United Federation Of Teachers | The New York Observer

Unofficial Results: Liu and de Blasio Get More Votes Than Bloomberg

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:55:55 -0500

The person who got the most votes in yesterday’s election?

No, not Michael Bloomberg. It’s Comptroller-elect John Liu.

According to unofficial results, Liu got 696,330 votes, with 652,511 on the Democratic line, and 43,819 on the WFP line.

The second-highest total belonged to Bill de Blasio, in the public advocate’s race. He got 672,383 votes. 627,390 came on the Democratic line and 44,993 from the WFP line.

Michael Bloomberg got 557,059 votes in total. 414,242 came from the...

Wood War! Who Wins Today's Grabby Tabloid Battle For Your Eyeballs?

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 08:22:23 -0400

Daily News: Hey, Madonna's not looking so hot on the cover of the Daily News this morning, is she? That is undoubtedly because the photo on the cover was shot by a News photographer who managed to get the singer, who is recuperating from a fall off a horse at the photographer Steven Klein's Hamptons farm, walking along the beach in Amagansett. To look at today's New York Post you'd think that nobody had...

Wood War! Who Wins Today's Grabby Tabloid Battle For Your Eyeballs?

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 09:04:55 -0400

The New York Post: All the troops look pretty thrilled that Barack Obama paid them a surprise visit. Sure beats all that Bette Midler-USO crap! Look at all the digital cameras they pulled out! Barack Obama may be all wrong for the military (GITMO!) but when he pays a visit, it pays. The Post knows this, and will not pass up the opportunity to devote cautiously allotted column inches (and real estate on the...

The Art of Scripting Questions for the Council

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 08:53:00 -0400

Liz Green at Gotham Schools has this slide show featuring the scripted questions handed to City Council members, by the United Federation of Teachers, at a hearing on charter...

U.F.T. to Council: Put Term Limits on the Ballot

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 11:09:00 -0400

According to Elizabeth Green at Gotham Schools, the United Federation of Teachers’ executive board passed a resolution last night urging the City Council to put the term-limits extension up for a referendum, instead of passing legislation without a public vote.

This may be a boon to the forces trying to stop the Council from extending term limits from a maximum of two terms to a maximum of three, for all city elected officials. The U.F.T....

Bloomberg's Albany Team

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 14:26:10 -0400

Who, exactly, are Michael Bloomberg’s friends in Albany?

Since getting elected in 2001, Bloomberg has always counted on Joe Bruno and Republicans in the State Senate whenever he’s needed help in the capital, and he even gave a $500,000 donation to the Senate majority in the run-up the crucial elections later this year.

But lately, Bloomberg’s Albany team hasn’t counted for much.

First, a small a small band of Assembly members were...

Another Thompson (and Weingarten) Announcement on Schools

Thu, 04 Oct 2007 10:10:54 -0400

Bill Thompson is making another education-related announcement today, unveiling a program that will “invest millions of dollars to create affordable housing for educators in New York City.”

Joining him for the roll-out will be teachers union head Randi Weingarten.

About two weeks ago, Thompson issued an audit saying the city’s education department underreported violent incidents at schools.

Lots more to come from him on...

Thompson and Weingarten Pitch for Senate Dems

Wed, 23 May 2007 15:13:47 -0400

City Comptroller Bill Thompson is co-chairing a fund-raiser for state Senate Democrats tomorrow night with Randi Weingarten, the president of the United Federation of Teachers, which is one of the more vocal unions in the city and an organization whose help will be sought after by just about everyone in 2009.

(Thompson, as most of you probably know, is interested in running for mayor.)

The theme of the event: “Democrats in the State Senate are...

Weingarten Goes for the Conservative Vote

Thu, 22 Mar 2007 07:30:00 -0400

There's a "hostile anti-union climate in our city--and especially at the D.O.E." according to campaign literature from Randi Weingarten, who is running for re-election as the president of the United Federation of Teachers. Her opponent in the race, according to Weingarten's literature is a group that is "running on a combined slate headed by militant Socialist Kit Wainer," who she labels "The Man With No Plan." -- Azi...

Events for November 4-5, 2006

Fri, 03 Nov 2006 13:55:40 -0500

(If I missed any events, email me!) On Saturday at 10 a.m., Hillary Clinton, Andrew Cuomo, Charlie Rangel and almost everybody else will be supporting the Democratic ticket at a rally at 2155 Adam Clayton Powell Blvd. At 12:30, Hillary speaks at the 9th Annual Parent Conference of the United Federation of Teachers at the Sheraton in Midtown. John Faso campaigns in Brookhaven at 9 a.m., then at the Mayfair Shopping Center on Jericho Turnpike in...

A Deal for the Teachers

Mon, 03 Oct 2005 08:47:00 -0400

Mayor Bloomberg and United Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten will announce a contract settlement later today, and my early impression of this is that Randi winds up looking pretty smart for holding out until a month before Mike's reelection bid. The outline of the deal: Teachers get a 15% raise over a 52-month period, compared to (corrected) the arbitrators recommendation of 11% over 3 years. There's no sweeping overhaul of work rules, though schools chief...

Lynch to UFT

Mon, 25 Jul 2005 11:52:00 -0400

Bill Lynch, the former advisor to David Dinkins and current informal advisor to Freddy Ferrer, has a new contract with the United Federation of Teachers. The Politicker isn't sure what to make of this. On one hand, Lynch is a guy who runs campaigns, and it's conceivable that the teachers will join the campaign to unseat Bloomberg. But people familiar with the negotiations say it's more likely that the teachers will reach a contract agreeement...

Eva Moskowitz Runs In Manhattan Despite Randi Weingarten Ire

Sun, 05 Jun 2005 20:00:00 -0400

As she attempts to win promotion from the City Council to the borough presidency of Manhattan, Eva Moskowitz has made public education her chief selling point. Of course, that's been done before, but there is one very unique aspect to Ms. Moskowitz's campaign: Her main adversary may be the politically powerful teachers' union.

Although it's been two years since Ms. Moskowitz, as chair of the Council's education committee, ran a series of high-profile hearings about...

Taking on Unions, And Paying a Price

Sun, 07 Dec 2003 19:00:00 -0500

When East Side City Council member Eva Moskowitz decided to confront the city's public-school unions over the touchy issue of work rules, she knew she was taking one of the biggest gambles of her brief political life.

"I knew months ago, when I decided to do this, that this was a difficult topic," she said of her decision to question powerful union officials representing teachers, principals and custodians. "Initially, it wasn't even clear my staff...

Bush's Man at the E.P.A.

Sun, 26 Oct 2003 19:00:00 -0500

By all accounts, Utah Governor Mike Leavitt-President George W. Bush's choice to be the new administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency-is a decent fellow. So why are several prominent Democrats voicing loud opposition to the nomination? They have good reason: Mr. Leavitt's coziness with the mining, timber, oil and gas industries would likely make him unable to resist President Bush's ongoing assault on America's most precious heritage, the environment. Handing this President an industry-friendly...

Editorials

Sun, 09 Dec 2001 19:00:00 -0500

Teachers' Union: Greedy in Time of Grief

It ought to come as news to nobody that times are tough, and likely to get tougher. Thousands have been put out of work, while City Hall and Albany are bracing for budget deficits the likes of which haven't been seen in years. The city is battling a potential $5 billion deficit; the state, possibly $10 billion. It's hardly the time for a public employees' union to...

Harold Levy Changes a Culture

Sun, 26 Aug 2001 20:00:00 -0400

Anyone who follows New York's

school foibles knows that politicians have been railing against the Board of Education and its gigantic bureaucracy for decades. Every candidate for the City Council or State Legislature, it seems, has a boilerplate denunciation of the unwieldy school board, complete with ritualized calls for massive personnel cuts. But, of course, nothing ever comes of all this rhetoric. The board's central staff, snug and smug in its little cocoon at 110 Livingston Street in downtown Brooklyn, survives Mayors...