I can't take any more. And that's why we need MORE.
The latest sellout by Unity and Mulgrew has taken away our mid-winter recess. This means that on top of being the only union NOT to get a pay raise in the last round of bargaining, and in spite of agreeing to a completely unproven evaluation system that essentially erodes tenure, we will now have the privilege of paying back four days for Hurricane Sandy.
If you already paid for your vacation, as many teachers have, well, tough luck on you. You can eat that money. And if you dragged your ass in on the Friday after the storm, well, this is your thank you. Or your "screw you".
Let's not forget that many students will also be on vacation that week because families plan to go away then. And one of the make-up days is a half day in June, long after testing is done. How will it benefit students when many of them and their teachers won't be showing up anyway?
Does ANYONE at this point have ANY faith that Unity is going to do anything but sell us out yet again on our next contract? I sure as hell don't.
If you vote for Mulgrew and Unity this March, you have no one to blame but yourself when they sell us out yet again. It's time for a change. I urge everyone to vote for the MORE caucus http://morecaucusnyc.org/.
Can you imagine Julie Cavanagh, who is running for UFT President on the MORE slate, selling us out? I can't.
I sure can imagine Mulgrew doing it--and then sending out his reps to every school to tell us how grateful we should be that we didn't do even worse. The only skill these Unity hacks seem to have is putting lipstick on a pig. They sure as hell can't negotiate.
Get the word out. Vote for MORE. Get rid of Unity.
While you still have a job.
6 comments:
See the problem is that 90 percent of the rank and file (ballpark estimate) has no idea who Julie Cavanagh or MORE is. Give you an example: Checking my FB earlier the word was out that we lost those three days in February. Not one of the teachers who commented on the posters original link to the news looked at UNTY as the problem - they all blamed the bastard mayor, I'll post your this link so others can perhaps have another door opened in thier minds. BE well!
Excuse the typos - been a long day.
I agree with guest. MORE is not doing a good job of informing members. You are preaching to the choir.
My school has a staff that does not believe in the need for a union. They believe kissing a$$ is all you need. The majority don't know the contract and do not care.
There are teachers who say to other teachers, "You are union," as if they don't receive benefits fom the union. Please don't make the mistake that these are newbie teachers. They are teachers between 7-21 years who have written a loyalty oath to the ex principal. Psych 101 teaches you can't have 1 person in a relationship doing onto another without the consent of the other party. Most of the rank and file are pathetic, like unity. Good luck with getting the word out.
Great post. You are 100% correct that if NYC teachers do not for for MORE in the upcoming election, they have nobody to blame but themselves. I have been spreading the MORE platform for quite a while to my fellow teachers. Every teacher 'in the know" needs to inform other teachers about MORE and make sure they vote MORE in the spring. Spread the word every day!!!
I just received an email from the UFT (LeRoy Barr) explaining to the members why we have to make up those days. It's a Q&A. But one part I don't understand and I'm trying to understanding, but maybe someone can translate it in simpler terms. The following:
"The state has the power to grant a waiver in the event of a natural disaster. Why didn’t the state issue one in this instance?
By state law, we would have to use up EVERY vacation day in this year’s school calendar before the state Education Department or the State Education Commissioner can grant a waiver allowing New York City to have fewer than 180 days in the school calendar."
So how many vacation days do we have in the entire school year? Isn't it over 22 days? Does that mean that in May the State would then grant us a waiver if all those days are used in what? How? What the hell are they talking about?!
Dear respective bloggers. MORE (where members of former opposition caucuses ICE and TJC and current members of GEM have all joined forces) is fighting back, we are having meetings, held CTU solidarity actions, are preparing to run in the spring UFT elections, and are building our network of activists and allainaces. This recent sell out is just another example of how the current leadership does not have the best interests of our teachers or the well being of our students at heart. It is another example of backroom deals without any democratic process for rank and file UFTers. The ground swell anger of bloggers and tweeters must direct their energies to helping us organize. We can not hold rallies or meeting without all of you. We cannot have a change of leadership in order to save the UFT and make real educator led reform without all the great people writing on the web. We need all your help, it can be donating as little as $20 to our cause or even helping by joining our media team to publish MORE blogs and press releases. the time is now, the elections are coming soon, we all believe that The UFT can be a force for good, we can be even more powerful than Chicago's CTU becuase we're over 80'000 strong, but MORE cant do it with just a few dedicated members. it would be great if you all could help us get our names and literature out there, but you input and energy would be even more welcome, and to be brutally honest its going to be necessary- the voice of dissent will not survive without more people joining us.
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