NYC Mayors Race and UFT Slates – who is in the shadows?

Copied (with some light editing) from my substack:

Where do they stand? In the shadows? Why? What are they not saying?

New York City Mayors Race. United Federation of Teachers (UFT) election. Federal budget + weaponization of Federal government against unions, immigrants, poor people, and working people.

All connected? Of course. Let’s look at the first two: NYC mayors race and UFT elections.

ARISE!

I’m running with ARISE – the Alliance of Retired and In-Service Educators. We have not endorsed a candidate, as far as I know none of the caucuses have. But we talk. And I have heard about the mayor’s race from many ARISE activists. The two names that come up the most: Zohran Mamdani and Brad Lander. Is that who ARISE will endorse? No, ARISE will not endorse a mayoral candidate. But it gives you a sense who some of us are.

Unity

Unity has controlled mayoral endorsements since I was a brand new teacher, and decades before.

Unity usually gets it wrong. Last election they passed on rank choice, and stuck with Stringer even after his campaign imploded. Decades earlier they picked three losers in one race: 2001 with Hevesi in the primary then Ferrer in the run-off, then Green in the general. Maybe the worst was 2009. Bloomberg was going for a third term. He clearly had a lead over Bill Thompson. I tried to move Thompson’s endorsement, but LeRoy Barr and Paul Egan spoke against and carried the day. And Thompson lost narrowly – our non-endorsement hurt. And Bloomberg did more damage to our schools in that third term than in the first two, combined. Paul implied that Bloomberg would give us a contract if we stayed out of the raise (spoiler alert – no contract from Bloomberg, and within a month he came after tenure. Paul got that one 100% wrong.) LeRoy is the current UFT Secretary and the leader of Unity caucus. Paul was a Unity leader and the UFT’s political action director when he cowered in the face of Bloomberg, and today he is the other group’s silent and hidden candidate for UFT secretary.

This time might be better? Mulgrew hinted they would use ranked choice, but no commitment. There is some sense of getting member input. But frankly, I’m not at all convinced. I think the recommendation to the Delegate Assembly (which will certainly pass, unless, see below) will be worked out behind closed doors.

Even more concerning? The Unity invite to Andrew Cuomo to address the Spring Conference, Unity faithful saying it is “only fair” that he gets to speak, and anger from some Unity retirees that Bennett Fischer in his report at the last Retired Teachers Chapter meeting, warned about the need to stop Cuomo.

I’d feel much better if Mulgrew would say about Cuomo what all of us know. He’s the author of Tier VI. He’s a creep. And our enemies are backing him, with cash. We should just say no. But we have not. I am concerned.

ACB

But I’m most concerned about the last ‘caucus.’ Their “leave your politics at the door” makes you wonder what their real politics are. I know some of the individuals, individually, are ok. But “leave your politics at the door” as a guideline opens up some ugliness. And the whole group has taken on that character.

We’ve already seen some of it. What do they say about immigrants? About racism? Why don’t they criticize Trump? Why don’t they support the Federal workers (except to feel bad for them). You also probably know that they have largely boycotted the Hands Off, No Cuts, and May Day rallies, and have been mostly absent from RTC picket lines in support of other unions.

They’ve promised to send UFT money (presumably COPE money) to Marianne Pizzitola and the NYCOPSR. Does that mean they support her candidates? I’m not thinking about her support for City Council rabid rightwingers Vernikov and Paladino, not today. Today is about the Mayor’s race.

In the Mayor’s Race the NYCOPSR supports technocrat Jim Walden. Bloomberg light. Running independent. Is that where Paul Egan wants to send our cope money?

Could it be worse? Sure. Look at these “like”s on one of Marianne’s recent endorsements of ABC… Bottom of the list is one of the anti-Vax leaders. And the first ‘like’? Birds of a feather. Or something foul.