UFT Officials war with Member on Presidential Candidate Endorsement Procedure
A significant intra-union battle is currently going on between some rank and file United Federation of Teachers members and the officials who lead them. With nearly 200,000 members, the UFT is one of the largest affiliates in the country, so an endorsement makes a very lucrative gift for any candidate. Even though union members have the right to exercise their Janus rights to resign their membership any time they wish UFT officials seem to be turning deaf ears to the wishes of those who pay their salaries. In any case, it seems clear, in this particular case, union officials DO NOT SPEAK for all of their members. Rebecca Klein has the story in the huffingtonpost.com.
Some New York City educators are protesting the union’s endorsement process for the 2020 elections and are seeking other methods to make their preferences known. Union officials, however, are having no one of it and accuse these members of perverting the course of democracy.
The group of educators pushing for the endorsement change. . .are looking to organize their colleagues in other ways. Several say they believe that Sanders would have won the union’s endorsement if it was based on a popular vote. They also point to Mulgrew’s expressed backing for former Vice President Joe Biden in the Democratic race, saying they fear his personal support looks like a tacit endorsement from the union.
“Our strategy is if we can build our network of people through one-on-one conversations and hosting canvassing, we’re going to do the work we would hope our union would do,” Bruckenthal said.