UNITED FEDERATION OF TEACHERS 52 City 10004

Delegate Assembly Minutes – via conf. call June 17, 2020

President Mulgrew called the meeting to order.

A moment of silence was observed for Louisa Johnston, our beloved long-time union activist.

The biggest request after last month’s Delegate Assembly was to have an extended question period.

To that end there was a

Motion: To extend the question period for 15 minutes.

Carried 94% yay to 6% nay

President Mulgrew’s report:

The major conundrum for the union is whether or not schools will open in September. Our focus as a union is safety, protecting our livelihood, profession and our school communities. We are frustrated with City Hall and the DOE. Three specific options are on the table. One is getting a vaccine. The other is we remain remote. The third is more real which is going back to school buildings while practicing social distancing. However, unless the HEROES Act is passed, there is no way schools can open safety across the country. Every school in every state is looking at massive budget cuts. We cannot open with social distancing with the same number of teachers we currently have. If we get the federal package and can open schools safely with social distancing requirements, this will also come with its own issues. There will be a number of members who will require medical accommodations. The child care issue is also on the table.

At the federal level, we are pushing very hard. There seemed to be a willingness from both parties to pass this package three weeks ago. They were trying to get this done by the July 4th holiday. At this moment it does not look like that will happen. There are several Republican senators that have said they will support it. We have a lot of work still to do. We are working with states like Florida, Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois and targeting 19 different senators to try to move this forward. Mulgrew gave a big shout out to our Florida retirees who are making calls and rallying the Florida teachers to become more and more politically active.

New York State already passed a budget on April 1. Inside of that budget there were provisions for the governor to make cuts if the economy continued to get worse. He has made projections for those cuts. He knows those cuts can be severe with thousands of public sector workers potentially losing their jobs. Many communities can lose services that are much needed. The governor is trying to pay his bills from month to month and is working really hard to push this federal package forward.

The city has to pass a balanced budget on July 1 but doesn’t have the leeway that the governor has at the state level. At the moment the city has severe cuts in its budget. We have several UFT members in the city council. We are fighting very hard to get language in the budget that accounts for getting more revenue. If we do not get the federal package, then the governor has no choice but to start rolling out the cuts because he will not have the money to pay the bills of the state. A lot of these cuts will come from . The city at the moment is looking at a 3-4% budget cut which is quite significant. The city without a balanced budget will be required to come back and make more cuts. They may ask the MLC to freeze salaries or do furloughs which this union has never done. It would be extremely arduous to say the least. The stimulus package is not going to get done before the city has to pass its budget. The state is working with us to get this federal stimulus package through. If it doesn’t happen, he will be forced to make those cuts. Schools will not open since there will not be a way to do this safely without a federal stimulus package. The schools have to open in order for the economy to progress. This is a national election year. There is a small window after July 4 and the beginning of August when this can get done before Congress goes on their summer break. The fact is schools in the cannot open without this package. We’re going to make sure that everyone knows that Mitch McConnell is the reason the economy will not be able to reopen. We believe if we continue to work with other folks throughout the United States we can get this passed. Then we’ll have to judge the status of the virus. All the D.A. Mins. Page 2 – 6/17/2020 states that did not follow the guidelines are now having problems. If New York continues in the we are on, we can probably open in a social distancing setting. We have been planning for this scenario. There are decisions the union has to make and individual decisions members have to make for themselves and their families. We are going to make sure we give the members the information they need to make these vital decisions.

All of the principals received communication from the chancellor directing them to invite the chapter leader or a designee to do a walkthrough of the school. Custodians, members of the safety committee and a parent should also be invited to join. We’re just looking for simple questions to be answered. The Department of Education sent out generic square footage information to the principals which was not helpful. We need to know the number of classrooms in each school and also look at non-traditional classroom space. Principals are getting a much more intricate survey from the DOE. We need to know the estimated student enrollment for September and also the number of staff in the school building. The DOE cannot program a building from above because they don’t know what we do each and every day. They don’t know the intricacies of a building and they don’t know the needs of the children that we serve. They don’t understand the needs of the staff either. We’re asking you to get that information to us as soon as possible. Safety and protecting our livelihood are in jeopardy at this point.

The CDC and our own medical professionals tell us what the approved medical conditions for a medical accommodation are. The members receiving these accommodations will do remote instruction. We would like to send out a list by the end of the month that is signed off by the CDC and Department of Health listing these conditions so anyone who wishes to apply for a medical accommodation can do so. Questions pertaining to anyone’s medical conditions do not have to be answered. We believe the percentage of members seeking medical accommodations will be about 15-25%. There will also be many children requiring medical accommodations and many other parents will choose to keep their children home.

We would like to prioritize our members to receive child care. From the minute we closed off our school system, support centers have been opened. We have had our phenomenal school nurses and thousands of volunteer teachers in those centers. We learned that PPE is king. All the procedures were followed. We also learned that it’s tough to get 4-5 year old to adhere to social distancing guidelines. This work requires rigid procedures and protocols.

We’ve received questions on a possible retirement incentive. Today we opened up three virtual zoom pension groups. We registered about 6,000 people in 15 minutes. We need to have this option on the table. The early retirement bill is introduced every year in Albany. Both parties have to be willing to do it on a local level. If we’re willing to do it, we then have to work out all the numbers and look at all the pension systems that are involved. Then we would have to put together a financial note and send it out through a legislative ask to the state. We would need the state senate and assembly to vote on it then the governor would have to sign it. The last NYC retirement incentive took place in 1995.

APPR is frozen for this school year. If you are up for tenure, it can still be granted. Because so many of our contractual provisions are based upon annual ratings, the DOE has agreed at least in principle to say no harm can come to anyone because they did not get a rating this year. We are working on that agreement right now. We have been granted waivers on compliance issues in terms of certification and licensing at the state level.

We asked the DOE to stop sending out new platform initiatives to use especially since they haven’t even been able to get the original platform correct. They’ve asked us to migrate over to the new platform. We just want to focus on a plan if we have to open up so we can get that done effectively.

There’s a process to close out the school year if you need to go back to the classroom to get anything or clean it out.

Thanks to everyone who has participated in civil rights and peace and justice actions these past three weeks.

NYPD doesn’t want school safety. They’d be very happy to give it up. There was a reason that school safety was taken away from the DOE. The UFT agreed with and worked with Rudy Giuliani to move school safety out of the DOE and bring into the NYPD. Historically this was a very big problem and our schools were not safe at all. There was violence in the hallways constantly. When Bloomberg instituted zero tolerance, it didn’t go well. It led to long term suspensions and arrests. Right now, school safety is part of the NYPD. They do not report to precincts. They’re legal designation is a peace officer. If it’s moved, we must be assured there will be safety. Taking school D.A. Mins. Page 3 – 6/17/2020 safety from the NYPD and moving their budget to the DOE is not defunding the NYPD. It’s a budget that’s being moved over to another agency.

This Tuesday is an election day. Elections matter. We will have three years of pain if we do not get that federal package. The only way to change that is to change what is going on in Washington, DC with the White House and the Senate. It is pertinent to get out the vote.

Director of Staff LeRoy Barr’s report:

1. June 23rd is the NY primary. Early voting is taking place from June 13-21. The general election is November 3. 2. June 19, 1865 commemorates the end of slavery in America. It’s known as Juneteenth. It’s been celebrated for over 150 years in this country. The governor issued an executive order making Juneteenth an official state holiday starting next year. 3. June is PRIDE month and we celebrate the LGBTQ community and commemorate the Stonewall riots. 4. The National Puerto Rican Day parade usually takes place in June. We celebrate with them: one people, many voices. Channel 7 partnered with the Puerto Rican Day parade and honored two AFT teachers in Puerto Rico and two UFT nurses as essential workers. 5. Happy Father’s Day to all and have a safe summer.

President Mulgrew answered questions from the delegates.

Motion: To move agenda item #5 to agenda to the first item on the agenda.

Carried

Motion: For this month’s agenda:

Resolution to formally express UFT solidarity with Black Lives Matter (submitted by Katie Moylan)

WHEREAS, anti-Black police violence continues to take place in the United States without accountability; and

WHEREAS, Black Americans are two-and-a-half times as likely as white Americans to be killed by police officers; and

WHEREAS, many of our students, particularly our Black students (who make up nearly 30% of our student population in NYC), have been targeted and harmed by interactions with law enforcement agencies; and

WHEREAS, many of our colleagues, particularly our Black colleagues (who, due to systemic barriers to access, make up less than 18% of our teacher workforce), have been targeted and harmed by interactions with law enforcement agencies; and

WHEREAS, we recognize that our students are harmed in our schools as the result of ongoing systemic problems, including segregation, funding disparities, and lack of equal access to enrichment opportunities like PSAL sports; and

WHEREAS, we know that these systemic barriers consistently, disproportionately impact our Black students; and

WHEREAS, we are personally and professionally committed to the health and well-being of Every student and staff member in our schools; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, the UFT stands in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, and commits to taking deliberate action to improve the working conditions of our Black colleagues and the learning conditions of our Black students.

Carried

Motion: For next month’s agenda:

Resolution denouncing TrumpAdministration’s rollback of healthcare protections for transgender people (submitted by Rashad Brown)

D.A. Mins. Page 4 – 6/17/2020

WHEREAS, the United Federation of Teachers has always supported and stood up for equity, equality, and justice for all people; and

WHEREAS, in 2016 former president Barack Obama's administration changed federal health care guidelines outlined in Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act to expand sex-based protections based to include protections based on gender identity, "which may be male, female, neither, or a combination of male and female;" and

WHEREAS, on June 12, 2020, just two weeks into Pride Month — and on the anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting — the Trump administration announced that it is changing Obama-era health care protections for transgender people, a rule that will impact their ability to fight against discrimination by doctors, medical facilities and health insurance providers, and

WHEREAS, the transgender and gender non-conforming community have had a multitude of attacks within a week of June 12, alone; and

WHEREAS, on June 6, 2020, world renown author, JK Rowling, who is best known for the best selling book series in history, Harry Potter, tweeted a series of transphobic tweets, and

WHEREAS, this week, the Trump-era Supreme Court could potentially rule on whether or not your employer can fire you for being LGBTQIA+; and

WHEREAS, this announcement was made the same week where two black transgender women were murdered; and

WHEREAS; according to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) transwomen of color – particularly Black transgender women – are disproportionately affected by fatal violence, with at least 14 transgender or gender non-conforming people have been violently killed with only 6 months into the year; and

WHEREAS, on June 12, 2020, the American Civil Liberties Union responded to the Trump Administrations announcement, by tweeting the rule "will embolden health care discrimination against transgender people, those seeking reproductive health care, and many other individuals who need health care — all while a global pandemic is occurring;" and

WHEREAS, on June 12, 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a statement saying the final rule is based on "the plain meaning of the word 'sex’ as male or female and as determined by biology" and also argued that health care based on sex assigned at birth, rather than gender identity, is necessary for health care, and insinuated that transgender health care may be confusing for providers; and

WHEREAS, the director of HHS office for Civil Rights, Roger Severino, stated, “HHS respects the dignity of every human being;” and

WHEREAS, transgender individuals have for a long time, faced discrimination in health care; according to the U.S. Transgender Survey, a 25% of the 28,000 individuals (7,000) who took the survey reported that at they have experienced an insurance issue because of their gender identity and even more reported that they have been verbally harassed, been denied treatment or sexual health screenings, or had health care provider who did not know how to medically treat transgender individuals; and

WHEREAS, according to the survey, those who are transgender are more likely among the general U.S. population to be uninsured; and

WHEREAS, on June 12, 2020, the American Civil Liberties Union responded to the Trump Administration’s announcement, by tweeting the rule "will embolden health care discrimination against transgender people, those seeking reproductive health care, and many other individuals who need health care — all while a global pandemic is occurring," and

WHEREAS, HRC has announced plans to sue the Trump Administration for “attempting to remove basic health care protections from vulnerable communities including LGBTQ people”; be it there;

RESOLVED that the United Federation of Teachers unequivocally condemn and denounce the transphobic policies of the Trump Administration; therefore, be it

D.A. Mins. Page 5 – 6/17/2020

RESOLVED that the UFT unequivocally condemns and denounces any words or actions that were already taken, or may take in the future, by any and all politicians, celebrities and public figures that will directly jeopardize the safety, livelihood, and well-being of our transgender staff-members, students, and patients – all of whom have the right to feel safe and respected in all school buildings, as well as in all clinics and hospitals in which UFT members are employed, and must be entirely devoid of any and all transphobia at all times; and therefore be it further

RESOLVED, that the UFT continue to increase and strengthen its relationships with the local LGBTQIA+ organizations whose beliefs, missions, and policies mirror the UFT’s belief’s, missions, and policies in regard to the LGBTQIA+ community, particularly for our members, students, and patients, and encourage our state and national affiliates to do the same on their levels; and therefore, be it further

RESOLVED, that the UFT will work with its state and national affiliates NYSUT, AFT, and NEA and other LGBTQIA+ allies to support the work being done to ensure that the rights of the transgender and non-gender conforming community will be equitable to all other protected classes.

Carried

Motion: To approve the following:

RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING SUMMER CONTINGENCY ENDORSEMENTS

WHEREAS, the United Federation of Teachers’ Delegate Assembly will not meet until Sept. 2020; and

WHEREAS, unforeseen legislative and political contingencies may yet develop that could affect the interests of our members; and

WHEREAS, there could be unpredicted vacancies of New York City Offices; and

WHEREAS, political organizations, campaigns and candidates are still engaged in ongoing activity to win the general election on Nov. 3, 2020; and

RESOLVED, the United Federation of Teachers’ Delegate Assembly authorizes the Executive Board to consider, make or modify endorsements during the summer in order to have a timely impact on any such campaigns.

Carried

Motion: To adjourn.

Carried

Respectfully submitted,

LeRoy Barr Secretary