Is Threatening a Strike the Best Strategy to Fix Tier 6?

Is Threatening a Strike the Best Strategy to Fix Tier 6?

The closing days of the Albany legislature session are called “the Big Ugly,” hundreds of bills are passed with no debate. The leadership, the Speaker in the Assembly and the Majority Leader in the Senate and key committee chairs control the flow of legislation. If you’re a legislator in the minority party you’re lucky to get s bathroom key.

The word “politics” is commonly defined negatively, perhaps “chaotic” or “morally corrupt,” and the dysfunction in Washington only adds to the public appraisal.

In the “real” world, not the world we are taught in school, in order to move from bill to law “deals” and “promises” are made and unmade; yes, it can be messy. John Adams appointed judges after he lost the 1800 presidential election (“Midnight Judges”), Andrew Jackson selected federal officers through a patronage system (“The Spoils System ”) and knowing how to navigate the system is an important skill.

In June of 2022, one of the “big ugly” bills was the Class Size Reduction bill. (Read the provisions of the bill here). Mayor Adams, who was unaware of the bill demanded Governor Hochul veto the bill after it passed both houses of the legislature, with Hochul’s lead in the gubernatorial election shrinking Hochul signed the bill.

Mulgrew and his team were nimble and understood functioning of the Albany legislative process.

I was at a political event in December 2022 speaking with a key member of the Senate, with two children in New York City public schools, who. smilingly, said,”… nice to be able to do something for my kids.” 

The mechanisms resulting in the Class Size Reduction law are a classic example, to be taught for years, on how to be effective in passing legislation in Albany.

In the current legislative session Mulgrew has two goals “fixing,” actually improving Tier 6 and finding an alternative to Mayoral Control.

At the February Delegate Assembly a leader of the opposition caucus challenged the union strategy, the union should use collective bargaining, and followed with a blog post, calling Mulgrew a “liar.” Read post here.

The issue: should the union, as I understand their position, attempt to reopen collective bargaining with “non-negotiable” demands, and, consider a strike, or at least job actions as a strategy in lieu of membership engagement, political pressures and lobbying, to reduce the retirement with full benefits from the current age in the law, 63, to the age in Tier 4, 55. No matter the strategy both require the changing of the current law.

I have blogged about the issue a number of times “Tiers or Tears” Read here and “Correcting Tier 6: How to Change Teacher Pension Laws,” here

Union elections will be held later this year and the campaign is under way. Union elections are healthy, the essence of democracy is the electorate and the parties, in the union, called caucuses, have a long history in the UFT.  The union was created through the merger of two groups within the union (the Teachers Guild and the High School Teachers Association) and different caucuses have come and gone over the years.

I do not believe that strikes are an effective strategy in New York State. The penalties in the Taylor Law:  2:1 loss of salary for members, loss of dues check-off for the union and other judicially imposed penalties. The Taylor Law does keep contracts in “full force and effect” (the Triborough Doctrine) until the successor contract is negotiated and provides mediation, fact-finding and non-binding arbitration if the parties choose that route. Btw, when management suggests “trading” the Triborough Doctrine for “legalizing” a limited right to strike the answer was a firm no.

I don’t think threatening to strike or striking is an effective strategy. Would Mayor Adams agree to “negotiate” positive changes in Tier 6, changes that must be reflected in the city budget? Would former Mayor Bloomberg blanket the airways with anti-union, anti-teacher ads?

A threatening to strike/striking strategy would only not be unsuccessful it would probably delay Tier 6 changes for many years.

Of course for teachers the impact of AI (Artificial Intelligence) is unknown. See my blog “Can Chatbots Be Unionized” here.  It’s only a matter of time before the personal Chatbot wakes up students in the morning, reminds them to check their homework, acts as a personal tutor and who knows what else. I would have scoffed, “not in my lifetime … scare tactics,” now, the beta is probably being tested by Elon.