UFT Member Contract Questionnaire I
Ten days or so ago most UFT members received a questionnaire in the mail directed to the next round of contract negotiations. There is quite a bit to say about this questionnaire. For now we start with this:
A union is an organization that takes collective action. We are not one hundred thousand individuals, but a collective, made up of collective subunits (districts, chapters, functional chapters).
We are individuals when we shop, when we vote. But when we act as a union we are much stronger than consumers or the atomized electorate.
Discussions, not Public Opinion Polls
So, input on the next contract is great. But the form is important. The questionnaire cuts the feet out from under our strength. We needed discussions, in our chapters. We did not need an opinion poll that Quinnipiac or Lee Meringoff (sp?) could have put together and that does not reflect our interaction, our discussion, our strength.
Please fill it out. It needs to be in August 23. It still is input. But what a shame it was solicited as if we were K-Mart shoppers, and not as if we were members of a powerful labor organization.
Look in this space for commentary on some of the actual questions in the next week or so.
JD2718 
As you know I wrote about the UFT questionnare on my blog. I will be interested to see your take on the questionnare.
We will substantially agree on the details. I have the advantage of having read several other comments first.
However, the point in this post is what I consider the most serious: a union draws its strength from collective action, including collective discussion. We should be discussing negotiation goals with each other, through our chapters.
Why were the chapters cut out of the loop here? 1. Some artificial time constraint? 2. Too many chapters wouldn’t bother holding the discussions? 3. Too many chapters don’t exist?
We’re finished without chapters, and in trouble without strong chapters. When we sidestep them, for whatever reason, it is worrying.