What happened to the UFT Contract negotiations?
Is the hand across the aisle to the Mayor being caressed or bitten?
The UFT flip-flopped on their own internal Governance Task Force Report and supported the reauthorization of mayoral control and stayed on the sidelines for the hotly contested Bloomberg/Thompson contest. The surprising, to some, not to others, closeness of the vote leads to “what if” speculation, what if the UFT had endorsed Thompson and turned out the troops? Alas, all “woulda, coulda, shoulda,” idle meanderings.
The election is over, Mike is ensconced in Gracie Mansion for another term; teachers are sophisticated, they understand the quid pro quo realities of politics and anticipate a contract announcement, an announcement that may not be in the near future.
Can the Mayor agree to a contract at the same time that the State faces a huge deficit and the union is fighting possible midyear budget cuts?
Would a contract settlement and school cuts look like a funds transfer from classrooms to teacher pockets?
The UFT has joined with a wide range of parent and advocacy organizations to fight midyear cuts.
November 9, 2009 – CFE joined parents, community members, and major education organizations from across the state in urging legislators to oppose Governor Paterson’s proposed $686 million mid-year cut to New York schools. The group broke pencils in unison to symbolize the broken promise, and then delivered the broken pencils – inscribed with the slogan, “No more broken promises!” – to Governor Paterson and legislators. Download the full press release.
In addition to working with other organizations the union is blitzing Albany legislators with emails from members through their powerful political action arm.
The legislature will be back in session Monday and Tuesday, and the NY Times reports legislators appear to be backing off on cuts, pushing the problem into the next legislative session that begins in January. The State fiscal year begins April 1st and the budget is usually approved about that date.
The Mayor might be telling Mulgrew, “Mike, I really, really appreciate your support, and I did put aside dollars for a raise, but let’s wait a while, if Albany can’t plug the holes, and I face drastic cuts I’ll have to use the dollars I put aside for your raise to avert cuts and layoffs, just be patient.”
Another scenario might be a share of the $4 billion in RttT funds, the first application is in January, the second in April. If the City and the UFT agree to a contract that is “innovative,” a possible national model, the feds could drive substantial dollars to NYC, An “innovative” contract contains risks, what is “innovative” to Obama-Duncan and the NY Times might be viewed as give backs or weakness by members.
The July MTA-TWU arbitration award did grant the Transport Workers Union (TWU) raises in spite of the fiscal circumstances of the Metropolitan Transit authority (MTA). The MTA went to court to try and invalidate the award. If the court rejects the MTA and supports the award perhaps the court decision could boot strap the UFT predicament
State law does provide for intervention by PERB, the mediator, impasse and fact-finding process. Fact-finding is a lengthy process at which the Department could place merit pay, termination of ATRs, etc. on the table, and the union, the abolition of the ATR pool, etc. The key salary issue would be “pattern bargaining” versus “ability to pay.”
The Department has been spending freely, $100 million to sustain the ATR pool and endless contracts. (See November 12 contracts here) At a fact-finding hearing the union would certainly point to the allocation of contracts and say, guys, who says they have no money! Could be quite embarrassing to the Department and the Mayor.
Perhaps a Latin proverb controls, vincit qui partitur, “he prevails who is patient.” But let’s not forget that other proverb, when the rich and powerful say “trust me,” the weak and powerless tend to get pregnant.
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