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The sky is falling!!!

Boy oh boy. 

On Wednesday, April 26 th , the United Federation of Teachers, the public school teachers union in New York City, struck a revolutionary blow to take back their profession. Its 1400 chapter leaders and delegates voted unanimously, with no dissent, in favor of the following motion, authored by me (Ron Isaac–ed.):

WHEREAS: The UFT, together with its brother and sister public employee unions, is under relentless, brutal, and coordinated attack by individuals and agencies of City government as well as certain of their allies in the media, corporate community, and elsewhere; and

Which is, of course, why Rupert is getting all chummy with Hillary.

WHEREAS: These attacks are fueled by the current national climate of hostility to organized labor, as aggressively advanced through propaganda and policies of the federal government and otherwise; and

Well, by golly, somebody in the Bush Administration is falling down on the job.  Why on earth haven’t they dispatched a platoon to put down those uppity unionistas striking in Vermont?  And Lord Rove doesn’t get on the ball, Pennsylvania could be next! 

WHEREAS: As a result of this massively funded and sustained campaign to undermine among the public and especially our members, grasp of and support for our purposes and mission, certain damage or potential damage has been suffered; and

"Massively funded"…we’ll get to that in a minute.   

WHEREAS: Such damage tends to demoralize and divide us against ourselves, drain us of our capacity to fulfill our noble agenda as unionists and arguably weaken our bargaining position, thus playing into the hands of our common enemy; be it

"Bargaining position".  Bargaining for what, precisely?  A commenter over at Joanne Jacobs’s engaged in a moment of candor some months ago:

I’m a teacher and member of NEA and UTLA (United Teachers Los Angeles). Unions, whether teachers or auto workers, et al. are about two essential things: wages and working conditions. Period. I’m not naive enough to believe that NEA/UTLA really cares about improving pedagogy or properly spending TAXPAYER money. The teacher who wrote the article ranted on about how unfair and sterotypical he thought Stossel’s portrayal of public education is, but never refuted the facts presented, namely that SPENDING MORE MONEY ON PUBLIC EDUCATION DOES NOT LEAD TO IMPROVEMENTS. The U.S taxpayer has wasted BILLIONS of dollars on idiotic programs such as Title I, Bilingual Education, more bureaucratic administrators, and supplies that are either vandalized or go unused. I see it every day at my school in Los Angeles. Students with fewer supplies and larger classes in other countries often outperform American public school students. Catholic schools educate their students for less than half of what taxpayers spend on the average public school student in California. It’s the values, stupid. Parents who parent properly, teachers who teach proficiently, and students who make the effort are what it takes to be successful, not the taxpayers. ‘Nuff said.

And what article does this particular comment refer to?  Oh wait, here it is–it’s this one, written by none other than Ron Isaac! 

Oh, one other thing…common "enemy"?  So there’s just one?  I thought the gubmit, media, corporate community, and others were in on this. 

Back to Isaac’s glorious call to arms:

RESOLVED: That the UFT engage in a vigorous, many-fronted, high-priority program of chapter-building to jump-start a pro-unionist awareness among newer members, re-educate our veterans, and spark among the whole Organization, school-based and beyond, vitality in activism, conciliation, and a new militancy.

Um, guys?  You’re already widely viewed as adversaries.  Adopting a "many-fronted" program of "new militancy" probably won’t do much to change that perception. 

This resolution is a unifying declaration that allows for the embrace of all members of the UFT, a union of professionals, without anyone’s sacrifice of principle. It acknowledges their role and contributions to the unionist family, and the many-pronged attack against them by corporate, government, and media forces.

"Without anyone’s sacrifice of principles"…giggle snort.   

It also recognizes the filthy rich funding of their reactionary enemies’ campaign to confuse the public, split and neutralize the union, and undermine and destroy the entire labor movement.

"Filthy rich funding"?  Let’s take a look at the UFT’s cash reserves.  This comes courtesy of the Employment Standards Administration of the Department of Labor:

 So from 2000 to 2004, the UFT:

• Added 15,000 new members, an increase of nearly 11 percent
• Increased its total receipts by nearly $76 million, or 79%
• Increased its total assets by nearly $89 million, or 194%

Even assuming Imperial Stormtroopers the military-industrial complex some nebulous, shadowy cabal of corporate/government/media interests has banded together to crush the small band of Rebel forces teachers’ union, it’s not as though the UFT doesn’t have a rather significant stockpile of weaponry at its disposal. 

My resolution is also a call to action. It is a call to raise awareness and inject fresh activism into all members of the teachers union, who encompasses all public school teachers, paraprofessionals, social workers, psychologists, and others. It inspires veterans as well as those entering the profession during the current anti-union climate.

If the work of your parent organization is any indication, it would seem your state parent organization, New York State United Teachers, has been extremely vocal and active in recent months.  So what’s the problem in the Big Apple?  Maybe folks like NYC Educator, a loud-and-proud UFT member, could fill in the blanks. 

The triumphant resolution…

"Triumphant"?  So it’s over before it even started?  No fair!  

…is also an appeal to drive the great New York City teachers union, and ultimately others also, as a single organism, into the goal of unapologetic militancy in the wake and face of insults, threats, and actual deeds committed against them.

"Single organism"?  "Unapologetic militancy" ove

r "actual deeds"?  Okay, listen.  You’re an English teacher, right?  Don’t you mention something to your students about the importance of substance over style–that overheated rhetoric can distract from the message?  Oh…you don’t?  Well, we didn’t think so. 

By passing this resolution by acclamation, the teachers union has served notice and opened the eyes of the tycoons of Tweed, the seat of Department of Education management, named after the 19 th -century corrupt New York politician “Boss Tweed.”

"The tycoons of Tweed"–another turn of phrase brought to you by…none other than Ron Isaac!

From corner to corner, up and down the aisles, and from every direction of the compass in the packed auditorium, the affirmative votes of the delegates and chapter leaders cried out in unison for the common victory of all who seek quality and dignity in American public education.

Insert melodramatic John Williams orchestral score here.  

And this fellow teaches in NYC public schools.  Hey, Big Apple–your tax dollars at work!