SOUTH BRONX SCHOOL: July 2021

Thursday, July 22, 2021

The UFT Enables DOE to Screw Members Yet Again

 Remember how Navin Johnson was so excited that the new phone books had arrived? I (and many others) wanted to have that same feeling when I awoke this morning. Today, after waiting since October would have had the remaining 50 percent of my retro. This is money owed us not just from October, but from
2009-2014. 

But alas, when you are really counting on something, something gets mucked up. And as usual the UFT is getting blamed. That could be debated. Hear me out. 

I do put the blame on the UFT for accepting the crappy 100 year schedule for our retro. I do put the blame on the UFT for not sharing with membership ahead of time that our October payment was to be delayed (They knew it several weeks ahead of time there would be an issue). I put the blame on not having the retro squarely on the DOE and the City for not making every single member whole today. 

I put the blame on the UFT for not only believing the bullshit reason why the checks didn't go in, but then  sharing the bullshit the DOE was spewing amongst membership.

The reason we were given was that the retro check was a "supplemental" check and not a payroll check. That this is why it would take banks longer for our direct deposit would be in our accounts. 

Which doesn't make sense.

How does a bank differentiate between a supplemental check and a regular payroll check? Money is money. If I went to the bank to deposit money into my son's account, would the bank know the difference if it was money owed for money for his birthday? Or spending money at college? Of course not. 

And if this DOE bullshit were true, why hasn't anyone seen their checks in the payroll portal? Do the banks have some magical ability to control the DOE's payroll portal? Doubtful. 

And we should trust the UFT when it comes to the upcoming change to Joe Namath's Medicare Advantage (Read more about this on Norm's blog and James Eterno's blog)? 

What would happen if a teacher who has yet to receive their retro today dies tonight? Would the teacher's family still be entitled to the retro check that should arrive tomorrow? Would the monies have to be returned? 

I appreciate that there were UFT higher ups that were proactive today on social media. In the past, it would not have happened. But Mulgrew should have been at the forefront of of speaking out. Imagine if this were the PBA. Pat Lynch would be having a conniption fit. 

But as usual, the UFT is the schlemiel (For those that are not up on their Yiddish, schlimazel is the person that spills the soup, a schlemeil is the putz the soup is spilled on.) of NYC labor unions. The City knows that it can't get over on the other unions. They know when they need to defecate on a union, on a union's membership they can turn to the us. The City know that its bullshit will be accepted. They City knows the leadership will rollover. That when the UFT screams, "Never again!" is just an empty threat and will be coming back with its tail between member's legs. 

I hope by the time I awake tomorrow morning member's will be made whole. I'm not betting on it.