In contrast, rank and file teacher organizations, such as the MORE caucus, as well as a DSA-led solidarity group, had frequent meetings to discuss next steps and to plan for the possibility of the first strike of the UFT in 45 years. However, we reject both the substance of the agreement that UFT leadership made with the Mayor as well as the process, including lack of transparency and inclusion of rank-and-file members, that produced this “deal.” Michael Mulgrew made this agreement directly with the Mayor and other union leaders without meaningful input from rank-and-file union members. This in effect leaves these decisions to the sole discretion of administrators who may or may not work with their UFT chapters to ensure such decisions are made equitably. Our goal is to have a mobilized, active union that can effectively fight for our rights by giving all members a voice in the UFT. One Comment. ... (MORE) is a caucus in the UFT that is affiliated with the Chicago Teachers … The UNITY/UFT caucus has been the foundation of our union for over 60 years and we proudly bear the responsibility for being the majority voice. The UFT must actually represent all of its member interests when at the bargaining table and not simply make undemocratic give aways for the sake of convenience. The Movement of Rank and File Educators caucus of the UFT opposed de Blasio’s decision to reopen school buildings to pre-K, elementary schools and District 75 … Join Me Wedseday, July 16, at MORE UFT/Caucus History Event Come on down - and watch me fall asleep while presenting. This was the caucus formed by Albert Shanker that rolled all of the old, independent teacher unions in NYC into one (hence the name, “Unity”). MORE Caucus Response to 9/25 UFT-DOE Agreement Posted by morecaucusnyc September 29, 2020 September 29, 2020 Posted in Contract , covid-19 , remote learning , Uncategorized Tags: MORE-UFT , school reopening , UFT Contract Thank you to the 84 educators on our MORE General Meeting Call now! Specifically, the elevated risk factors of poor or non-existent ventilation, over 5 hours in the same classroom with others, removing masks for indoor eating, and the unproven assertions that open windows alone will refresh room air 5-6 times per hour. Our Students, Our Schools, and Our City Deserve MORE. Our Students, Our Schools, and Our City Deserve MORE! This at first appears to be progress, since these teachers will not have to unnecessarily expose loved ones to a potentially deadly virus, but teachers may only take advantage of this provision “to the extent possible and as soon as practicable”, not to mention that many school-based staff members live with individuals at high risk without being their primary caregivers. MORE-UFT supports the # HuntsPointStrike with New York Teamsters NYC Democratic Socialists of America and a number of … While we are cautiously optimistic about this change, this is another instance in which we are left waiting for “further guidance” that we needed months ago in order to ensure the needs of all stakeholders are met. The UNITY/UFT caucus has been the foundation of our union for over 60 years and we proudly bear the responsibility for being the majority voice. Coverages of remote classes rely on remote teachers to still provide asynchronous activities for their students or use activities created by Virtual Content Specialists (VCS). Many wore red and spammed the hashtag #RedforEd across Twitter in solidarity with teachers who had to go into school despite the rising cases. ... Face masks, temperature checks and more. We want a union that will energize and involve rank and file members, invite them to think strategically and craft union strategy, to take initiative and to lead. a position that ignores the expertise and hard work in the spring from our city’s dedicated school librarians, We have been fighting this dangerous roll back of our union rights for months and will continue to do so. This is a predictable byproduct of undemocratic decision-making on the part of our union leadership who have made clear they are willing to give up virtually anything if it means President Mulgrew can announce a deal with this administration. At the Delegate Assembly today, school chapter Leaders and delegates were forced to vote just hours after the Mayor and President Mulgrew negotiated, without seeing the language of the resolution or their school’s ventilation inspection reports, over a telephone assembly, and when, under this deal, UFT members will return to classrooms in-person September 8th. Another remarked on Twitter, “My school just reopened on Jan 10th. UFT members have no regular recourse when there are breaches in our contract. This agreement leves the grievance process frozen, as it has been since the onset of the pandemic in March. We are worried that this provision to allow some teachers, but not all, to work remotely will be used to drive a wedge between remote and non-remote workers. If we are asking people to risk catching a deadly virus (which we should not be doing), these people should be entitled to hazard pay. The Solidarity Caucus has already collected more than 1,500 signatures in an online petition urging officials to close school buildings. ... 1 week ago School Finance 101. Join us! Views and opinions expressed by this author do not necessarily reflect the view of UFT Solidarity caucus or… Read More. I even told UFT co-founder George Altomare to come to this when I ran into him in the men's room at the AFT convention - there was a brief look of panic on his face - --- I had zippered up so it wasn't THAT. ... but there is a reform caucus, MORE, which has many active DSA members.” ... published a sobering twitter thread about the US, NYC, and the virus. Our caucus, UNITY/UFT, has advocated and fought for the safety and health of our members since our union’s inception more than 60 years ago.The past year has been a testament to that fact as UNITY/UFT fought seven days a week for our members to work in a safe environment as the pandemic devastated our nation’s health and economy.. And, because of our perseverance, our refusal … We also accept one time donations from all who want to see the NYC school system our students deserve!. UFT rank-and-file members, students, and families will be most impacted by this agreement and deserve to be heard. JOIN MORE-UFT. Democrats Weigh Whether Iowa Keeps 1st Presidential Contest Iowa's decades-long lock on the nominating process has been under threat since last year's disastrous caucus… Since we know that COVID-19 can linger in the air for a great deal of time, particularly in poorly ventilated spaces such as our school buildings, it is unconscionable that these staff members are being put at such a risk for a paltry premium. These breaches are instead allowed to continue while our working conditions, and in turn our students’ learning conditions, deteriorate. A prolonged vaccine shortage could delay the reopening of New York’s schools, the head of the city’s teacher’s union reportedly warned. JOIN MORE-UFT. The MORE caucus continues to demand no full reopening of in-person schools until 14 days of no new cases, financial support and real childcare options for families, full funding of our schools, and parent, teacher, and student decision making in reopening, not more backroom deals from union leadership that is failing to represent its members. The #InvestInOurNewYork Act will raise $50 billion to overcome the pandemic AND ensure every NYer has access to the housing, services, and care they need. We sincerely hope that our union and city leadership immediately take seriously the actual needs of our students, teachers, and communities. If @NYGovCuomo cares about Black and Brown NYers, it's time to stop posturing and #TaxTheRich. The Mayor continues to prioritize the demands of small groups of largely wealthy constituents and only pay lip service to our city’s most vulnerable communities. Our caucus, UNITY/UFT, has advocated and fought for the safety and health of our members since our union’s inception more than 60 years ago.The past year has been a testament to that fact as UNITY/UFT fought seven days a week for our members to work in a safe environment as the pandemic devastated our nation’s health and economy.. And, because of our perseverance, our refusal … Moreover, this agreement does nothing to address myriad other concerns raised by advocates, teachers and parents, including the increased risk for schools in neighborhoods with high infection rates, the safety of students eating meals indoors, safety concerns around mass transit and an underfunded MTA, or the massive budget cuts that Governor Cuomo is pushing through at the state level, possible layoffs still looming, and what those cuts will mean for class sizes and safety. According to the agreement between the UFT and the Mayor, there will be more testing for students and teachers; however, testing won’t be universal. The other provisions of this agreement are similarly, and in some cases far more, problematic: Unfortunately, this agreement and previous agreements over the past weeks and months are deeply flawed and do not address the problems our communities are facing. On Tuesday, September 1st, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a deal with the heads of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), Council of Supervisors and Administrators (CSA), and District Council 37 (DC 37) to begin in-person instruction on September 21st. UNITY/UFT listened to the concerns of membership, involved them through every part of the negotiation process and fought for a contract that provides us with VOICE, SUPPORT, RESPECT and true EMPOWERMENT. Not mentioned at all are the DOE policies that disregard scientific evidence on indoor transmission. According to Liat Olenick, member of the … investinourny.org The agreement leaves unsaid where the additional paraprofessionals to fill these roles will come from given the current teacher hiring catastrophe currently unravelling and whether the funding for these stipends and the per session for covering classes will come from schools’ budgets or central. New York City’s teacher union, the United Federation of Teachers, has been dominated by a caucus known as Unity. In any fair society, no school staff would be denied the option to do their job from home during a global pandemic. New York, New York: In response to Mayor De Blasio and UFT President Michael Mulgrew’s announcement of an agreement to delay in-person instruction for the 2020-2021 school year by two weeks, the MORE-UFT caucus released the following statement: We welcome a slight delay of in-person school reopening in the midst of this COVID-19 pandemic, and recognize that our advocacy … We also accept one time donations from all who want to see the NYC school system our students deserve!. A deal was then made with politicians and presented as a win. Countless UFT members who have been needlessly working in person since September 8 have been exposed and potentially exposed other members of our communities to COVID-19 for work that all parties now acknowledge could have been effectively done at home. Any member of the UFT can join MORE by making a minimum monthly donation of $5 and new members will also receive a MORE T-Shirt!. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! MORE’s goal is to transform the UFT into a powerful and democratic union. The MORE Caucus and Solidarity Caucus of the United Federation of Teachers have emerged as vocal opponents of the mayor’s plan to return to a hybrid school model in the fall. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! (WTNH) — The state legislature’s Black and Puerto Rican Caucus has elected Waterbury State Representative Geraldo Reyes as their new leader. UNITY/UFT listened to the concerns of membership, involved them through every part of the negotiation process and fought for a contract that provides us with VOICE, SUPPORT, RESPECT and true EMPOWERMENT. Remote accommodation for school-based staff who live with individuals with increased risk for complications from COVID-19 cannot be contingent on whether their school has a remote job opening. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. New Action Caucus / UFT and MORE Caucus, and our representatives on the UFT Executive Board wrote to the Unity Caucus controlled leadership of the UFT, asking for real demonstrations of support for an embattled Chapter Leader (Marilyn Martinez, Central Park East 1, facing trumped up 3020a charges) and an embattled school (JHS 145, District 7, threatened with closure at … ABOUT MORE: The Movement of Rank-and-File Educators (MORE), is the social justice caucus of the UFT and largest force for change within the teachers union. Another target is the United Federation of Teachers, a nearly 200,000-member union representing teachers, social workers, secretaries and other school employees. Any member of the UFT can join MORE by making a minimum monthly donation of $5 and new members will also receive a MORE T-Shirt!. 7,996 Followers, 1,585 Following, 623 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from MORE UFT (@morecaucusuft) Because even the tiny progress made in this agreement does not take effect until October 5, this simple ask comes too late for Pre-K and D75 staff who have begun working with students in person this week and certainly too late for the tens of thousands of teachers who are slated to begin teaching in person on Tuesday and Thursday. The Solidarity Caucus has already collected more than 1,500 signatures in an online petition urging officials to close school buildings. New Action Caucus / UFT and MORE Caucus, and our representatives on the UFT Executive Board wrote to the Unity Caucus controlled leadership of the UFT, asking for real demonstrations of support for an embattled Chapter Leader (Marilyn Martinez, Central Park East 1, facing trumped up 3020a charges) and an embattled school (JHS 145, District 7, threatened with closure at … This latest agreement is basically full-scale acquiescence to the mayor’s underfunded, unsafe, understaffed, and instructionally unsound blended learning plan. Our goal is to have a mobilized, active union that can effectively fight for our rights by giving all members a voice in the UFT. This agreement provides for chapters to call SBOs to adjust from the rigid plans forced on schools by the DOE. One Comment. Because of this resolve, we have established the MORE Caucus, which will educate, organize and mobilize the UFT membership. As teachers we are continually enraged at the low value placed on the lives of all stakeholders in discussions of school reopening. We are just getting started: talking school reopening, Chapter Leader and Delegate Elections, Functional Chapter Organizing, a State of the MORE Caucus discussion, and Campaign Updates! 7,996 Followers, 1,585 Following, 623 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from MORE UFT (@morecaucusuft) Another term passes and MORE-UFT Caucus’ Health Justice Agenda for NYC Public Schools goes unread by UFT officials. The #RedforEd campaign was largely supported by the MORE-UFT caucus of the United Federation of Teachers, an educator union which represents 200,000 New York City public schools educators. 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