Thursday, April 25, 2013

UFT Elections - Unity And New Action Support Drops Significantly From 2010 In Middle Schools And High Schools

James Eterno at Ice-UFT blog:

We have initial slate only numbers for the high schools and the middle schools in the UFT election and although Unity and New Action will hold onto their monopoly on power, the new Movement of Rank and File Educators (MORE) established itself as the main opposition group in the secondary schools by a wide margin.

Here are the slate numbers for the 2013 and 2010 elections in the secondary schools.

2013  High Schools   Ballots Returned: 3808   Votes Counted: 3595    
MORE: 1430 (40%)   NEW ACTION: 452 (13%)  UNITY: 1592 (45%)

The remainder are people who split their ballot.

2010 High Schools    Votes Counted: 5203
ICE-TJC: 1369                 NEW ACTION: 774             UNITY: 2595

2013 Middle Schools   Ballots Returned: 1879      Votes Counted: 17886
MORE: 398                NEW ACTION: 161                 UNITY:1185

The remainder are people who split their ballot.

2010 Middle Schools: Slate Votes Counted: 2881
ICE-TJC: 248                NEW ACTION: 421              UNITY: 1981  

2013 Functionals (non teachers)   Ballots Returned: 7704   Ballots Counted: 7113
MORE: 951                   NEW ACTION: 754              UNITY: 5167

The remainder are people who split their ballot

The retirees and elementary schools - reliable Unity voting blocs - have yet to be counted and Unity will win by a wide margin as usual.

But if you look at the returns from the high schools and middle schools, you see New Action and Unity losing a lot of support and MORE gaining a little more support in the high schools and a lot more support in the middle schools.

Not enough to win, of course, but enough to make it clear that many in the middle and high schools think something is rotten with the current leadership.

As James wrote:

In addition, Mulgrew's vote will more than likely drop in a major way compared to 2010 among active UFT members.  It appears many members did not vote for the opposition but they certainly didn't vote for the incumbent.  For the next election, those members need to be persuaded to vote.

He also wonders how it is that New Action can get 13% of the vote and get three executive board seats while MORE can win 40% of the vote and get none.

Of course that's a rhetorical question from Mr. Eterno.

The answer is obvious - because Mulgrew and the Unity/New Action leadership have the fix in.

4 comments:

  1. Is it fair to say that the election was not democratic?

    I know of two teachers in my school who never ballots and did not vote. Is it fair to say that there were election irregularities?

    Is it fair to wonder if the active teachers can make anew, breakaway union that is actually democratic and does represent the interests and needs of actively employed teachers?

    If the UFT represents the needs of retired employees, then isn't the UFT a benefits cooperative?

    Is it fair to claim that the election was rigged?

    Is it realistic to petition in court for the right to secede from
    the UFT ?

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    Replies
    1. It is fair to say that there are stories circulating about some teachers not receiving ballots, yes.

      I don't think seceding from the UFT is possible or desirable. It is true that they have the fix in on the voting, but let's see what things look like next time around after three years of APPR and Danielson.

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  2. If any teacher who did not vote MORE or did not vote at all gets a fired in the next two years, they will nobody to blame except for themselves. I informed every teacher at my elementary school of what is at stake in this election. If any of them did not send in their votes for MORE or voted Unity, then they better not complain about their careers going down the toilet.

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    Replies
    1. I know, I know - but all you can do is tell people the deal and give them the information they need to have and let them make their own decisions. I suspect some Mulgrew voters and some New Action voters and some abstainers will come to rue their votes.

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