Members of the Long Island Rail Road’s largest union voted 500 to 0 on Wednesday to strike, a development that helps lay the groundwork for a walkout as soon as March.
Two locals that make up the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Union voted in Massapequa, L.I. The third local in the union didn’t participate.
“The membership spoke loud and clear tonight … and said we will not sit back and be disrespected,” said Anthony Simon, SMART’s general chairman. “I have never been prouder to be their leader.”
…
About 6,000 LIRR workers have labored without a contract for more than three years, and talks aimed at producing a new contract have reached an impasse. Workers are angry that officials at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority — the LIRR’s parent company — won’t adopt a contract settlement proposed by a Presidential Emergency Board. It includes modest raises, but MTA bosses shot it down last month.
…
The emergency board, made up of neutral mediators, delivered its recommendations in December after hearing labor and management experts testify about MTA finances and various additional factors. The board concluded the MTA could afford to pay the raises it proposed — amounting to about 2.85% a year for six years — without raising fares in 2015 higher than the 4% jump already planned. It also said workers should start contributing 2% of their base pay for health care.
But the MTA is pushing for a three-year wage freeze for all of its workers unless pay increases are offset by cost savings related to productivity. The mediators didn’t endorse the work-rule changes the MTA sought to balance out potential rises for LIRR workers.
We will continue to follow this story as it unfolds in the coming month.
Tonight there will be two strike votes taking place. One of the votes will feature a teachers union while the other features a Long Island union.
This evening at 7:00 pm Pacific time teachers in Portland, Oregon will be voting on whether or not to authorize a strike. The Portland Association of Teachers, an NEA local, is made up of nearly 3,000 teachers plus more than 1,000 substitute teachers. Today, in solidarity with their teachers, students held walkouts around the city of Portland. As the story unfolds we will have more here at thepjsta.org. You can follow @PATSolidarity on Twitter to keep track of the story in real time. The PJSTA is proud to stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Portland!
The other strike vote taking place tonight is that of the LIRR’s largest union. Via Newsday...
The Sheet Metal, Air and Transportation Union/United Transportation Union, which represents nearly half of LIRR laborers, will cast their ballots at back-to-back meetings in Massapequa Wednesday night. SMART UTU general chairman Anthony Simon, who expects a unanimous “yes” vote from members, said he will also be handing out picket signs and coordinating strike captains.
Smaller LIRR unions have already approved similar votes to walk off the job as early as March 21. Simon said his union’s vote — the first of its kind in two decades — is “the toughest for our members ever to make.”
“This is going to affect their finances, their families, and the Long Island economy,” Simon said. “But they are standing united with their union, because they have been pushed around far too long.”
…
In November, President Barack Obama appointed a Presidential Emergency Board to help resolve the dispute. After listening to arguments from labor and management during a weeklong Manhattan hearing, the board largely ruled in the unions’ favor, saying that the MTA could afford to give workers raises without having to raise fares. The unions accepted the board’s nonbinding recommendations, but the MTA rejected them.
The PJSTA proudly stands in solidarity with all of their brothers and sisters in the labor movement. We will have more on these situations as they unfold.
The NYS Legislature will shortly decide which candidates will be appointed to four Regents positions.
NYSAPE is endorsing four new candidates, who have made a firm commitment to change the direction of current education policies. They oppose high stakes testing and student data-sharing without parental consent. They are long-time educators and parent leaders who are respected in their communities. You can read about these candidates here: http://www.nysape.org/nysape-endorses-full-slate-of-candidates-for-the-board-of-regents.html .
HERE’S WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Please take the time to email and call your Assembly Member and Senator and ask that they support Mike Reilly, Regina Rose, Audrey Baker and Dr. Carol Mikoda. You will find a sample email/call script below.
Here’s a sample email/call script, please feel free to revise:
Dear [Name of Legislator] :
On February 4 and February 11, Assemblywomen Nolan and Glick will lead interviews for four positions on the Board of Regents. I am urging you to support the following four candidates: Michael Reilly, Regina Rose, Dr. Carol Mikado and Audrey Baker.
All four are experienced educators and/or parent leaders, and understand that the current policies of the NYS Education Department must be reversed. As Regents, these four candidates will fight for authentic and quality education for all children in New York State.
The incumbents sitting in those seats have expressed no willingness to do so.
The resumes and/or the surveys of Michael Reilly, Regina Rose, Dr. Carol Mikado and Audrey Baker are available on the NYSAPE website: http://www.nysape.org/regents-candidate-information.html Please let me know if you are willing to support their candidacy.
New York State United Teachers President Richard C. Iannuzzi today called on school districts to abandon educationally unsound and unconscionable policies that force students whose parents have decided to opt them out of state testing to “sit and stare” instead of providing them with a constructive alternative.
…
“NYSUT strongly condemns the policy of ‘sit and stare’,” Iannuzzi said. “This policy aimed at students whose parents elect to ‘opt out’ their children from state standardized testing is unconscionable. It would be spiteful and counter-productive for any school district to require an administrator or teacher to direct a child to ‘sit and stare’ at a blank desk while other students are taking exams because of a choice made by a parent.”
Iannuzzi added, “This is cruel to those students not taking the exam and a distraction and disservice to those who are attempting to complete it. Punishing or embarrassing children because their parents exercised their right to choose not to have their children participate in tests they consider inappropriate is, frankly, abusive.”
…
Iannuzzi said the union would provide guidance and support to parents – or parent groups – unfairly singled out or harassed for advocating the right to opt out and added, “We will vigorously defend any NYSUT members who are subject to any negative employment considerations for choosing to opt out their own child or who advocate, to the extent permitted by law, for others who opt out of state standardized tests.”
This is very strong language from Iannuzzi in support of students, teachers, and parents. It also continues his trend of taking more aggressive stands against damaging reforms from SED. Ironically some locals are opposing his re-election bid, and supporting the slate that wants to play nice with Cuomo, because Iannuzzi wasn’t previously aggressive enough.
Today’s comments seem to be further proof that an Iannuzzi no longer beholden to Michael Mulgrew is an Iannuzzi who will take NYSUT in the direction that most NYSUT members want.
We are proud to serve as the Honorary Reelection Committee and to endorse the reelection of Dick Iannuzzi for President, Maria Neira and Kathleen Donahue for Vice President and Lee Cutler for Secretary-Treasurer of NYSUT!
We have been involved in framing the NYSUT mission and vision from its inception. Along with many great unionists from across New York, we’ve watched our union grow and evolve in ways that place NYSUT at the forefront of the teacher union movement — in fact of the entire labor movement. Dick and his team have a vision that is inclusive of every constituency group and local regardless of region or size. They have made leaders feel and know that they are part of a union that cares about and advocates for every member. They understand that leadership is about making the tough choices in tough times to save our members’ jobs, and about recalibrating our budgetary priorities and restructuring our organization to better meet our members’ needs. They know that leadership is about leading and taking responsibility for decisions, not finger-pointing or scapegoating colleagues when times are hard.
Like each of us, the STRONGER TOGETHER team understands that a union best serves its members with a long-range strategy and vision that supports real change, but not change for the sake of change.
The future of NYSUT depends on a team whose vision looks toward the future with new ideas that engage a collective voice, and not one that seeks to look backwards and fails to recognize the value of every member. Dick, Maria, Kathleen and Lee have the vision and experience to lean into the future on your behalf, and that’s why we are proud to actively provide our support.
This morning we ran a post featuring the MORE Caucus. Having read that you may now have an interest in attending a forum they are holding in Manhattan this weekend titled, “More than a Score!”
Find out how you can stop the overuse of High Stakes Testing in your school, and join the citywide effort to focus on real teaching and learning.
Panel and workshops will discuss:
What are the effects of high stakes testing on students, teachers and school communities?
What are solid alternatives to standardized testing that already exist?
How can we be active in the fight for a better educational system for ALL students?
Hear and speak to educators and students from schools where standardized tests are not used to make major decisions. There’s overwhelming evidence to support that collaboration trumps competition when it comes to bringing out the best in all of our students.
Together we can stop the corporate standardization of education and create a responsive educational system that serves the needs of our young people and communities.
11:00-11:15- Welcome and Introductions!
11:15-11:45- Key Note Speakers
11:55-12:55- Workshops Round 1 (Diverse range of workshops for everyone)
* Portfolio Based Assessments (Middle/High School): Presented by educators from a Consortium High School (Non-regents based public high school)
* High Stakes Testing 101: The Truth About Testing- Presented by Change the Stakes
* Why the UFT should fight “Advance”: Presented by MORE’s Contract Committee
* High Stakes Testing and Zero Tolerance Policies- Promoting Restorative Justice
in our schools: Teacher’s Unite
* Building Student Voice and Empowerment: NYC Student Union: Building Student Unions on your own campus. Let’s build a network of collaboration for collective action to have our educational demands met.
* Portfolio Based Assessments in Elementary Schools- Presented by elementary school educators in the current progressive network
1:00-2:00- GET PLUGGED IN! Round 2 (Great place for people who are already plugged in to different community based groups and for those who are looking to learn more about how to get actively informed.)
* MORE- Movement of Rank and File Educators:
* Change the Stakes
* NYC Student Union
* Teachers
2:00-2:30- Endnote Speakers and Closing
2:30-3:00- Mingle and Meet- bake sale and connect at the water cooler
LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING YOU THERE!
*Workshop organizers subject to change depending on demand.
Our features this week (intro, James Eterno, Arthur Goldstein, Reality-Based Educator) that have shown how the leadership of the United Federation of Teachers operates may understandably leave you with a bad taste in your mouth regarding the state’s biggest local. Today’s post is meant to highlight some of the extraordinary work being done by rank and file UFT members, in spite of the leadership of the Unity Caucus. While a great deal of their members do the “every day hero” work that so many teachers across the country do, still others do tremendous work blogging about education (see our guest bloggers at NYC Educator and Perdido Street School). However one group in particular jumps out for their activism. That group is the MORE Caucus (@MOREcaucusNYC).
The MORE Caucus, standing for the Movement Of Rank And File Educators, bills itself as “The Social Justice Caucus of the UFT”. Anybody who knows them knows that there is no finer example of grassroots unionism in New York. Not the faux grassroots that the Pallotta/Mulgrew Revive NYSUT slate is touting, but real bottom up, member driven unionism. So who exactly is the MORE Caucus and what do they stand for? Via their mission statement…
1. We are members of the UFT and members of school communities and their allies.
2. We insist on receiving professional dignity and respect, and we insist on a strong, democratic union emerging from an educated and active rank and file. We oppose the lack of democracy and one-party state that has governed our union for half a century. It has conceded to our adversaries’ agendas and has collaborated with their attacks on us, leading to the terrible situation we find ourselves in.
3. We insist on a better educational environment for ourselves and for the students whose lives we touch. Because of this resolve, we have established the MORE Caucus, which will educate, organize and mobilize the UFT membership.
The onslaught of high-stakes testing, privatization, weakening or elimination of job protections, school closings and charter co- locations threatens the very existence of public education as we know it. Unionized teachers in particular have been singled out for demonization. The strategy put forth by our union leadership to take on these challenges is inadequate. UFT officials rely primarily on lobbying, media blitzes and procedural lawsuits. When occasional mobilizations are called, they are organized without a long-term plan for escalating actions or increased membership involvement. The union leadership takes a concessionary stance in order to maintain its “seat at the table” with politicians and corporate forces like Bill Gates, who turn around and attack teachers and the union at every opportunity. Union leadership then sells serious concessions to the members as victories claiming – “It could have worse”.
Some of the key policy failures of the UFT leadership:
• Supporting mayoral control even in the face of the devastating impact
• A weak stand against closing schools
• A compromising position on charter schools and co-locations
• Giving up on the fight to reduce class size
• The acceptance of rating teachers based on high-stakes tests
• Agreeing to merit pay even though every single study shows the failure of this policy
• Steadily deteriorating working conditions and power in the workplace
• Erosion of job security and tenure protections
• A one-party undemocratic system that shuts out the voices of the members
We need something different. A union that fights for the rights of students, teachers and communities.
A union that fights for racial and economic justice inside and outside our schools.
Like the PJSTA, the MORE Caucus is an official member of the New York State Allies for Public Education. MORE was formed in 2012, modeled in many ways after the CORE Teachers who only a couple of years earlier wrested control of the Chicago Teachers Union and have since become the model for how teacher unionism should be the United States.
Last spring, for the first time, MORE participated in the UFT elections as challengers to the Unity Caucus. They were led by their candidate for UFT President, Julie Cavanagh, who was known for her tremendous work fighting for public education, including co-narrating and co-producing The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman. While they did not win the election, MORE garnered significant support considering their status as newcomers and, more importantly, the hurdles that stand in the way of fair elections within their local. In his guest post earlier this week MORE member James Eterno detailed some of those hurdles (emphasis mine)…
In the most recent UFT election in 2013, less than 20% of active teachers voted. Members received a booklet in the mail with over a thousand names on it. Most people who did vote chose a slate, which means they voted for all of the candidates from one caucus (political party) with one mark.
The party that has controlled UFT politics for around half a century is the Unity Caucus, the Michael Mulgrew-Randi Weingarten faction of the UFT. Their huge base of support is among retirees, who now make up a majority of the UFT voters.
There is no way for dissidents (the Movement of Rank and File Educators in the last election) to reach those retirees who live all over the place, other than one ad in the New York Teacher newspaper every three years. Union officers, on the other hand, have complete access to the retirees.
A major union leader told me that when they visit schools during campaign season, they don’t campaign officially but everyone knows that they are there to run for office. How is it that UFT officials manage to visit Florida retirees during the election season? Challengers, who have to teach here in New York City, do not have any access to the masses of voters.
The opposition MORE slate and quasi opposition New Action slate combined won a majority of high school votes in the last UFT election. That netted the two groups zero representation in NYSUT’s RA.
For a more detailed analysis of the election turnout visit Kit Wainer’s piece here.
Unfortunately the power hungry Unity Caucus has set up a system that shuts out opposition voice within their local. As a result, NYSUT members do not get to enjoy the benefit of having members from the MORE Caucus participate in higher levels of our statewide union. There will be no MORE members with a vote in April’s NYSUT election. Outside of Andy Pallotta, Mike Mulgrew, and the Revive NYSUT slate of candidates I can’t think that this makes any teacher in New York State happy.
The contested election in this year’s NYSUT elections have, at the very least, brought a number of important issues to the forefront. Hopefully that results in meaningful changes within the next three years so that together we can build a stronger, member driven union. Unfortunately, as currently constituted, this is NOT what democracy looks like!
I’ll leave you with this video of MORE’s Brian Jones speaking about teacher unions…
The Official Website of the PJSTA 