Unity at Work

Patronage makes you money, but it doesn't make you effective.

It’s remarkable to watch Unity at work. They’re out on the streets telling us to buy jewelry at some joint that evidently does not consider worker rights to be a big deal. I mean sure, we’re out there supporting some joint that doesn’t treat working people right, but we marched at Starbucks to protest their union-busting, didn’t we?

If we did, we weren’t consistent about it. A few years back, when Unity was trying to get us excited about yet another contract that failed to keep up with the cost of living, they asked us to hang out and do schoolwork in Starbucks. The idea, evidently, was to let people know how hard we worked. That way, supposedly, they’d go home and say to themselves, “Gee, look how much time those teachers spend grading papers.”

Once they said that, Unity assumed light bulbs would go off in their heads and they’d, I don’t know, call the mayor. Write to a newspaper. March up and down Main Street. And whatever it was they’d choose to do, they’d do so in service of the next UFT Contract!

I also recall their asking us to wear green to support DC37, which was the first to negotiate that round. When they negotiated a crap pattern, I pointed that out. Folks from Unity were furious. They called me ignorant. I didn’t understand how things worked. If I thought UFT was going to beat the pattern, I was delusional.

I did not, in fact, think UFT would beat the pattern. I thought UFT bosses would accept the pattern, and of course they did. They’d urged us to support DC37 making a deal with the city, and when DC37 made one that did not meet cost of living, meaning we’d be making effectively less money, Unity was right there, as always, telling me to sit down and shut up.

This, my friends, is not what I expect from union leadership. That is to say, I expect it from Unity, having observed them closely for over 20 years, but it’s still not precisely leadership. Leadership would be, for just one example, going to the Municipal Labor Committee and saying, “Hey guys, how about trying something new? Instead of selling out health care, retirees, in-service members, or all of the above, why don’t we set a minimum acceptable compensation increase?”

Doesn’t that make sense? Well, it doesn’t make sense to Unity. When DC37 accepts a crap pattern, they say we have to respect it. After all, they’re another union. You know, like the principals’ union. Who cares if they observe you every time it’s a half day and no one attends your class? Who cares if they blame you for that, as well as the consequent lack of participation, and Danielson you to within an inch of your life? They’re union and you have to respect that.

Color me unimpressed.

I’m more unimpressed than usual today. Why? Well, someone sent me yet another column by yet another Unity hack, and I made the egregious error of actually reading it. In its favor, unlike most Unity stuff, it seemed not to have been written by AI. That said, it was nonsense anyway.

Why? Well, it was yet another personal attack against my friend Marianne Pizzitola. You know, some days she’s way too far left, so they portray her with DSA. DSA, you see, is only acceptable when Zohran Mamdani is DSA and UFT endorses him. At times like that, DSA is fine. However, on other days, it’s completely unacceptable and anyone who talks to anyone in DSA is guilty of union interference.

Other days, though, Marianne is full on MAGA. She’s a big Trump supporter, probably wearing a mask and throwing tear gas through your window even as we speak. Maybe she’s conferring with President Donald Trump at this very moment. Who knows?

On this occasion, though, Marianne was anti-union. Why is she anti-union? Well, she didn’t sit in Starbucks when asked, I suppose, but neither did I. She didn’t buy jewelry when asked either, but neither did I. Did you?

Specifically, Marianne was anti-union this week because she opposed contributing to COPE. That, of course, is because COPE dollars are used to lobby against a bill that would protect Medicare for retirees. I contributed to COPE for years, but pulled my contribution when UFT lawyers threatened me with civil and criminal penalties for the offense of parodying Michael Mulgrew.

Lots of leaders don’t like being parodied. Trump doesn’t like it. Putin doesn’t like it. Clearly Mulgrew doesn’t either.

Is Marianne, then, anti-union? Am I?

Well no, we are not. Al Franken once wrote that some politicians deem patriotism as love of country, and love of country, to them, is like love of your Mommy. You don’t let people criticize your Mommy. That’s unacceptable.

Others, though, think patriotism entails standing up when your country is in the wrong. When ICE is in the streets arresting people because of what they look like, that’s unacceptable. When they wear masks, fail to identify themselves, and terrorize our cities, it’s unacceptable. When they murder us on the streets without cause, that’s beyond unacceptable.

I’d argue that unionism, at its most fundamental, is a people’s movement. It ought to be devoted to not only improving the lives of members, but also setting an example. That way, non-union businesses, you know, like the jewelry store UFT bosses want us to patronize, would have to treat their workers better as well.

Here on the ground, many UFT members can’t afford to buy jewelry. A whole lot of paraprofessionals, and retirees, and even teachers struggle to keep up. Of course, UFT big shots are likely to make double what lowly teachers do, have second pensions, trips and gala luncheons. They have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo.

That, of course, is why the few, the privileged, the Unity Caucus tells us to sit down and shut up. Mulgrew loves to correct people who speak of UFT in third person. “You are the UFT,” he’ll say. But if you disagree with him too strongly, he turns off your mike and you are officially nobody, at least at 52 Broadway.

It’s not always personal. Sometimes we’re all recipients of Unity’s largesse. For example, a few short years ago, Michael Mulgrew stood on his pedestal and announced a Medicare Advantage (MA) plan that was better than Medicare. All your doctors would take it. And when doctors said they would not, in fact, take it, it was still better, somehow.

Except at the same time, he sent a few UFT Big Shots and one cancer survivor to the City Council to claim they needed real Medicare. Evidently, the MA plan was not good enough for them. They wanted those who wished to remain in Medicare to pay a premium, a premium that many retirees would not be able to afford.

Did Unity care that Medicare would then be only in reach of those who could afford it? Evidently, no, they did not.

Who put the kibosh on that plan? That would be Marianne Pizzitola and her merry band of NYC Retirees. Like many retired teachers, I now have real Medicare at no extra cost. Mulgrew likes to speak as though he’d protect it. Not only will he not protect it, but he uses our COPE dollars to lobby against Intro 1096.

For my money, that particular anti-union policy is a very strong reason not to pay into COPE. 1096, or whatever it’s called when reintroduced, would not only enshrine our coverage into law, but also eliminate the odious co-pays Mulgrew gave us.

Where was our friendly neighborhood Unity hack when Mulgrew was doing that? I can’t say, but he did not utter even a whisper against the MA scheme. Meanwhile, Marianne Pizzitola was out on the streets, out in the courts, doing the work that we pay UFT bosses to do for us. They sold us out. They lied to us. I’m very grateful Marianne is out there working for us.

I’d prefer, of course, to have union leadership doing that work. I pay dues for that, twice—as a retiree, and as an F-status teacher. Alas, they’re too busy protecting their perks, sinecures, and privilege. That’s why they must go.

PS—Another thing UFT bosses have done is make retirees pay $180 a month for prescription insurance, double that if you have a spouse. Cops, firefighters, sanitation workers and DC37 get that free of charge. We’ve gotten over 5,000 signatures so far. Please add yours and join us.