Kings of the Forest

Unity dispatches their anonymous trolls, for all I know, while on the UFT clock.

People send me things. They shoot me links. They tell me what other people are saying. And, from what I understand, there are multiple anonymous Unity supporters out there trash-talking me, Daniel Alicea, Norm Scott, Nick Bacon, and anyone else who publicly speaks truth to Unity.

If you’re UFT working over at 52 Broadway, you’re making more than your colleagues. You’re almost certainly part of the invitation-only, privileged Unity Caucus. You are effectively the one percent of the United Federation of Teachers.

It may be just a few hours a week, or it may be full time. But there are perks with these gigs. You go to conventions and various trips, and maybe the Big Shots take you out to restaurants. Maybe you have a second pension. If you are in that situation, or a similar one, and don’t disclose it here, you are a coward. Further, you are a fraud, willfully misrepresenting yourself.

And hey, guys, at my place, you are banned. If Unity wants to come here, they can use their own names. There are a handful of Unity members doing that, and while I’ve deleted one offensive comment, I haven’t banned any real names just yet. On the other hand, I’ve banned two Unity folk using pseudonyms. I don’t doubt there will be more.

One troll called himself Herman Banks. I’m pretty sure I know who it was, as the style, such as it was, very much resembled someone I have online interactions with. This person just let loose with invective, venting his spleen about everything he read here. I banned him after his second comment.

Another came here and left just a link to his blog or something. I looked at it. Much of it was focused on me. Regardless, I’m not here to advertise his scribblings. The anonymous person wrote a lot of personal nonsense, and also claimed I was lobbying for a UFT gig. As it happens, I’ve observed people campaigning for gigs at the UFT Executive Board.

As far as I can determine, regularly condemning the Unity Patronage Cult, in writing, is not the optimal route. The more effective approach, from what I’ve seen, is slobbering all over Michael Mulgrew at every opportunity, and 100% supporting whatever the Big Shots say. Do this whether or not you (or they) can concoct a viable or comprehensible defense. Get right up to that mike and spit out whatever words come into your head, whether or not they’re on topic, or you’re in!

It’s true I pushed very hard for paraprofessional Migda Rodriguez to get a union job, after Unity publicly ridiculed her for needing a second job to make ends meet. I found it outrageous that members chose her, and then Unity made jokes about how she should go to meetings instead of supporting her family. Unity tired of hearing about it. They eventually folded and gave her the job her colleagues elected her to do.

Migda needed that job. I have a pretty decent pension, and I’m working a few days a week as a teacher. I really like to be in the classroom, and I really like having a hand in the real work. And make no mistake, this is the real work. Unity says, “We do the work," but it’s tough for members, working under markedly different conditions than I see at 52. It absolutely demeans working members to suggest otherwise.

That said, I was elected as an RTC officer by an overwhelming majority, along with maybe 8 or 9 others. The members want us to work at UFT. The system, though, dictates Michael Mulgrew and his Very Smart People hire Whoever They Feel Like. Electoral results, as well as the will of UFT voters, mean nothing when Unity members fail to win.

Of course, for chapter leaders, Unity has little choice. They gave former OT/PT Chapter Leader Melissa Williams a job, but made it impossible for her to communicate directly with members. They deliberately made her uncomfortable. She left her position, and Unity ridiculed for leaving the job. When Migda stayed in position, but worked the second job she needed to support her family, they ridiculed her for keeping the job.

You can’t win with these folks—until you defeat them at the polls, of course.

Speaking of that, after defeating Unity. RTC Chapter Leader Bennett Fischer was acutely aware of what he could expect when he went in. He determined to do the job regardless, and he’s been quite successful so far. After a full year (and likely more, though I’ve been retired only that long) of meetings in which our voices counted for nothing, Bennett allowed us to vote. (Why were we even attending before that? To listen to Tom Murphy’s ruminations on quilling?) This, in itself, is a sea change.

If I were called to do something important for the union, I would. However, I don’t want a job just for the sake of having one. And I won’t sign a loyalty oath to Unity, like the overwhelming majority of full-time employees have done. My service to members, as of now, is this Substack. I’m grateful to whoever blocked my old blog domain, likely as not lawyers on UFT payroll, because I’m reaching thousands more readers, on a regular basis, than that old blog ever did.

Days ago, someone referred me to what I took to be a new Unity troll, leaving anonymous off-topic messages on my Twitter feed. It turns out, though, that this person was around three years ago, and only surfaces on election years. This particular troll’s thing was labeling Unity opponents as enemies of the union. This is a much beloved Unity talking point.

Mulgrew used it at an Executive Board meeting I attended last year. He said those who disagreed with him spout “self-righteous crap” and “spew lies.” He said we make everything a conspiracy. He claimed criticism of his health care policies were “fairy tales.” Of course, that was before Unity overwhelmingly lost the UFT Retiree election. Onece that happened, Mulgrew started paying valuable lip service to opposing the problems he himself created.

Later on, LeRoy Barr suggested at the Delegate Assembly that members shun other members who fail to tow the party line. It’s ironic, because that is fundamentally anti-union. I disagree with the privileged, invitation-only Unity Caucus, but I don’t suggest you shun them. I suggest you vote them out of office. After all, they make terrible deals, negotiate contracts in which your income, after inflation, goes down, and, of course, tried to force retirees to dump real Medicare for less than nothing.

Along with NYC Retirees, we have fought back. UFT Big Shots did not help or support us at all. In fact, they ridiculed us until we defeated them, and surreptitiously, continue to do so now. You may contribute to NYC Retirees, doing the work Unity does not do, even though our dues pay their salaries, right here. I just donated again.

Here’s the thing—Unity sold us out. We had a 1.8 billion dollar health care stabilization fund, and they pushed to give a billion dollars to the city, in exchange for a crap contract that imposed an awful pattern citywide on us, and our union brothers and sisters. They agreed to 600 million in annual health savings, forever, in exchange for a three-year contract that may or may not have hit cost of living.

Oh, and they arranged for retirees, who benefit from these contracts not at all, to shoulder the cost of that annual 600 million, by degrading our health care and dumping us into an inferior Medicare Advantage plan. They offered an upgrade to our current plan, but at a cost many, or more likely most, retirees could ill afford.

And even now, as they pay lip service to opposing this quagmire they created, they continue to lie about it, despite court rulings and Aetna admitting otherwise. They fail to support us in court. They oppose legislative remedies. They are doing nothing to help us, pretending otherwise, and hoping we buy it.

They didn’t fool us last year, and they won’t fool us next year either.