It doesn't appear UFT President Randi Weingarten is up to the task of debating her opponent, Kit Wainer. In the long UFT tradition of refusing to acknowledge The Help, Ms. Weingarten banned ICE-TJC rep Norm Scott from the one place she was appearing with her opponent. Not only were the results not videotaped, but the one person who could've easily accomplished the task was banned from the premises.
Ms. Weingarten's supporters have very clever labels for their opponents from ICE. They say it stands for "I Complain Everytime." Do you get it? What they did, see, is they took the initials "I," "C," and "E," and then they started a sentence with those initials. You get it? Not only that, but they took TJC, and said, "They Just Complain." Get it?
They're extremely clever over there at 55 Broadway. It certainly wasn't easy to move us 20 years backwards and then explain why it was a good thing.
Complaining, apparently, is a bad thing. Did Randi Weingarten complain when she sent 80,000 teachers to walk hall patrol? Did she complain when teachers were given six classes? Did she complain when teachers lost the right to grieve letters in their files? Did she complain when we lost the UFT transfer plan? Did she complain about unpaid suspensions based on unsubstantiated allegations? Did she complain when they halved our prep time?
Of course not. So why won't Ms. Weingarten defend her record to "complainer" Kit Wainer? She could certainly make a strong case that she complains less than he does.
During the 05 contract discussion, Unity folks asked me, "What would the Daily News and the NY Post say if we rejected this contract?" It's painfully obvious what they would have said--the very same things they say now. Ms. Weingarten's efforts to appear statesmanlike by selling us up the river were for naught. They still call her (gasp!) an old-time union boss.
Would that it were true. Personally, I don't give a damn she isn't a teacher. I don't care if she's paid many times my salary. I'd happily pay her double if she'd represent our interests.
The Daily News got one thing right--that's her job.
I don't think she's got what it takes.
Prove me wrong, Ms. Weingarten. Start by debating Kit. You owe us, at the very least, the opportunity to see you debate your opponent.
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