I had some misgivings ( I still do, actually.) but you've made the sale. My next thing is: who's going to count the votes in this election? Can we be sure that the candidate with the most votes will be the candidate who is declared the winner?
Thank you Paul. That is an excellent question, and I wish I had a better answer. I have no reason to assert that the new company Unity hired will commit fraud, but their history is not stellar. As I recall, though, their questionable incidents were not recent. I know Daniel wrote about it in The Wire but I was not able to find the post just now.
I had an attorney, pro bono, for 6 months who tried to get me the Union by-laws. The Union constantly and consistently said that they have NO by-laws. I never got them. BTW, the Union spits the salaries of the elected officers so that they are paid a salary for their office (whatever VP position that is) and another salary for something else. First time I saw this they were listed as "building services" at the old Park Ave address. Later, the second job was as liaison to NYSUT. Nice way to make it look like they're not overpaid, since most people will only see their salaries as union officers.
I’m pretty sure someone else recently told me there were no by laws. A lot of UFT elected offices carry no actual responsibility. I’m pretty sure they just continue doing whatever they were doing when elected. We’d like to fix that. I’m Vice Chair of the RTC. Though members elected me, I have no duties whatsoever. I’ve nominated myself to write this column.
Respectfully, I'm confused. One of these candidates literally heckled me two years ago. Why? I stood up and asked to see the contract before voting to send it out for a membership vote. Now they're running for...'a better contract.' Another candidate ran many of the meetings to sell us some of its worst aspects (e.g. the inflation adjusted paycut). Now they're running for 'a better contract.' How can members be asked to trust that 'a better contract' would deliver if elected, when so many of its top candidates obstructed getting a fair contract the last time around? Them being in Unity at the time is no excuse. ARISE had the right positions the last time around, and they'll have the right positions this time around. Their actions speak to that, not just their rhetoric. ARISE is who I'll be voting for in this election.
Of course you will, Nick. Thank you for the attacks on my friends, and thank you for feigning confusion. It's all quite respectful, as is your trolling me on Facebook. How many times have I come to your page and treated you like this? Never, because I don't do that.
Since you brought it up, though, let's talk about history. Your caucus aligned with Unity for years. It accepted patronage jobs, and left only when Mulgrew took away those jobs.
I understand, though, as you pointed out on Facebook, that you are focused on things that happened recently. Evidently, you may change your mind, but if you did it recently, that's bad. In fact, I mentioned the most recent contract, and my disagreements with Amy over it, in the post, which I see no evidence you've bothered to read. Regardless, let's get even more recent.
I pushed very hard for Retiree Advocate. I made sure RA, which includes the leaders of your caucus, had a chapter leader who could win the endorsement of NYC Retirees. When it came time to decide who we'd run with, I didn't even get a vote. Nor did 288 the 300 of those who ran with us. That is what passes for democracy with your friends.
Let's talk about your other friends in MORE. They got quite angry with me for pushing a class size resolution. They said I should have run it by "steering." I did not even know what steering was. I ran it by a class size expert instead. How foolish of me.
Then, while I was volunteering at an ELL event at 52, they passed some rule that I had to run things by steering. Then, of course, they tossed us all out, and one of their leaders called us, "right-wingers." I'm sorry they were unable to tolerate my extreme point of view, what with favoring lower class sizes and all.
Why are you advertising your slate on an ABC candidate’s blog? Do you see ABC supporters commenting on ARISE pages? (rhetorical question, the answer is obviously no)
Why don’t you stop piggybacking off of Arthur’s hard work and focus on your own organizing? All I see ARISE doing is commenting on and attacking ABC. You guys had multiple chances to run with us and decided to play games. Run your race and we’ll run ours and let’s see who comes out on top.
Arthur: Forgive the lengthy comment I've written below, but I'm disturbed by these attacks on ABC slate members.
~~~
Nick,
It does feel like you, and some others you've aligned with, have been attacking ABC while leaning on Arthur's hard work to assist your ARISE campaign.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe I've ever seen you, or any other leading ARISE slate member, write a comment (or even indicate a like) showing you've appreciated any of his informative, fact-based, thoughtful, brave, prolific pieces. And the same observation applies to how your circle has quietly benefited from the outstanding work of Dan Alicea and Norm Scott - who I'm proud to say are leading ABC slate members.
There’s a number of Retiree Advocate activists who helped to coordinate Unity's defeat at RTC. No small task. Huge thanks for sure- but let’s acknowledge how the above three individuals -all now part of the A Better Contract - significantly informed and inspired many - not just retirees but brave leading FPP paras who accomplished the historic win that took place in June. And may I add that these wonderful leaders won't hesitate to say they were able to achieve such influence by learning and through become good friends with union-true, firebrand Marianne Pizzitola, the president of the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees.
Yet here you are -and most everywhere on social media – trying to discredit the ABC slate through either ignoring their value or attacking them.
Being against the anti-union stance of Unity isn't equivalent to casting doubts on anyone who has worked among them. I admire and stand with Amy Arundell and other brave ABC members who've decided to oppose Unity – forfeiting their jobs- to choose to run on what Unity fears most: An efficient bread and butter, MEMBER-LED slate. These defectors, you so carelessly malign, are highly regarded by rank and file --even loved by our leading wonderful paraprofessionals They've worked hard to serve rank and file, despite being restrained and misinformed by Unity Heads. Think of how valuable their insider knowledge and experience can be. Is it any surprise that anonymous Mulgrew bloggers have been busy hurling nasty threats to discourage them from leaving the Unity Kingdom?
I, for one, have not been impressed by how you, or many on the ARISE slate view the plight of our retired brothers and sisters. I also am not happy with how divisive political views end up getting into the way of our most pressingly needs. As I've carefully assessed both ABC and ARIE, I feel ABC is incredibly qualified and prepared to deliver what union members desperately need and has the ability to recruit more of our yearning brothers and sisters to join in. In fact ABC is also capable of forming strong coalitions with outside organizations and other unions who believe our Labor Movement should become the might it's been meant to be.
I wasn't going to respond to this. I am frequently attacked on the anonymous Unity blogs, and it makes me tired. I don't look at them, but people send me some anyway. So I quickly dismissed your past comments. As they go to ethos, I'm going to give you a response.
When the quail story came out, I didn't know Paul, and accepted it. I now know him much better, have heard his side, and no longer buy it. You ,may believe what you wish, of course. I immediately knew the second story to be untrue, as it deliberately concealed a major fact about him. Also, had something truly outrageous happened, charges would have ensued. They did not.
Both stories were largely based in fat-shaming. I wrote about the second. Originally, there was a whole lot of back and forth between me and the writer. However, shortly after UFT sent me a letter, threatening me with civil and criminal penalties for the offense of parodying Michael Mulgrew, my former domain, nyceducator.com, was blocked on Blogger. It's now viewable only at the original blogspot address, and the comments are lost. In any case, this is what I wrote in April, 2019:
We need leadership that is concerned with the general question of what is a Union. To me the question of racism in the school system, the question of mayoralty control of schools, other questions more or less involves the above. Must opportunism comes from self climb the latter of leadership, a la Mulgrew, or Mayor Adams. What checks and balances you propose to combat opportunism of the self?
That's a tough question, Gustavo. Virtually any answer could be construed as a self-serving lie. That said, our primary focus is creating a member-drive union. We're advocating, for example, to transform both Exec. Board and the DA into actual deliberative bodies, as opposed to the scripted events they now are. There will be no more 90 minute president messages designed to squelch activism. We don't condone racism or mayoral control. My very first published article in DN was against mayoral control, which I labeled mayoral dictatorship. Daniel Alicea brought an anti-mayoral control resolution to the DA, which Unity stalled for a full year. Mayoral control is precisely what enabled Bloomberg to close all those schools. It's a reformy gimmick designed to circumvent democracy. I went to Jamaica HS many times to watch mayoral appointees ignore the entire community.
I had some misgivings ( I still do, actually.) but you've made the sale. My next thing is: who's going to count the votes in this election? Can we be sure that the candidate with the most votes will be the candidate who is declared the winner?
Thank you Paul. That is an excellent question, and I wish I had a better answer. I have no reason to assert that the new company Unity hired will commit fraud, but their history is not stellar. As I recall, though, their questionable incidents were not recent. I know Daniel wrote about it in The Wire but I was not able to find the post just now.
An important column at a crucial time. Thank you.
Thanks Alan, Coming from you that means a lot.
I had an attorney, pro bono, for 6 months who tried to get me the Union by-laws. The Union constantly and consistently said that they have NO by-laws. I never got them. BTW, the Union spits the salaries of the elected officers so that they are paid a salary for their office (whatever VP position that is) and another salary for something else. First time I saw this they were listed as "building services" at the old Park Ave address. Later, the second job was as liaison to NYSUT. Nice way to make it look like they're not overpaid, since most people will only see their salaries as union officers.
I’m pretty sure someone else recently told me there were no by laws. A lot of UFT elected offices carry no actual responsibility. I’m pretty sure they just continue doing whatever they were doing when elected. We’d like to fix that. I’m Vice Chair of the RTC. Though members elected me, I have no duties whatsoever. I’ve nominated myself to write this column.
Respectfully, I'm confused. One of these candidates literally heckled me two years ago. Why? I stood up and asked to see the contract before voting to send it out for a membership vote. Now they're running for...'a better contract.' Another candidate ran many of the meetings to sell us some of its worst aspects (e.g. the inflation adjusted paycut). Now they're running for 'a better contract.' How can members be asked to trust that 'a better contract' would deliver if elected, when so many of its top candidates obstructed getting a fair contract the last time around? Them being in Unity at the time is no excuse. ARISE had the right positions the last time around, and they'll have the right positions this time around. Their actions speak to that, not just their rhetoric. ARISE is who I'll be voting for in this election.
Of course you will, Nick. Thank you for the attacks on my friends, and thank you for feigning confusion. It's all quite respectful, as is your trolling me on Facebook. How many times have I come to your page and treated you like this? Never, because I don't do that.
Since you brought it up, though, let's talk about history. Your caucus aligned with Unity for years. It accepted patronage jobs, and left only when Mulgrew took away those jobs.
I understand, though, as you pointed out on Facebook, that you are focused on things that happened recently. Evidently, you may change your mind, but if you did it recently, that's bad. In fact, I mentioned the most recent contract, and my disagreements with Amy over it, in the post, which I see no evidence you've bothered to read. Regardless, let's get even more recent.
I pushed very hard for Retiree Advocate. I made sure RA, which includes the leaders of your caucus, had a chapter leader who could win the endorsement of NYC Retirees. When it came time to decide who we'd run with, I didn't even get a vote. Nor did 288 the 300 of those who ran with us. That is what passes for democracy with your friends.
Let's talk about your other friends in MORE. They got quite angry with me for pushing a class size resolution. They said I should have run it by "steering." I did not even know what steering was. I ran it by a class size expert instead. How foolish of me.
Then, while I was volunteering at an ELL event at 52, they passed some rule that I had to run things by steering. Then, of course, they tossed us all out, and one of their leaders called us, "right-wingers." I'm sorry they were unable to tolerate my extreme point of view, what with favoring lower class sizes and all.
Thanks for sharing a different perspective. Where can I find more information about ARISE? This is the first time I'm hearing about them.
Here's the website, and I'm happy to answer any questions you have about our slate! https://www.ariseuft.org/
Why are you advertising your slate on an ABC candidate’s blog? Do you see ABC supporters commenting on ARISE pages? (rhetorical question, the answer is obviously no)
Why don’t you stop piggybacking off of Arthur’s hard work and focus on your own organizing? All I see ARISE doing is commenting on and attacking ABC. You guys had multiple chances to run with us and decided to play games. Run your race and we’ll run ours and let’s see who comes out on top.
Steve: I so agree with what you wrote.
Arthur: Forgive the lengthy comment I've written below, but I'm disturbed by these attacks on ABC slate members.
~~~
Nick,
It does feel like you, and some others you've aligned with, have been attacking ABC while leaning on Arthur's hard work to assist your ARISE campaign.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe I've ever seen you, or any other leading ARISE slate member, write a comment (or even indicate a like) showing you've appreciated any of his informative, fact-based, thoughtful, brave, prolific pieces. And the same observation applies to how your circle has quietly benefited from the outstanding work of Dan Alicea and Norm Scott - who I'm proud to say are leading ABC slate members.
There’s a number of Retiree Advocate activists who helped to coordinate Unity's defeat at RTC. No small task. Huge thanks for sure- but let’s acknowledge how the above three individuals -all now part of the A Better Contract - significantly informed and inspired many - not just retirees but brave leading FPP paras who accomplished the historic win that took place in June. And may I add that these wonderful leaders won't hesitate to say they were able to achieve such influence by learning and through become good friends with union-true, firebrand Marianne Pizzitola, the president of the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees.
Yet here you are -and most everywhere on social media – trying to discredit the ABC slate through either ignoring their value or attacking them.
Being against the anti-union stance of Unity isn't equivalent to casting doubts on anyone who has worked among them. I admire and stand with Amy Arundell and other brave ABC members who've decided to oppose Unity – forfeiting their jobs- to choose to run on what Unity fears most: An efficient bread and butter, MEMBER-LED slate. These defectors, you so carelessly malign, are highly regarded by rank and file --even loved by our leading wonderful paraprofessionals They've worked hard to serve rank and file, despite being restrained and misinformed by Unity Heads. Think of how valuable their insider knowledge and experience can be. Is it any surprise that anonymous Mulgrew bloggers have been busy hurling nasty threats to discourage them from leaving the Unity Kingdom?
I, for one, have not been impressed by how you, or many on the ARISE slate view the plight of our retired brothers and sisters. I also am not happy with how divisive political views end up getting into the way of our most pressingly needs. As I've carefully assessed both ABC and ARIE, I feel ABC is incredibly qualified and prepared to deliver what union members desperately need and has the ability to recruit more of our yearning brothers and sisters to join in. In fact ABC is also capable of forming strong coalitions with outside organizations and other unions who believe our Labor Movement should become the might it's been meant to be.
Steve seems to have read my mind. And I caution you, Steve, not to do that in my classroom! I consider it cheating.
Anyway, thanks for your kind words, Laura.
Thank you for your kind words, Laura.
When do I get my ballot?
That will be in May.
Trump like exit tactics. Amy has my vote!
We appreciate your support, Diane.
No more quail, either.
I wasn't going to respond to this. I am frequently attacked on the anonymous Unity blogs, and it makes me tired. I don't look at them, but people send me some anyway. So I quickly dismissed your past comments. As they go to ethos, I'm going to give you a response.
When the quail story came out, I didn't know Paul, and accepted it. I now know him much better, have heard his side, and no longer buy it. You ,may believe what you wish, of course. I immediately knew the second story to be untrue, as it deliberately concealed a major fact about him. Also, had something truly outrageous happened, charges would have ensued. They did not.
Both stories were largely based in fat-shaming. I wrote about the second. Originally, there was a whole lot of back and forth between me and the writer. However, shortly after UFT sent me a letter, threatening me with civil and criminal penalties for the offense of parodying Michael Mulgrew, my former domain, nyceducator.com, was blocked on Blogger. It's now viewable only at the original blogspot address, and the comments are lost. In any case, this is what I wrote in April, 2019:
https://nyceducator.blogspot.com/2019/04/the-paul-egan-story-or-lack-thereof.html
We need leadership that is concerned with the general question of what is a Union. To me the question of racism in the school system, the question of mayoralty control of schools, other questions more or less involves the above. Must opportunism comes from self climb the latter of leadership, a la Mulgrew, or Mayor Adams. What checks and balances you propose to combat opportunism of the self?
That's a tough question, Gustavo. Virtually any answer could be construed as a self-serving lie. That said, our primary focus is creating a member-drive union. We're advocating, for example, to transform both Exec. Board and the DA into actual deliberative bodies, as opposed to the scripted events they now are. There will be no more 90 minute president messages designed to squelch activism. We don't condone racism or mayoral control. My very first published article in DN was against mayoral control, which I labeled mayoral dictatorship. Daniel Alicea brought an anti-mayoral control resolution to the DA, which Unity stalled for a full year. Mayoral control is precisely what enabled Bloomberg to close all those schools. It's a reformy gimmick designed to circumvent democracy. I went to Jamaica HS many times to watch mayoral appointees ignore the entire community.
We have a number of proposals in our platform. In no particular order:
• CLs electing their DRs
• Divisions electing their VPs
• Proportional representation (no more Unity winner-take-all elections)
• An independent Executive Board made up primarily of in-school members, not union staffers