If there is no separation of powers in the UFT it is a dictatorship

Paraprofessional Destroys Mulgrew’s Junk Science

Recently Michael Mulgrew stated natural immunity to covid was “some junk on social media.” Paraprofessional, TEACHERS FOR CHOICE Steering Committee member, and founder of LEFT vs LOCKDOWN Garrett Ramirez takes Mulgrew (as well as his own chapter leader) to task on this idiotic comment and the fact that Mulgrew’s “independent medical advisors” remain anonymous.

OF COURSE they stay anonymous backing moronic statements like that!

Ramirez also proves something many of us have known for years – Mulgrew and his UFT Unity Mafia have no interest in union democracy. They are authoritarian thugs. – mk

by Garrett Ramirez

On September 9th, Anthony Fauci was asked on CNN what he made of a recent study from Israeli biologists showing that natural immunity to the coronavirus was equal to vaccine protection, and might even provide superior and longer-lasting immunity from Covid.

“You know, that’s a really good point, Sanjay,” replied Fauci. “I don’t have a really firm answer for you on that…It is an issue and I think there is a really good argument for saying what you said.”

Fauci’s hedging answer is another indication that such medical data was not factored into Joe Biden’s latest Covid mandate, nor was it factored into the similar mandate directed at New York City employees. If it had, then New York’s policy would resemble that of Israel, the United Kingdom and much of Michigan’s hospital system—all of which recognize immunity acquired by those who’d previously had the SARS-Cov-2 virus as being equivalent to vaccination.

They also have obviously not taken into account peer-reviewed studies that show those with acquired natural immunity such as myself are at elevated risk of adverse reaction, with The British Medical Journal noting that “those with a history of Covid-19 were 56% more likely to experience a severe side effect that required hospital care.”

At the last chapter meeting, I asked you if you could formally inquire as to who President Mulgrew’s health and science advisors were. My reason is Mulgrew’s recent statement that natural immunity was “some junk on social media” rather than established science recognized at the highest levels of medicine—and therefore he would not be advocating for natural immunity to be included as a legitimate medical exemption from the mandate. He justified this dismissal of peer-reviewed science by saying that he was advised by top experts, yet he did not name those experts.

Something is severely amiss.

You told me that there was nothing you could do because you are just a chapter leader and delegate and I would be better off contacting James Vasquez at the Queens UFT office. The problem here is that Vasquez and other officials are effectively agents, and literally subordinates, of Michael Mulgrew. You are an elected representative of the workers in this school to the Delegate Assembly. Under basic Separation of Powers, those are supposed to be two distinct duties.

I understand that it’s easy to overlook this, as the current culture of UFT doesn’t promote this Separation of Powers, nor any initiative from the rank-and-file. A review by the US Department of Labor in 2015 noted that the UFT Delegate Assembly is set up to function as a governing body to balance the power of the president and the Executive Board which he leads—but it does not do so.

Article V, Section 6 of the UFT Constitution nonetheless states that “All actions of the Executive Board…are subject to review by the Delegate Assembly in the manner hereinafter provided, or by members of this organization expressed at a referendum.” Article IX, Section 4e states that “It shall be the duty of the chapter leader…to present complaints or recommendations to the office of this organization.” I believe you’re supposed to be honoring that constitution.

We hear much talk about a “culture of accountability” these days, as well as the fragility of democracy. In that context, I think we should be doing all we can to get accountability from our leaders regarding their decisions, and to obtain transparency through checks and balances. This applies to union governance as much as anything. If the US congress can go so far as to impeach a president twice in three years, and the New York legislature can investigate and force the resignation of a governor, I do not understand why the members of the legislative body of UFT can’t even make a humble inquiry of who the chief executive’s advisors are and how they make their decisions.

If there is no separation of powers in the UFT, then it is effectively a dictatorship, which is not a tenable situation. We often hold up our unions as paragons of democracy, but prior to the 1970s, AFL unions were generally patriarchal, racist, and autocratic institutions. It took the betrayals and conflicts surrounding the Vietnam War (which even the UFT supported) to make the unions moderately democratic. It takes vigilance and dissent to prevent any powerful institution from becoming corrupt.

I am repeating my request that as a member of the Delegate Assembly, you contact Michael Mulgrew and the Executive Board, and ask the president for the record who his science and health advisors are, and how they came to the conclusion that naturally acquired immunity is not a valid medical exemption from the Covid mandate. (Hopefully, their answer will be more cogent than Tony Fauci’s.) I would appreciate you sending a copy of this message attached to your own.

Yours,

Garrett Ramirez

Paraprofessional 

P.S. On June 22, I requested with a certified letter to headquarters that the UFT cancel my COPE deduction. This was in protest of issues related to the mandate, as well as the union working to sabotage single-payer healthcare in NY State, as well as allowing the privatization of our retirement benefits through “Medicare Advantage”. Four months later, I see the COPE PAC is still being deducted from my wages. Can you please look into stopping this?