A Non-Union Guy Teaches the Teachers' Union President About What A Union Means

 

I have never worked in a job where I needed a union. But isn't the purpose of a union to stand up for workers whose rights are being violated?

Why is the teachers union in NYC not standing up for its members who are being threatened with job loss for not following the dictates of an incompetent Mayor?

If Mike Mulgrew really had a pair, he would call for a wildcat walkout on Monday, October 4 to stand up for his persecuted members. 

That would be what a real union leader used to do. People like Mike Quill of the TWU, John DeLury of the Uniformed Sanitationman' Union, Albert Shanker, of the UFT and AFT, and Victor Gottbaum of District 37 were REAL LEADERS who stood up for their union members' rights by calling for a strike with no notice to the Mayors of NYC. This included Mayors Wagner, Lindsay, Beame, Koch and Dinkins. 

Remember when the city was paralyzed all the time? Because real union leaders protected the rights of the city workers, causing these Mayors to give into the unions' demands. 

The PBA and UFA found a way to strike by coming down with the "Blue Flu" on more than a few occasions in my life. And those mayors paid for that, too.

Even a 2019 opinion piece in The New York Times contrasted blue flu with a strike, calling it "a quiet form of protest, with no stated principles or claim for public attention or sympathy."

The problem here is that DeBlasio has no real skin in the game since he was term-limited out to run again. But If the teachers went out on strike, Governor Hochul and the entire NYS and NYC Democrat Party could feel the repercussions one month out from the NYC Election races. And into next year.

Hmmmm. Then, DeBlasio's ambitions to run at state levels next year would be thwarted. And probably forever. And Hochul's dream of being elected would be shot, too. And only Letitia James would come out of this with any shot for state-wide office. And she, too, would lose.

THAT would be DeBlasio's Legacy. The destruction of the Democrat Party in NYS. because he thought HE was in charge.

Stand Up For Your Members, Mike. And be the Union leader you were in 2020 when we didn't know about Covid and you protected ALL your members' rights by threatening DeBlasio and Cuomo with a strike.

Show us you are standing up for EVERY teacher, vaccinated or not. Otherwise, you are all about collecting your paycheck and Union stipend. And nothing more.

Except a poor excuse for a union leader.

Frank McHale

A Proud Son of a Great Union Member and Shop Steward