The UFT Leadership Sold Out The Members To Support Mayor Bill de Blasio's Progressive Agenda.

Let me first make this perfectly clear.  I have no problem with Mayor Bill de Blasio's progressive vision for New York City.  Many of his ideas are preferable to Michael Bloomberg's view that closed schools and benefited the 1%.  I believe he is pro education and doesn't demonize teachers like Michael Bloomberg did.  However, I don't like the fact that our union, the UFT, sold out the members to help the new Mayor with his agenda.  What did the union leadership do that sold out the members?  Let me count the ways.

First, the union leadership agreed to defer the two 2009-10 4% raises until October of 2015 and not get the last part until October of 2018.  I don't mind the retroactivity being deferred but the raises themselves?  The union should have negotiated a 10% wage increase for September 2014   Instead we are getting a paltry 2% raise and a $1,000 bribe to sign the contract in October 2014.   Moreover, the union leadership agreed to eighteen months of "0" raises and that's unacceptable to all the Municipal unions and should be to us.

Second, the lump sum retroactive pay was even deferred further into the future with the bulk being paid from October 2018-20.  Interestingly, we do not receive any lump sum retroactive pay in October 2016 that further helps the City to fund other programs.

Third, The union leadership has agreed not to demand the interest built up in the almost five years that the union did not get their two 4% raises as was done in previous contracts.  Moreover, according to a  math teacher, the retroactivity calculated is based upon the end of a calender year rather than the end of the previous contract and there is as much as a $5,000 difference between what the City owes us and what the union claims we are getting by October 2020.

Fourth, any teachers that resigns, are terminated, or die before retiring will not receive their retroactive raises or lump sum payments.  This is just like an annuity where the City and union is hoping something happens to the teacher before he or she can collect the money.  Already, discontinued teachers won't receive any retroactive pay even if they worked in the 2009-10 period to the second semester of the 2012-13 school year.

Fifth, the disgusting targeting of the ATRs by diminishing their "due process rights" and offering them an inferior severance package.  This new teacher "caste system" is simply a ploy by the City to terminate as many ATRs as possible abd save money. Moreover, to allow the DOE to punish ATRs who won their 3020-a termination hearings is a moral failure on the union's part.

Finally, the union's failure to change the termination procedures in the teacher's evaluation system is proof that the union leadership is not interested in protecting teacher "due process rights" as they so claimed.

Obviously, to make the new Mayor look good and support the " its a beautiful day" Chancellor, the union leadership sold out the members and that's a crime.