NY mayor & teachers union cut rotten deal
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The extraordinarily long nine-year tenta the pattern for other unions.”
SOCIALIST ACTION MAY 2014 3 This May Day, a day of celebration of the workers’ struggle, many unions were rallying at New York’s City Hall, but the news from inside was not good for work ers. While the unions backed “progressive” Mayor Bill de Blasio (Democrat), he and Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers announced a tenta tive contract agreement between the city and the 100,000-member UFT.
De Blasio, who assumed office in Janu ary, has been hailed by labor “leaders” as a “friend of labor.” Labor waited for a change of faces in City Hall instead of fighting for a decent contract. Since the election cam paign, de Blasio has demanded union give backs to pay for all public union raises, as did his predecessor, the billionaire Mayor tive UFT contract contains a mere 18% in raises.
The first two years, teachers receive retro active or back pay of 4% and 4% to cover the city “pattern” in 2009 and 2010, years in which Bloomberg refused to negotiate with the UFT. But the “retro” will be paid out through 2020 in depreciated dollars. Worse, the contract contains zero raises in 2011 and 2012, the zeroes camouflaged by a “lump sum” payout (nicknamed “chump sum” by many New York transit workers), which is not added to the base pay rate, a standard bosses’ trick.
The UFT deal averages about 2% in rais es, below current inflation rates and pro jected increases. A New York Daily News editorial headlined “Good for the Budget” called it, “responsible increases that are sure to fall below inflation. This should set The tentative pact also contains an omi nous $1.3 billion in as yet unspecified health care “savings.” If the union and the city cannot agree, an arbitrator may be called in to impose the health-care “sav ings.” The contract also contains increases for bonus or ‘merit pay,’ an ill-defined re wards system that teachers see as a divideand-conquer tactic. One provision will streamline the discipline process. Lastly, there is a dangerous provision to suspend city and union rules in 200 schools—about 10%. The New York Times said it was to “encourage innovation” in a system under attack by the for-profit “Char ter Schools” movement—ostensibly op posed by de Blasio.”
Since the deal was announced, a rank-and-file caucus within the UFT called MORE (Movement of Rank and File Educators) has called for a “vote no” on the outrageous proposed contract (morecaucusnyc.org). Since the tentative teacher’s contract was announced, the Transport Workers Union Local 100 leadership has used the appall ing UFT terms to sell its own rotten con tract, which creates a second-class mem bership for new employees (see the article on page 11).
All public and private, city and state unions need to unite to fight concessions unleashed by a capitalist class in crisis. De spite the many obstacles, a giant “vote no” movement needs to be built and mass union meetings organized to discuss a fightback. Stop relying on the Democratic Party to save us! Organize instead for mass pickets, marches, and strikes.
New York is the richest city in the world; the needs of all working and unemployed people could easily be satisfied. But the twin parties of the rich will never get us there. We need our own workers’ party to fight for it! n