The Stepford Union

Unity pulls people in, changes them, and demands we all follow along.

Scary, huh? But it happens all the time. It doesn’t have to.

Imagine union leadership that had your back, and I mean all the time. Imagine leadership in your corner, and not simply trying to squeeze itself in when they’re up for re-election. Imagine people answering the phone when you called. Imagine not needing an organization like NYC Retirees to protect your health care.

I don’t know about you, but I’m bone-weary of being lied to by Michael Mulgrew. Every non-Unity UFT retiree knows what I mean. He lobbies against us and acts like he’s doing us a favor. He pretends to hear us, and assumes we buy his shtick. His people openly celebrate ageism, and think we’re too dim to notice.

Mulgrew takes positions unilaterally, more like a king than a union leader. He’s taken positions on congestion pricing, where to build casinos, and worst of all, our own health care, without consulting us at all. Now, 55 frigging years after paraprofessionals joined the UFT, and months before an election that’s looking tough for him, he’s finally noticed they exist. Now, after we needled him for months, after Unity ridiculed us for doing so, there are some improvements in the Welfare Fund.

I understand change takes time. Yet Mulgrew seems to be declaring victory for both paraprofessionals and class size prematurely. Unity’s had well over half a century to deal with both. Mulgrew says half of the city has better class sizes. I work at Francis Lewis High School, the most overcrowded school in the city. I’m in a newly built annex and the halls are still as crowded as they’ve ever been. Last I checked, we had 22 oversized classes.

Thanks, Mike!

Paras certainly need and deserve more money, and I hope they get it. But it’s far from a sure thing, and Mulgrew had the chance to give it to them contractually last year. Only after paras rejected him three to one did he notice there was an issue. That’s how out of touch he and Unity are.

You may recall The Stepford Wives. I vaguely recall reading the book decades ago, and seeing a film somewhere with Christopher Walken. All the women are somehow programmed to be 1950s Leave it to Beaver-style June Cleaver wives, cooking, cleaning, taking care of the children, and never complaining. I don’t recall what the men do. (Macho stuff, I suppose.)

Whatever they did, the town was artificial. In Unity world, Mulgrew dictates, and everyone agrees. He says jump, and Unity minions ask how high. Now, of course, he’s upset because unionists, in two concurrent votes, have declined to jump at all. Mulgrew cannot bear variations from his little Stepford world.

Too bad for him, In real life, we have disagreement. We have conflict. We have drama, like it or not. Sure, it’s inconvenient. It’s frustrating. It’s messy. Still, you must admit, when everyone agrees unreservedly on everything, it’s a big time-saver.

That’s pretty much what Unity demands of its members:

• To express criticism of caucus policies within the Caucus;

• To support the decisions of Caucus / Union leadership in public or Union forums;

• To support in Union elections only those individuals who are endorsed by the Caucus, and to actively campaign for his / her election;

• To run for Union office only with the support of the caucus;

• To serve, if elected to Union office, in a manner consistent with Union / Caucus policies and to give full and faithful service in that office;

Taken altogether you can see the prime directive—sit down, shut up, and do what you’re told. Follow these simple directions, and you can be part of the elite, privileged Unity Caucus. There are jobs aplenty, and creme brûlée for everyone! And yet, that doesn’t remotely allow for, let alone encourage, activism.

Unity felt they could do anything, that they were entitled to dump retirees en masse out of real Medicare. That’s why they thought it was okay to charge 200 bucks a month, per person, to start, to retain it. That’s why they didn’t even bother to consider how many union members couldn’t afford this charge. That’s why they sent their highly-compensated, double-pensioned retired VPs to say they needed the choice, unaffordable to many or most city retirees.

That’s why they didn’t consider this—if their elite, double-pensioned aristocrats needed real Medicare, we all need it. That’s why they didn’t consider that 5K per couple, per year, is a major pension cut. You’d thing losing the RTC election in a landslide would teach them something. It did, of course. But it taught them the wrong thing.

What Unity has learned from a failed election is the need to pay lip service to representation.

Michael Mulgrew has said he opposes Medicare Advantage for UFT Retirees, but has done nothing whatsoever. In fact, as we battle to get 1096 introduced, Unity is actively lobbying against us. As Keith Firestone posted recently in the comments:

Let’s face it, if the New York Retirees win the court case he will say he supported it and if they lose he will say he did everything he could to oppose Medicare Advantage and his membership may go along with his BS, a legal term for his crap.

I’m not sure whether that’s a legal term, but Keith has Mulgrew pegged.

It’s beyond problematic when you have union representation that’s sworn to protect its caucus over its member interests. For example, retirees have clearly said we don’t want to be forced into Medicare Advantage. Even as Mulgrew says he opposes it, his people appear to be lobbying against legislation that would help us.

I sat six years on the UFT Executive Board. I’ve watched Unity hopefuls slobber over Michael Mulgrew in hopes of getting ahead. I’ve watched them utter blatant fabrications in support of whatever policy was being pushed that week. What did they believe, deep inside? Did they believe anything deep inside?

If Michael Mulgrew says Medicare Advantage is as good as real Medicare, Unity had golly goshdarn get out there and repeat it. If he says he can get in-service members the same medical care they currently receive and save the city 10% in costs, that better become the Unity mantra.

And it was (until it wasn’t). Yet Mulgrew has never admitted what Aetna has, and what courts have ruled—that MA would cause us irreparable harm.

The UFT Executive Board, as it stands now, is a rubber stamp. Many Unity appointees work for the union. They can wander in, have a meal, and sit through an agenda predetermined to accomplish whatever—or just as likely, nothing whatsoever. They vote as a bloc and there’s no mystery as to how things will turn out.

Imagine an Executive Board composed of union members, coming from schools, rather than full-time employees taking elevators from their offices. Imagine we allowed them the option of attending remotely so they wouldn’t need to spend hours getting there and going home. Imagine getting real feedback from real people on the ground.

Imagine an adcom, leadership, there to hear what’s actually happening in schools. Imagine we were determined to find ways to support members, rather than ensure our perpetual re-election. Imagine a leadership that people trusted to help and support them—to have our backs.

Imagine consulting with members when programs like HMH or Illustrative Math came up. Imagine full-time teachers immediately identifying things like scripted lessons and pointing out neither teachers nor children are pre-programmed robots. Those of us working in classrooms notice such red flags immediately.

Imagine noticing when state legislation is brought up to create something like Tier 6. Imagine battling it then rather than waiting years and hoping for the best. Imagine noticing the legislators proposing NYC pay rent for charters and openly objecting, immediately. Unity did none of that.

Imagine activism breeding activism.

There has to be a change in direction, a better way. I have no doubt UFT employees are being terrorized. I’ve heard of employees being told directly by VPs that they are not allowed to criticize Unity. In today’s UFT, there are no First Amendment rights. I’ve no doubt they’re being told there will be a mass firing when ABC wins.

That’s certainly not our plan. We believe in change, but we don’t believe in changing things that work, or firing people who actually do their jobs. We do believe, though, that actual leadership needs to change. As chapter leaders, we know there are contractual rules about rotation. You can have a comp-time job for a number of years, and then others get a chance.

Mulgrew may think he owns 52 Broadway, but that’s absolutely untrue. When a party is in charge for sixty years, you don’t have a democracy. You have a dynasty. You have presidents who hand-pick their successors. That’s more like a kingdom than a union.

I’ve been involved with various union groups over the years. I’ve never been involved in one like ABC before. In groups, there had always been things I wasn’t sure about. Do I share all their values? Are we going to accomplish what we need to? I have no doubt whatsoever about ABC. We are diverse. We hold differing views. There is no loyalty oath. There is no demand we follow any particular political persuasion. ABC is united to do better for UFT members.

We can do better. Even Unity members can do better, and we invite them to join us. We need leadership that is responsive to membership. We need members to know, without a doubt, that leadership is in their corner. I was chapter leader of Francis Lewis High School for 12 years.

My members needed help, I needed help, and I’m here to tell you that no one, absolutely no one, has your back like Amy Arundell.

That’s why I’m with ABC. That’s our model, and our pledge to you is this—every one of us will have your back. We’ll be there when you call. We’ll answer, and we’ll act.

Come this May, the Stepford Union is finished.