UFT Elections: The Anti-Randi Factor
I was at dinner recently. "I didn't vote for ICE," said one of my friends. "I voted for Mulgrew. They say he's a nice guy. He should get a chance. He's a teacher. At least he's not a lawyer," she said with a sneer - an indication that the move from Randi to Mulgrew may give Unity some breathing room. Coming from a rank and file teacher who does not often show much union consciousness, the hostility directed at our former leader is another iteration of how deep RandiWear runs in the UFT.
The anti-Randi comments emanating from throughout the union - the rank and file and internally - I truly have not heard one positive comment said about her from within and without Unity Caucus- are an indication of the total sense of defeat people in the schools feel. When you talk about UFT policy errors to union officials, you get "Randi's not here anymore." You hear things like "Mulgrew doesn't take things personally like Randi did." A good thing. Who needs the angst? Randi seemed to read everything that people on the blogs said. What a waste of time. Mulgrew doesn't seem to give much of a crap what is said. Another good thing.
From the perspective of someone who is not involved in the daily machinations of the UFT as many of us are, the logic of my friend is not off the chart because she views Mulgrew as an individual and is not aware of the Unity machine and how Mulgrew is a product of that machine - a machine that endorsed and promoted and defended every single policy
The anti-Randi comments emanating from throughout the union - the rank and file and internally - I truly have not heard one positive comment said about her from within and without Unity Caucus- are an indication of the total sense of defeat people in the schools feel. When you talk about UFT policy errors to union officials, you get "Randi's not here anymore." You hear things like "Mulgrew doesn't take things personally like Randi did." A good thing. Who needs the angst? Randi seemed to read everything that people on the blogs said. What a waste of time. Mulgrew doesn't seem to give much of a crap what is said. Another good thing.
From the perspective of someone who is not involved in the daily machinations of the UFT as many of us are, the logic of my friend is not off the chart because she views Mulgrew as an individual and is not aware of the Unity machine and how Mulgrew is a product of that machine - a machine that endorsed and promoted and defended every single policy
