United For Change: A Better Union

07/28/2023

“Mulgrew also urged members to give up on trying to get a better deal.”

Get back to the table and renegotiate a better and fair contract for our union siblings, now

DO THE WORK! See article link in bio.

07/28/2023

“Mulgrew also urged members to give up on trying to get a better deal.”

School Therapists Want a Better Contract Deal. The UFT Wants Them to Give Up?!

Get back to the table and renegotiate a better and fair contract, now UFT!

Read article at: https://www.thecity.nyc/2023/7/28/23810676/uft-occupational-physical-therapists-reject-contract

Union president Michael Mulgrew is pressing occupational and physical therapists to vote again on a deal they rejected — while some members demand new negotiations with City Hall instead.

07/25/2023

UFC Statement of Support for OTs/PTs, Nurses, and Audiologists: UFT Must Return Back to the Negotiating Table

We support this bargaining unit’s decision and reject attempts to undermine their decisive “no” contract vote.

Go to our site. See link in bio.

07/21/2023

Send a clear message to our union leadership: “Get back to the table and fight for the contract our therapists, nurses, and audiologists deserve”.

Send them an email now (modify as needed).

Go to tinyurl.com/faircontract23

06/19/2023

Join the UFT Executive Board high school teacher member panel, this Wednesday evening, June 21st, at 7:30 pm for a UFT contract town hall.

At this important meeting, you’ll learn more about the newly proposed tentative contract. Our panel will also share a rank and file vision and in-classroom perspectives from union members, like you, fighting for a better contract.

There is a lot to talk about. In 2018, major healthcare givebacks were not fully disclosed. Simply put, we can’t afford to be fooled again. It’s why we all need to really look at what is at stake.

We’ll discuss the perks found this 2023 tentative agreement but also the major drawbacks, such as — the lasting impact of sub-inflation raises, implicit major healthcare givebacks, low wages for paraprofessionals and occupational & physical therapists, more micromanagement, no clear plan for virtual schools & much, much more.

So, what happens if we vote this TA down for a better contract? Join us to find out.

To RSVP go to: http://no.unitedforchange.vote

Also read more about our Big 5 Demands: http://big5.unitedforchange.vote

Our panel of HS Executive board members are: Ronnie Almonte, Nick Bacon, Ed Calamia , Alex Jallot, Ibeth Mejia, Ilona Nanay And Luli Rodriguez.

This team was elected by our union at large as part of the United for Change coalition slate.

06/18/2023

We must not be fooled again, UFT.

In 2018, Mulgrew led the MLC to one of the worst deals in NYC labor history by promising over $600 million dollars in healthcare savings per year — FOREVER.

He also had promised us no new copays and yet copays are skyrocketing while care is diminishing.

This deal is also responsible for over 250k city retirees being forced into an inferior, privatized Medicare Advantage plan.

Mulgrew never fully disclosed this side deal when we voted for our UFT contract in 2018.

Now in 2023, we cannot ratify our new tentative contract without full disclosure of the MLC’s new agreement to replace our current GHI-Emblem healthcare plan.

We will not be fooled again! We need to see it.

Insist on the Big 5 Demands, now.
Anything less means … WE MUST VOTE NO!

06/16/2023

The Big 5 Demands!
Anything less means — we must vote ‘no’ on the proposed tentative agreement.

http://big5.unitedforchange.vote

We need a true fair contract that we, our families and school communities can live and thrive on. Anything less - means we must vote ‘NO”! Pledge to stand by the Big 5 UFT contract demands. Join thousands of UFT members, just like you.

06/15/2023

It’s a big question you as a UFT member need to ask before voting on our proposed tentative contract and you deserve a real straight answer.

Healthcare is a mandatory subject of our collective bargaining. It is linked to all of our contractual pay raises.

We saw major GIVEBACKS in healthcare in our 2014 and 2018 contracts.

City union leadership dipped into the Healthcare Stabilization fund to fund retro raises in 2014 to the tune of $1 billion dollars.

In our 2018 deal, Mulgrew and the MLC promised $600 million dollars per year to the city in healthcare “cost savings” that now is forcing all city retirees into an inferior, privatized Medicare Advantage plan and is diminishing active member care.

Now, city labor contracts are being re-negotiated and the city unions in the MLC are finalizing a healthcare plan for all active city workers that they refuse to share specific details about. This new plan will replace the premium-free option most city workers have - Emblem/GHI.

They say it will be 10% CHEAPER.
But, cheaper is NOT BETTER.

Ask this question. Demand straight and specific answers.

Union leadership is deflecting and shifting blame on this part of our overall compensation solely on the MLC, when we know UFT is a dominant force in the MLC. It’s nothing more than giving us the runaround!

Hold Mulgrew’s Unity caucus leadership accountable for sub-inflation pay raises and your, and your family’s, diminishing healthcare. They must be stopped and replaced.

Insist on the Big 5 demands, also. Anything less means - WE MUST VOTE NO!

To learn about our contract demands: http://big5.unitedforchange.vote

Read more about this healthcare crisis. here: https://thewire.educators.nyc/p/caveat-uft-members-before-voting

We need a true fair contract that we, our families and school communities can live and thrive on. Anything less - means we must vote ‘NO”! Pledge to stand by the Big 5 UFT contract demands. Join thousands of UFT members, just like you.

06/09/2023

UFT Members: There’s a 0% Chance We Vote Yes to 3%!

We demand fair pay with raises we deserve and pay parity.

Inflation is out of control. Educators, who have never made enough to begin with, know this acutely. We feel it while stocking up at the grocery store and while searching for even the most modest apartments. We feel it while trying to buy a used car or while saving for the college education of our children.

Everything costs more, except apparently the labor of educators. That’s why “fair pay with raises we deserve and pay parity” is the first of United for Change’s big 5 contract demands.

Anything less means we must vote "NO"!

Read more at: http://big5.unitedforchange.vote

05/30/2023

UFT Members: There’s a 0% Chance We Vote Yes to 3%!

We demand fair pay with raises we deserve and pay parity.

Inflation is out of control. Educators, who have never made enough to begin with, know this acutely. We feel it while stocking up at the grocery store and while searching for even the most modest apartments. We feel it while trying to buy a used car or while saving for the college education of our children. Everything costs more, except apparently the labor of educators. That’s why “fair pay with raises we deserve and pay parity” is the first of United for Change’s big 5 contract demands.

Read more at: http://big5.unitedforchange.vote

05/30/2023

UFT Members: There’s a 0% Chance We Vote Yes to 3%!

Inflation is out of control. Educators, who have never made enough to begin with, know this acutely.

We feel it while stocking up at the grocery store and while searching for even the most modest apartments. We feel it while trying to buy a used car or while saving for the college education of our children.

Everything costs more, except apparently the labor of educators. That’s why “fair pay with raises we deserve and pay parity” is the first of United for Change’s big 5 contract demands.

We can turn to the mayor himself to paint a picture of the gravity of our financial situation. In 2007, when then NY-Senator Eric Adams gave his infamous “Show me the money” speech, he told an audience of New Yorkers that $79 thousand isn’t enough to live on. Flash forward almost two decades l...

05/23/2023

UFT members: We live in one of the most expensive cities in the world & inflation has hit us hard here. With avg numbers at 6% and cost of living at 9%, none of us can afford 3 or 3.5% raises.

Our paras are not even making a living wage.

And we need pay parity among OTs and PT with other educator titles.

Three percent won’t measure up. No more givebacks, UFT!
Or we must vote 'NO!'

To learn more about the Big 5 Contract Demands, go to: http://big5.unitedforchange.vote