UFT EXECUTIVE BOARD NEWS: LEROY BARR ENCOURAGES MASKING IN SCHOOLS, UNITY VOTES DOWN REFORMING PENSION TIER VI TO MAKE IT LIKE TIER IV

This was on twitter: 

UFT's position is that masks in schools are encouraged but should not be mandated. 

Here is an exchange between United for Change-MORE's Ilona Nanay and Unity's Leroy Barr who was chairing as noted by New Action's Nick Bacon from tonight's Executive Board meeting :

Ilona Nanay: Mask mandates question. Should we push for a mandate? Right now we only have suggestion, which doesn’t necessarily work.

LeRoy Barr: Correct on information on ‘recommendations.’ Not a mandate. In this support, we are in support of people wearing masks. Some don’t want to wear them. By the way the numbers are actually down this week. But we support people choosing to wear masks to help rates go down.

On Tier VI pension reform, the United for Change opposition reps introduced this resolution to reform Tier VI to make it equitable to Tier IV (see full text below). All three Unity representatives on the Teachers Retirement Board spoke against this resolution and voted no as did the nominee to replace Debra Penny who is leaving the TRS Board. Do they really believe that working over 40 years when starting fresh out of college until one is 63 is fair?

TRS Board is an elected position. Do you think we should run somebody based on the issue of pension tier equity?

Resolution to Demand Tier 6 Reforms

Whereas, retirement benefits are not collectively bargained and are in fact tiered, such that two UFT-represented employees with roughly the same amount of experience can have vastly different benefits to look forward to upon retirement.

Whereas, any UFT member who joined the Teachers Retirement System after March 31, 2012 is entered in the Tier 6 pension system; and, have reduced benefits, significantly higher contribution costs, and more severe penalties for early retirement (before the age of 63), compared to members in Tier 4 (who themselves have reduced benefits compared to those in Tier 1), even as many other city agencies such as police, fire, and sanitation can retire with full pensions after 22 years of service.

Whereas, the result of decreased benefits, inflexible retirement age, and increased payment for receipt of said benefits means that Tier 6 members receive less in net compensation than peers in Tier 4.

Whereas the first group of Tier 6 UFT members will soon reach their 10 year mark and thus begin contributing beyond what was expected of their peers in Tier 4, making action on pension reconciliation urgent. 

Whereas, in the past the UFT has previously lobbied for pension improvements with some success (e.g. a 25-55 option for Tier 4 members); and Whereas, legislators in New York State are majority Democrats now, but might not always be in the future.

Whereas, lobbying so far has led to a modest improvement, specifically in vesting time, but otherwise has not even come close to making Tier 6 equitable with Tier 4. And, whereas failure to lobby on behalf of our Tier 6 members now to fix its other deficiencies may not only harm our Tier 6 members, but may result in us being forced into a defensive position in coming years if new inferior tiers are introduced for future UFT members. 

Be it resolved: the UFT will begin an immediate and aggressive lobbying campaign to the City and the State to improve Tier 6 to at least the level of Tier 4.

Be it resolved: as part of this campaign, the UFT will lobby to create a 25-55 option for Tier 6 members equal to that previously offered to Tier 4 members.

Be it resolved: as part of this campaign, any politician who blocks or intends to block our efforts to fix Tier 6 must at a minimum be barred from receiving COPE dollars, our endorsement, or any other form of UFT support.

Be it resolved: the UFT will also commit to campaigning against any new proposed tiers for future members that have lower benefits than those of currently active tiers.

Unity did support the following United for Change resolution on high school teachers who are discontinued being allowed to work in different geographic school districts as occurs with elementary school and middle school teachers who are discontinued. At the present time, high school teachers who are discontinued cannot teach in any other high school in NYC. Unity passed this one so the night wasn't a complete business-as-usual event where everything we support is automatically voted down by the Unity overwhelming majority.

Resolution on Ending Disproportionate Impact of Discontinuance for High School Probationary Teachers

Whereas, even the most effective probationary teachers can be discontinued or denied tenure for any non-pedagogical reason, including as retaliation for political or union activity. 

Whereas, in elementary and middle schools, discontinuance or denial is limited to geographic districts, at least giving teachers of those grades the option to reapply to nearby schools in other adjoining districts. 

Whereas, in high schools, discontinuance and denial extends to all high schools in the city, giving high school teachers no option to reapply to high schools in other districts or even other boroughs. 

Be it resolved that the UFT will start a multifaceted campaign to convince the DOE and the City to limit the scope of discontinuance or denial of high school teachers to the geographic district in which they teach.