Arwen Invites a Conversation About Union Democracy
-->
-->
by special guest blogger Arwen E.
I received an e-mail from the UFT's Janella Hinds and Sterling Roberson the other day.
It began:
"Dear Arwen,
Educator-driven unionism!"
It mentioned current contract negotiations next. (We've waited for this awhile, but I understand fully that negotiating with Bloomberg would have proven very difficult at best given his attitudes towards teachers: hold their "feet to the fire").
The Hinds-Roberson e-mail continues:
"While we are engaged in this important work, it is our philosophy as vice presidents of academic and career and technical high schools that our union is BY and FOR every member. Only through dialogue, collaboration and action will we be best able to advocate for what is best for our students, schools and profession."
I wish I could agree that our union is "BY and FOR every member," but I have learned that it is anything but that. It is largely "BY and FOR" one point of view.
I have learned about the UFT-Unity Loyalty Oath and the powerful purse strings attached. I have learned how this harms non-Unity as well as Unity delegates from voicing their opinions or those of their constituencies.
Due to the Unity Loyalty Oath, 800 members are expected to vote the same way. Both Ms. Hinds and Mr. Roberson were elected as NYSUT board members last week. I am sure they are deserving. Yet, I wish that they had been able to win an election in which 800 delegates were not bound to vote the same way. Although the honors for Hinds and Roberson seem well-deserved, the victory is shallow when the democracy is a sham.
In the 2013 UFT elections, MORE gained as much as 40% of the votes in high schools. Yet, their candidates were excluded from participating in not only UFT high school leadership, but also NYSUT and AFT elections. This