Monday, May 27, 2013

Weiner Says If Teachers Want Raises, They Must Concede On Health Care Costs

From Politicker:

Anthony Weiner took one of his strongest shots yet against Mayor Michael Bloomberg Sunday afternoon, criticizing the mayor’s attitude dealing with teachers and the teachers’ union.

“Would any business treat its employees—meaning teachers—as badly as their boss is treating them?” the ex-congressman said following a Memorial Day service in Co-op City in the Bronx.
“It’s frankly just not a productive way to be a boss. I’m not going to do that,” he said. “I honor the teachers and contributions they make.”

The comments came in response to a question from retired city math teacher Ted Wachtel, 64, who said he has been deeply frustrated by the mayor’s attitude toward teachers. He asked Mr. Weiner for his thoughts on the city’s expired labor contracts.

“It’s reprehensible how the union members have been taking the brunt of all the problems in the city,” Mr. Wachtel said.

But instead of bemoaning the situation like many of his rivals, Mr. Weiner said he was excited by the idea.

“The fact is that being this long without a contract is an opportunity for the next mayor. It really is,” he said. “I mean, to be honest with you, I like the idea that if I’m fortunate enough to get elected, I’m going to have a chance to engage in these conversations fresh.”

Mr. Weiner has proposed forcing city employees to pay a percentage of their health care premiums, which as he told Mr. Wachtel, would give him more leeway to boost salaries. Mr. Wachtel said he appreciated the approach.

“He makes some substantial points,” Mr. Wachtel said of the former congressman, who was forced to resign from office two years ago in the wake of a sexting scandal. “People deserve a second chance … America is a forgiving country. And they forgave Clinton. And you have to just bone up and acknowledge when you do something wrong.”

I'm going to leave aside Weiner's proposal here for a moment and focus on Ted Wachtel, the retired teacher who "appreciates" Weiner telling him it's time for city employees to pay for their health care if they want salary increases.

Mr. Wachtel, you do know teachers missed out on the 4%/4% that every other union got as part of the pattern without having to give any concessions on health care?

And yet you're all right with Weiner telling you if teachers want raises, they need to concede on health care?

Sorry, Mr. Wachtel, I and tens of thousands of other working teachers are not all right with that nor do we appreciate Weiner promoting that as one of his campaign platforms.

As for Weiner and his proposal, it's a non-starter with me and every teacher I have spoken to at my school has said it's a non-starter with them.

We have been working five years without a raise, we did not get the 4%/4% that every other city union got as part of the pattern and we will not be appreciate making concessions on health care to the next mayor.

That message needs to get out to both Anthony Weiner and Ted Wachtel, the retired math teacher who "appreciates" Weiner's approach to the next teachers' contract.

14 comments:

  1. My personal hunch is that Weiner is being encouraged in his self serving promotion by a group of oligarchic supporters, such as Mortimer Zuckerkman. The Tabloids benefit by the bizarre and distracting news generated by the Anthony Wiener show. Also , the higher purpose of the Weiner campaign is to further divide the vote so that the two runoff candidates are Quinn and Thompson. This would be a win -win situation for the oligarchs.

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    Replies
    1. You are probably right.

      Plus he's pushing the concession message, which the oligarchs and their editorial boards love.

      Delete
  2. I think Anthony Weiner is the last person who should "bone up" on anything.

    Sorry, I just couldn't help myself.

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    1. I'm hoping additional photos of Weiner holding his bone for the perusal of some stranger on the Twitter surface and we can finally dispense with this guy once and for all.

      Delete
  3. TeachmyclassMrMayor(andyoutooMrMulgrew)May 27, 2013 at 10:06 AM

    Forgetting all of the boner stuff...we need bone up on the math. How is it a raise if he get more money, but have to pay for health insurance?

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    Replies
    1. Ask retired math teacher Ted Wachtel that question.

      He must not have been a very good math teacher if he can't figure out that caving on health care to get a couple of percentage points in salary increase is actually a loss in pay.

      Delete
  4. TeachmyclassMrMayor(andyoutooMrMulgrew)May 27, 2013 at 10:33 AM

    RBE, maybe that lack of math ability is why he is a retired teacher.

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  5. Sounds like a set up question to me. We already are paying into health. And it's going to get worse...

    Did you see today's Times article on the Cadillac tax??? This tax needs to be repealed!!!

    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/28/business/cadillac-tax-health-insurance.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0&hpw

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    1. Obamacare will not only provide crappy coverage to people who had none (and force them to pay for it) but it will also wreck the coverage of people who had it from their employers.

      Delete
  6. Outrageous! And he's a progressive candidate?
    NYC Eye.

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    1. No - nothing progressive about Weiner. He's the "Whatever Works" candidate - as in, whatever works in getting on TV, getting attention, getting campaign funds and getting elected.

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  7. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  8. Forcing teachers to pay their health care if they are given a wage increase is not right. Don't you think that there would be an actual loss in their pay with this proposal? These are teachers who are working hard to educate our young people, who represent our future. This is absolutely not the way to treat our teacher workforce.

    I live in the Greater Boston area and personally I know some teachers who can't even afford car insurance, let alone health insurance. Fortunately, there is a wonderful local insurance company that offers car insurance in Malden MA at competitive and fair prices that even teachers can afford. That's a company that I want to support!

    - Ashley

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