I am Proud to Be a Member of Unity

There are almost 200,000 UFT members, active teachers, paraprofessionals, school secretaries, speech therapists, nurses, unionized charter schools, etc., and retired teachers. 

When teachers retire they are no longer covered by the collective bargaining agreement the UFT actively supports retirees, they vote in union elections, have their own chapter within the union and retirees participate in union activities, including, if they choose, members of the union political caucuses.

The UFT, U stands for United, the UFT was the product of the merging of two of the many factions, the High School Teachers Association and the Teachers Guild.  The newly formed union began with a one day strike for recognition as the bargaining agent followed by a one day strike for their first contract. Read a fascinating account of the formation of the UFT and the battle for recognition as the bargaining agent here.

The Teachers Union (TU), one of the factions was decimated by the Feinberg Law, requiring teachers to sign a loyalty oath , “…they were not and have never been members of the Communist Party,” the Supreme Court upheld the law and the remnants of the TU became members of opposition caucuses within the UFT. Read an excellent history of the Teacher Union (TU) here.

In its earliest days in the 60s the union was far from “United.” 

Should the union take a position on the war in Vietnam or only address education and collective bargaining issues? The question was ripping the union apart and eventually in a membership referendum, by a narrow vote voted not to take a position.   

A strike in 1967 over traditional unions issues, salary and working conditions plus the funding of a program called More Effective Schools, the lowest achieving schools receiving additional services, when the fund was exhausted the program ended.

The 1968 strike ripped the city apart, 19 white teachers were fired by the Oceanhill-Brownsville school district, one of three clusters of schools created by a Ford Foundation grant. Mayor Lindsay refused to intervene, and a state supreme court judge finally intervened.  Read a variety of opinions here

Before and after collective bargaining the teacher organizations fought to improve meager teacher pensions, without much success.

Under the general retirement plan, teachers may retire at age 65 or after 35 years regardless of service regardless of age, … they receive a pension of one quarter of average salary.   Under the Clancy Law teachers may elect to make additional contributions and receive a pension of one percent of salary for each additional years. This option ended 10/1/1957  … a bill extending the option to 10/1/1964 was vetoed by Governor Rockefeller at the request of Mayor Wagner

Dave Wittes, a founder of the UFT, who had fought the ideological battles in the teacher union movement and also a brilliant numbers cruncher, understood the world of politics. Governor Rockefeller was considering running against Nixon and was looking for an issue to garner support.  Wittes approached the Rockefeller team, “Create a new teacher pension system,” and Tier 1 was the result.

A close friend of mine told Dave she had been a college classmate of Rockefeller’s daughter and Dave invited her to the bill signing. After the ceremony he leaned over said to my friend, “This is going to cost them a billion dollars, they have no idea, nor do they care”

From Dave Wittes to Albert Shanker to Michael Mulgrew UFT Presidents understood that the word occasionally perceived as a dirty word, politics, is the key to achieving benefits for both members and the children they teach.

Read a superb biography of Al Shanker,  The Tough Liberal

Steve Inskeep’s new book, Differ We Must: How Lincoln Succeeded in a Divide America  is particularly relevant.

“Lincoln learned, adapted and sought advantage while interacting with people who disagreed with him.

“Lincoln’s willingness to listen to people with whom he disagreed and whom he disliked testified in his belief in his country, in all its contradictions and complexities

Throwing darts is fruitless, offering other pathways, engaging in a dialogue and understanding the dynamics of our rapidly changing political environment is crucial.

Unity has navigated the shoals of Scylla and Charybdis and I am proud that Unity is leading our union.