The Tom Murphy/ UFT Unity Campaign

Hubris, Insinuation, Misdirection and Lies

Tom Murphy, admittedly, has a tough job. Well, sometimes he does. Sometimes he actually needs to face the people he ostensibly represents This entails standing up in front of an outraged crowd half a dozen times a year and pretending his job does not revolve around pushing to strip them of the health care they earned through decades of doing one of the toughest jobs there is. (I can’t speak with conviction on UFT jobs other than teaching. I’m sure they’re no walk in the park. But I know firsthand how tough teaching is.)

You’re on your feet in front of 34 teenagers, and you never know what’s going to happen. You have to be very careful all the time, and handle situations as they come up. You have to temper your responses to address specific personalities, and you don’t know what’s going to happen from one moment to the next. You’re up there on a tightrope, dodging and addressing people and/ or situations that could fly by at any moment, perhaps literally.

Murphy appears to be a terrible teacher. He seems to despise every moment in which he has to address us. In fairness, that’s likely due to the elephant in the room—the massive health care sellout initiated by his beloved “Michael.” “Michael” got called away for an important meeting. Let’s have someone else speak until “Michael” gets here. He speaks of “Michael” as though he is a deity. We are, “Michael’s Daytime Army,” he says.

Let’s get one thing straight here. It is not our job to represent Michael Mulgrew. It is Michael Mulgrew’s job to represent us. That is precisely why we pay dues. Tom Murphy appears not to understand that. More likely, he chooses not to. His job depends on showing absolute fealty to Michael Mulgrew. If he chose not to do that, he would not be on the ballot, just as David Kazansky and Hector Ruiz are not on the ballot, and just as Amy Arundell is no longer running Queens UFT.

Let’s address the Unity handout, below, that was distributed at the RTC meeting of April 16th. The very first point it makes is that Murphy is an independent thinker. However, it provides absolutely no evidence of independent thinking. It speaks instead of how Murphy has “served the union” in this job and that.

The notion that Murphy is an independent thinker is absurd on its face. Clearly, the Unity notion of serving the union means fawning over Michael Mulgrew and stroking his fragile ego. (In fairness, Murphy is quite good at that.)

This notwithstanding, if Murphy were truly serving the union, or even that portion he’s paid to represent, he’d refrain from lecturing us as though we were recalcitrant children. Instead, he’d hold a frigging vote and ask what we think about health care. Then, he would fight for us. Instead, he bows and kisses Mulgrew’s ring.

The second point the handout makes is that Murphy is respected by many. “Many” is a nebulous word. You could, just as easily, say he is disrespected by many. Donald Trump often says a lot of people are saying this or that. Whether it comes from Trump, Murphy, or anyone, it’s not a persuasive or solid argument. It’s very upsetting that this is the best Unity leadership can muster. It clearly suggests they are not the “very smart people” Mulgrew likes to reference.

The third point is absurd on multiple levels. Murphy is a “guardian of civility.” Let’s first address the fact that it’s not true at all. Murphy shows blatant contempt for opinions that vary from Michael Mulgrew’s. He refuses to let passionate members speak at meetings. Then he marvels that members shout at him. (Why do people raise their voices when Tom doesn’t allow them to speak? Go figure. It’s a great mystery.)

Tom Murphy casually makes snide comments to longterm members, senior citizens horrified by their impending loss of health care. What Tom Murphy values, evidently, is people who sit down and shut up. When “Michael” calls those who lobby to keep Medicare conspiracy theorists, Murphy stands by, quiet and respectful. That’s his version of “civility.”

While this is in lockstep with Mulgrew’s priorities, sitting down and shutting up is no way to make progress. The expression for those initiating progress it “taking a stand”, not “rolling over and playing dead.” Like all unions, the UFT was not founded on civility. It was founded on struggle. It was founded on challenging the status quo, not accepting whatever scraps the city deigned to toss our way.

Point 4 is that Murphy provides “steady leadership.” That is half right. Certainly Murphy is steady. He has steadily supported whatever Michael Mulgrew told him to support. When Unity decided, last Wednesday, to oppose using the 800 million dollar Welfare Fund surplus to improve our crumbling dental program, you’d better believe Murphy opposed it too. After all, he signed a loyalty oath.

On this astral plane, promising to support a boss like Mulgrew, no matter what, reeks of someone with no integrity or moral center. They say they allow dissension within the caucus, but the reassignments of Arundell, Kazansky, Ruiz and others suggests Mulgrew’s precious little ego can’t tolerate it. (There’s a reason he tells us to get on Twitter but doesn’t dare show his face there himself.)

Tom Murphy should be working to improve our benefits. Instead, he supports whatever he’s told to. If it hurts, bankrupts or even kills the members he’s paid to represent, they can go to hell for all he cares. But he “rejects incivility,” so that’s okay.

Point 5 is Unity taking credit for virtually all the positive things that have happened in the history of city union. However, these things have happened for all city unions, including, for example. PSC.

PSC has a TDA too, but theirs pays 8.25%, while ours pays 7. In fact, every city union except ours gets 8.25. Why isn’t that on the list? PSC has a better dental program than we do. (Think about that the next time Mulgrew claims we have the best Welfare Fund in the country.) Furthermore, PSC supports real Medicare for retired city employees.

Unity says we lead, and don’t follow. Therefore they refuse to invest in our dental plan. Frankly, if we stupidly refuse to follow in the footsteps of those doing better than us, we’re leading ourselves off a cliff.

Furthermore, point 5 neglects recent history. It neglects the wholesale sellout of the RTC chapter, as Mulgrew and Murphy push to dump all city retirees into an Advantage plan. (Way to lead and not follow!) It is not, in fact, “fighting for retirees across unions.” Instead, retirees across unions, led by Marianne Pizzitola, are fighting UFT Unity. UFT Unity seems to have forgotten it did absolutely nothing to stop the coming of Tier 6. It seems not to recall that progress has been gruelingly slow since the huge sellout contract of 2005.

Who will fight to retain real Medicare for NYC retirees? Not Michael Mulgrew. Not Tom Murphy. Not the elite, invitation only, UFT Unity Cult. Only the NYC Retirees group will do, and has done that. Retiree Advocate will work hand in hand with them. That’s why I’m strongly endorsing, running with, and voting for, Retiree Advocate.

In a few weeks, you’ll have your ballot. Vote for us. We will represent you, and we will tell Michael Mulgrew and the “very smart people” in his Unity Patronage Cult exactly what they can do with their givebacks to Eric Adams, particularly cuts to member health care.