Video of Teachers Unite- NYCORE UFT Election Candidate Forum

On March 5 candidates from each of the 4 caucuses in the UFT held a candidates forum sponsored by NYCORE and Teachers Unite. Here are two 10 minutes segments out of two hours. Look for more on this blog as we parse the individual questions.


The Opening Statements



The Concluding statements

A chapter leader's endorsement of ICE-TJC

[Letter from John Elfrank-Dana to Bergtraum staff. Reproduced from Ednotes.]

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It’s time again – the UFT elections. You should get your ballot in the mail.

Only about one quarter of us will vote if trends continue. It’s a problem I brought up to the union leadership (including Mulgrew); this lack of participation. They were at a loss as to why or what could be done about it.

It’s one of the reasons why I joined the ICE/TJC opposition. We need strong democratic unionism to move us forward. The Unity Caucus (Randi Weingarten and Michael Mulgrew’s political machine) may have gotten us more money from contracts, but have given so much away in terms of rights that sticking around long enough to enjoy the benefits seems impossible.

The days of accommodation, we want to be on your team, approach must end. We can’t rely on the strategy of the benevolent mayor (dictator) to save us; which has been Unity’s approach. We need to stand on the fundamentals of democratic unionism. We must organize for confrontation. However, we must be smart, patient and brave about it.

I think the ICE/TJC slate, with James Eterno for President, is our best hope. I know James personally. He’s been a valuable source of information for me. He’s an experienced chapter leader and man with principles. He gets it.

You can see James and what the ICE/TJC ticket stands for here.

Please feel free to pass this message along to any other UFT members you know.

In solidarity,

John Elfrank-Dana
UFT Chapter Leader
Murry Bergtraum High School
www.Elfrank.com/UFT