Why march?
Today is Labor Day. (Not really)
Labor Day was last Monday, but the Labor Day weekend has a massive parade (Brooklyn, West Indies) and there is no way a Labor parade could compete.
So, let’s call today Labor Day. This is New York City. Unlike lots of other places in the United States, lots and lots of people belong to unions. Lots of teachers belong to the United Federation of Teachers.
If they all marched it would be a huge festival. But they don’t. This parade is a non-event on most people’s calendars.
This parade is also a sort of barometer. If we, teachers, city workers, electricians, all of us, if we were tough and doing well in our relations with the city and private employers, lots of people would show.
A lousy turnout does not make us weak; a lousy turnout confirms that we are weak.
Today showing up helps fight the perception of weakness. There are 364 more days, and real work to be done, but for today being there would be great.
Most teachers don’t go. From my school only 10% will show up (although there are more ‘maybe’s, which are really unlikely). But it would be good if we could convince those who didn’t come that maybe it would have served our common interest if they do next year.
JD2718 
Jonathan:
In this case we part company. Not showing up for a Labor Day Parade, which is not on the Labor Day weekend, does not make us weak in a city like ours. This city has always had a strong union labor tradition and that will continue with or without the parade.
What makes us strong are the unions sticking together (TWA job action for example) and the union representatives letting politicians know where their bread is buttered (What is Charter School Eva M doing now?)
Finally, what hurts the labor movement the most is when it’s leaders are unresponsive to it’s members, a problem that has shown up in the UFT of late and needs to be corrected.
Chaz,
I think you misread. Labor Day does not make us strong or weak. Rather, the turnout is a sign of how we are doing. I’d say from today that we are not doing all that well (though I didn’t need to show up to know that).
Our strength does not come from the top, but from the bottom, from members in schools able to stand up for the rights we have. (and the top reflects the strength or weakness of the rank and file).
The base has muscle; but it is flabby. Flex it a bit and the leaders take notice. 40% of the teachers voted no, and guess who sounded more militant?
Labor Day turnout tells the leaders and the other members (and the DoE) the extent to which the base is ready to flex its muscles. Based on today, not very ready. We have real work to do.
Jonathan:
I’m not convinced that a Labor Day turnout is a reflection of union strength. Strong Chapter Leaders (James Eterno) and an experienced teaching staff (Jamaica H.S.) is an example for all schools to follow. (See ICEUFT blog). Without these two qualities our union cannot stand up to it’s enemies nomatter how many members show up for the parade.
How can a school possibly follow the example of “an experienced teaching staff”? You’ve lost me with that one. I wish we had a more experienced teaching staff.
I saw James Eterno there today. Not a surprise. I bet the chapter leaders of most stronger chapters were there…
But I don’t buy any white knight theory of (re)-building our union. Strong chapters will throw up strong leaders. The chapters make the leader to a much greater extent than the leader makes the chapter.
Jonathan,
You say “If they all marched it would be a huge festival. But they don’t. This parade is a non-event on most people’s calendars.”
Why isn’t it on people’s calendars? Has the UFT leadership done anything near the attempt to pull people out as they did around the Stossil demo? If there was a feeling this was important to them they would really work to get people out. Now you could say they know it wouldn’t work and don’t want to waste political capital on a wasted effort. But that is the way they think. To them it is a photo op. It takes leadership that really will make an effort to bring people out for an event like this.
Unity does come out for this – some because they believe in it. Most because they are told too. I also wonder how many are getting paid for the day.
You see the effort other unions make and what the UFT does pales in comparison. Maybe UFT leaders don’t want too many rank & filers rubbing elbows with other unionists or they might catch the militancy disease.
Norm,
you really think the UFT effort pales? I walked past most contingents – this did not seem like a strong Labor Day. Did you come in?
If the UFT leadership decided two weeks ago that they wanted a massive turnout, they couldn’t have done it. They could have gotten more, especially, I think, retirees, but not a lot more. The mood is wrong. Those most likely to be up for some shouting and fighting back, they lost the contract vote. It will take time to regain spirits. This contract has people down. August 31 has people down.
Me and my delegate showed. My committee put out a notice, and approached each member (we probably missed some) individually. We hardly even got a maybe.
(We’ve done ok with off-site stuff before. A quarter of us to MSG. A fifth to a TWU picket line 3 blocks away.)
One last point. I don’t believe the UFT leadership consciously discourages rank and filers from attending.
Jonathan, Norm:
I disagree with both of you.
Jonathan: A strong Chapter Leader is a must to energize a school. Not the opposite way around. I’m sure that ypur school staff would not be as informed without you as a Chapter Leader. Too many schools have Chapter Leaders that do nothing and are of little use because of their own agenda. Most schools have to draft someone to be the CL because of the lack of interest in the job and the union.
Norm: I believe that the UFT would love for more of us to come out. The reason we don’t is that many of us are not strong unionist, unlike our blue-collar friends. Unions representing professional people all have these problems in getting out the members.
Chaz,
as a chapter becomes more energized the chapter leader either follows suit, or gets replaced. Wasn’t that what ICE and TJC were banking on after the contract vote?
And in most cases the one doing the replacing is the person who drew the short straw.
I know something about the situation in our small schools, and there the effect is even clearer. As they start they often don’t have chapter leaders. Sometimes it takes until the principal learns that the CL needs to sign off on something that the principal prompts an election. The first chapter leader is often a member of the committee that planned the school, or the principal’s buddy, or maybe just the last person to leave the room.
In many small schools in the Bronx it took a year or so for members to realize that the union could represent them. The chapters as a whole had to get over their fear of the principal or their anti-union animus (remember who many of our newest teachers are) before they would push someone forward. We have a few, not enough, but many more than last year, of these Reluctant Leaders. And they are a huge improvement.
(I guess we need our DR’s and the Organizing Committee to go into poorly organized schools and jumpstart the process. For a rank and filer, talking to people from other schools might be a good way to begin.)
But I can’t point to any white knights. And me? Maybe I have good union instincts, but I came from a school with a real chapter, I had been assistant chapter leader, delegate, etc, and as it happened the staff at my school is far more ‘veteran’ than in most small schools. We expected representation and protection. I don’t know how I would fare without a chapter backing me up.
Anyway, this is a much much longer discussion. I will write more.
I understand Chaz’ point about union sense among teachers and professional people. But look at the teachers in Mexico who are leading a massive movment. The UFT brands itself a “Union of professionals.” The union does not raise union consciousness by declaring that. We are less a union of professionals than ever, especially under Klein.
I was lucky to meet up with a bunch of dissidents in the UFT back in 1970 who had real union consciousness and learned a lot from attending meetings every week for many years. (People from that original group were instrumental in forming ICE over 30 years later and that sense of union consciousness still pervades at ICE meetings today.) If the UFT had that level of consciousness raising it could be a different story. If the DA and even Exec Bd meetings weren’t basically a one person show there might be an opportunity there. I meet all too many delegates who leave saying it was a waste of time.
On to chapters:
What comes first – The strong chapter leader or the strong chapter? Generally, for better or worse, it’s the leadership of one person that makes a difference. In some cases that has been misused as the chapter leader becomes a sort of dictator, especially when there was a weak principal (no longer very likely) or a collaborator with the principal to gain personal favors. So we have to be careful not to confuse a strong chapter with a strong chapter leader.
What makes a strong chapter that can transcend the chapter leader no matter who it is? That is a tough one. Let’s talk about what it takes to build a strong chapter because I really am not sure how to do it. Maybe we need case studies.
I did feel there was not enough support from the UFT in this sense – they put all the eggs in one person. No training for the chapter committee which I thought would really benefit if they had a chance to go to one of the weekend training sessions together. No recognition for co-chapter leaders or the allowance of sending substitute delegates to DA’s (people do it anyway, but UFT is focused on the individual.) If District reps were used differently they could play a real role in chapter building. But they really don’t do that.
The UFT did however hire New Action retirees (part of the ARRANGEMENT) to go to schools with a Unity person to help organize chapters. Was this just a perk for New Action for not running against Randi last time or are there real results? There is no info coming out on the schools, etc.
I wonder if Jamaica HS had a strong chapter before James Eterno took over.
I understand that the Organizing Committee is real, but that too few DRs make use of them (deal or no deal, they come from a different caucus).
My DR uses them in schools where a chapter actually exists and is well-meaning, but weak. And there are enough small schools like that to keep a committee quite busy. (I don’t know if Unity people bother tagging along)
I wasn’t aware there was compensation involved. They are hired?
I like where you are going with the training for committees and co-chapter leaders. Again, my Unity DR brokered a deal at a large school here where no one wanted the CL job, so that two people agreed to share it. I don’t know what parts are official and what parts are just quietly agreed upon, but I assume I will see both at my DR’s meetings for chapter leaders.
I think I am quite fortunate to have an activist DR.