Mulgrew corrected the violation right there. 

20-Unity didn't engage in electioneering at DA. 

22-UFT absorbed cost of literature. Salesforce is for emails. UFC tried to get Salesforce to talk about UFT account. UFT challenged UFC because political emails would make people unsubscribe. Cost was reasonable under the circumstances. 

30- UFT did not shorten timeframe to return ballots. This was not in election notice.

Mike Sill takes over and asks that the report be accepted. 

Ibeth Mejia says the report is over a month late in violation of federal law. 

Leroy Barr responds that UFC went to DOL already. They hired counsel. This is an independent counsel did the investigation. We will move on. 

Recommendation is voted up by body.