Friday, May 2, 2014

The Contract: Retro Pay is a LIE! It's Crap! - UPDATED

The MORE Contract site:

From a former colleague who I haven't heard from in years:
Retro Pay is a lie!

From what I understand of the new UFT Teacher's Contract?? It's crap.
There is no Retro Pay!
Retro pay is pay for timed served. They want me to work another 4 years to make up that pay.

If I retire or leave the system, I get 1% of the "Retro Pay” for 2013.
Now what about the work for 2009, 2010,2011,2012?

A teacher that starts next year will get 3% in few years,
if I leave I get nothing. How is that retro pay?

So let's call it a pay raise over time, not Retroactive Pay for work done 5 years without a contract.
Another former activist in GEM writes:
Hey norm,

I'm more concerned about easing of rules in firing under performing teachers.

So are principals still under budget pressure to get rid of expensive senior teachers?

Where can we get a copy if this new potential contract?
And one more from a recent retiree:
I think Mulgrew planned this with the retirement caveat to:
1. Get anyone eligible to retire to do it now, to get higher numbers of dues paying members in.
2. It is the equivalent of a retirement incentive.
3. To get those who retired between 2009 and 2014 to sing praise of Unity.
Sell out ATRs - many will be gone by the 2016 elections and give retirees even more of an incentive to vote Unity.

James Eterno analyzes the contract:
James Eterno on the Contract: NEW UFT CONTRACT: RETRO DELAYED = RETRO DENIED WHILE ABSENT TEACHER RESERVES HAVE TENURE WEAKENED - Cross-posted from the Independent Community of Educators (ICE) blog.


  1. That's not true...and I'm not Unity. Retirees get their entire back pay. If you resign, on the other hand, then and only then do you forfeit the money. That sucks. But, retirees are made whole.

    1. I don't understand why anyone that chooses to resign should have to forfeit the money that they WORKED for previously. They should receive whatever money they are entitled to for the years that they worked.
      Two other unions got their money, are teachers somehow considered to be persona non grata in NYC? Ridiculous, hope anyone that has an ounce of sense in their heads voted "NO" to this insulting contract.

  2. Joe D.: Retirees who retire this year will be made whole. But those who retire at later dates (June 2016 for example) will have to wait until October 2020 to be made whole. James Eterno's breakdown on the ice blog is a clear description of this mess of a contract based on the info we have thus far. The only reason I need to vote NO is that our union leader is advocating for us to approve a contract in which he agreed to suspend union rules in a percentage of NYC public schools. That's worth saying again---a UNION LEADER is advocating the suspension of union rules. ATRs are important to me as well. I have met these people as they were shuffled in and out of my school for the past couple of years. They are human beings who are being treated like rabid animals. They are entitled to "due process" not an "expedited process" if someone wants to fire them. Mulgrew sold them out. And as for the money....which everyone is so consumed with. The thousand dollar bribe, which will not factor into anyone's pension, cannot get me to accept the unacceptable. If NYC can't afford full retro now than we should have negotiated away extended time altogether. If they can't afford to pay us then that was their opportunity to give us something that would cost them nothing. If I read the UFT timeline correctly, we will all have just 2% more in our paychecks come September and receive retro only for 2013 and 2014 (retro on the lousy 2%.) The new language re paperwork is a farce. Every time we negotiate a contract we are promised that paperwork will be reduced and yet it increases. I am fortunate enough to be in a decent situation in my school and my plan for my year of retirement does not need to change. But yet I am angered because Mulgrew is serving up a pile of dog shit and claiming it's caviar. I don't like being played for a fool. I can only hope that blogs and Facebook etc can help spread the truth about what a raw deal this is for teachers who have to work for the next 5,10 20, 30 years. The precedent set by this contract will mean weaker contracts in years to come. Roseanne McCosh, PS8x

  3. This contract is a disgrace. We need our retro now, not later. The other unions got their salary in the years in question. We need our retro. I don't know what Mulgrew was thinking or if he even was thinking. WE WANT OUR MONEY NOW!

  4. And where would you like for the city to get over $3B in retro pay now from???? Retro pay is back pay owed, that you will receive over time so the city is not sent into the red. BTW, retro is not a legal right that we have.
    2nd, when you retire you receive your full retro raises of the 4%/4%/1%/1% and whatever year you end on calculated into your pension upfront as if you were making that higher number all along

  5. The city can get the money from where it got it before, borrowing from the UFT Pension, and paying it back in total over several years. I feel that Mulgrew approached the city like a "poor cousin" and was thankful to get any crumbs. I want a leader who has spine, that is willing to drive a fair deal. He should have pushed harder for this deal. He, Mulgrew, is acting like a used car sales man telling us what a good deal this is for the kids. I want a deal thats good for me, I am good for the kids. The "reveal" of information around this contract and the quick release of the ballots is very suspicious. Give people time to digest the details, to get familiar with it. Damnit I want to see Mulgrew sweat for us, we pay him enough money!!!!

  6. I would like to know when the new retirees will actually see their retro pay. Does anyone know of any timeline/goal to payout- has anybody seen theirs yet? I retired early in June at 62.

