The UFT leadership rewards blind loyalty to their every wishes by giving Unity members patronage positions with the union. Be it pension consultants, delegate to conferences, or office positions at the UFT borough headquarters. Personally, I have been little impressed with many of the people who have been given these patronage positions. Be it negotiating vastly inferior giveback laden contracts, providing real and relevant advice at the informal pension consultations (one UFT pension consultant was actually pushing pension max), and fails to aggressively representing members at the DOE kangaroo court of "U" rating appeals. Starting in 2018 all this will change.
First,. the GOP tax plan, which is now law, no longer allows union dues to be deductible on your federal income tax and unless the State adjusts their own tax structure, that would include the State and City income tax as well. the $1,402.56 annual union dues will no longer be deductible, which in some cases can be 40% or more of the union dues paid for the year.
Second, the Supreme Court is expected to hand down their Janus decision this Spring and its expected to be 5 to 4 to eliminate mandatory union dues. Therefore, starting in the 2018-19 school year, the union will plead with the members to pay their "fair share" to help support the union. The union leadership will claim the "collective bargaining process" requires the members to pay their union dues. However, the "collective bargaining" agreement is for all City employees and it only takes one union to agree to terms and the other unions are forced to accept the same or similar contracts. For example our 2014 contract negotiated with the City became the template for all other contracts. Next ye4ar's contract will be a formality since DC37 is in the process of negotiating a contract with the City this Spring and that will be the template for all other union contracts, including the UFT..
Finally, our COPE payments for political action and other obscure purposes have been abused by the UFT leadership. Ask them for a breakdown of how the COPE money is spent and you get silence. In other words its none of you business and we know what's best for our members. Remember this? How about their support of racial arsonist Al Sharpton If the COPE money collected from member voluntary contributions were identified and clearly defined by showing why members benefit from the use of the COPE funds, then I might be convinced to contribute.
The bottom line is the union leadership only has themselves to blame by their very secretive nature of its use and failure to clearly identify where all our union dues and COPE contributions go to. I suspect that close to 40% of the members will either stop paying union dues or reduce the amount they contribute once the Supreme Court rules against mandatory union dues. As for those juicy union patronage jobs? Look for real belt tightening and elimination of many of those useless positions.
Looks like it's over for the parasites.
ReplyDeleteFirst, union dues have not been fully deductible for many years. They have been subject to the excess of 2 percent of AGI.
ReplyDeleteSecond, it is not at all certain that the Supreme Court decision in Janus will end mandatory union dues. There is solid legal thinking that a state’s First amendment position is different when it is operating as an employer than when it is in a purely governmental mode. This means that requiring mandatory union dues would not be an impingement on workers ‘ free-speech rights
There is a full explanation of this in a letter published in the current issue of The Chief.
Do not be surprised if after the decision is handed down in June that nothing has really changed
I think you are wrong, at least I hope so. I think a lower percent will stop paying union dues. I know at my school, I would rather be the teacher being backed up by the union than not. If you were going after teachers, who would you pick? The one that is still covered by the union or the one who isn’t? Easy pickings. Also, there have been several articles stating that unions may not have to protect those who don’t pay in.
ReplyDeleteI will leave you with this, several teachers who are the least politically/union active have stated out loud that anyone who doesn’t pay their dues is a moron. Yes, that’s not a scientific study, but I was surprised to hear that from them.
Have a happy new year.
I agree with the premise that our union run by UNITY party is in for a bit of a shock and will definitely beg for our money. Sadly (at least I think it's sad - not sure) I don't agree with the 40% of members opting out of dues. At least not year one. People are lazy and will be unsure of what they can do or how to do it. It will vary widely by school. First, any where the sign up numbers are low UNITY will come in with guns blazing with all their verbal charm and sign people up. Phase 2 will be to visit schools where there are even any people not signed up. They will make tremendous efforts to get everyone. The holdouts will be in places where there is already opposition, but even in those places some will fall and sign up. The CL's of those schools will be under tremendous pressure to play ball and if they don't they will be challenged by UNITY. They will send reps in and encourage some sucker to run against the non-conforming CL. They will have no shame and paint any person not signing up as being an anti-American, union-busting, naive pawns of those trying to destroy education (the irony). As ineffective as they are, this they will shine at. Perhaps in time the number of non-dues payers will grow significant enough to make a difference, but that will take years and by then the laws might swing back in our favor. The UFT will be more visible to the masses, with more forced lunch meetings and special guests, all of whom will spend half the meeting time explaining why you should and must sign up and pay your dues. And that is my prediction.
ReplyDeleteAny predictions for new chancellor by name and what our new contract will be ? I’m hearing 3-4 yrs total of 5% . Smh! It would be fine if Denialson is gone
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy Janus will handcuff this piece of shit corrupt union we have. I will contribute zero. I can't wait to laugh at all the cowards that work for the UFT. Anyone that contributes to these worthless roaches is enabling corruption to coexist. Please be smart and tell them to F off! They'll( be your best friend if and when Janus passes bc they want your money and that all they care about.
ReplyDeleteChaz
ReplyDeleteMy union rep just recently had a meeting with the staff talking about Janus ad how the union would be dissolved. We are goig to lose our pensions, summers gone, blah blah blah
Unions are always under attack but realistically thinking do you see this doom and gloom forecast happening for NYC?
one UFT pension consultant was actually pushing pension max... what does this mean?
ReplyDeleteNormally I would be a supporter of the union, because my parents were both UAW and in those days a union meant something. Since getting in the DOE, the union seems to be feckless and ineffectual. In all my time I have seen only one instance where a chapter leader has been effective, and that was years ago. Principals now hold all the cards and can ignore chapter leaders. Calling in the 'big guns' or district reps doesn't seem to do much anymore, at least at my school where hopelessness is the foundation of every teacher's psyche now.
ReplyDeleteThe 5 principals I have worked under in the last 11 years have all been very bad save for one, and she was pushed out by Tweed probably because the staff regarded her so highly. The average principal these days has been so gassed up by the DOE that they think they are gods on a mission to destroy those lousy racist teachers who are holding Dequan and Jose back from their true Einstein potential.
If we no longer have to pay union dues, I would be tempted to stop mine because with less than eight years to go before early retirement, I don't think any seismic shifts will happen. I could use an extra $1000 per year.
The question becomes, will we loose our dental or eyeglass vouchers and other perks the union provides?
The fact you can't distinguish between the word "lose" and "loose" as a teacher should tell you that you need way more than a union to protect you. As a matter of fact if you take your union dues and pay for grammar courses now then your union will not stop you.
DeleteSo can it hurt you in any way if you don't pay dues? Do you really get everything that dues paying members would get?
ReplyDeleteWell if you think this is bad with unions think again after Janus. ATRs will be out of jobs. Same ATRs criticizing unions will be the first to pay union dues. Without their union they would not have a job. Retropay will be out the window. Why would the city agree to give us retropay?
ReplyDeleteAs far as UFT goes you are 150 percent correct. This top/down shitty model where the UFT feels entitled and out of touch with their members will need serious changes. UFT will now really need to listen to members and get on the phone and please their members.
Their members will no longer be an enemy. The UFT will need to treat their members like members.
However, not paying dues and killing the union is the dumbest thing Chaz has ever said. I mean we do love you Chaz, but do not be ignorant.
Unions are important. Digital media outlets are beginning to slowly unionize themselves. Whether it's Unity or something else, unions are important.
ReplyDeleteFebruary 26 is the date for oral arguments before the Supreme Court. I can't wait for the Court to rule against the UFT. Our $1,400+ union dues can be better spent in our wallets. Always remember that the city funds our welfare fund benefits. We don't need the UFT to administer it while other city unions have superior eye benefits and drug benefits even for retirees when you retire.
ReplyDeleteIf a person didn't pay dues or belong to the union, the union would not be required to help if that person needed representation. The whole idea of a union is to give the rank and file a voice and protection. That's not happening under Mulgrew - I wonder just what is his agenda?
ReplyDeleteSo Farina came up with a list of schools to close - what happens to those teachers? More ATRs?
Yes, more ATRs and they can join the class action. That's the game plan.
DeleteI really think most of the, “I’m not paying dues,” are trolls. I’m not Unity (or More), so don’t even go there.
ReplyDeleteDo you know they have been trying to make a law in Florida that if a Union collects from less than 50%, they can’t collectively bargain? Hmmm, who does that help? Not the worker.
Am retiring June 2018. Just want to know if the union is out, will TRS hold the pension consults?
ReplyDeleteNamita Dwarka is a SKANK!!!
ReplyDelete