On public sector workforce, a D.

Now, let’s be fair to Mamdani. He has to live within his budget. If he chose to shower public workers with money, then that’s money that can’t be spent on reducing class sizes, or building playgrounds, or subsidizing affordable housing. Even after we have real socialism, those tensions will continue to exist.

But what I hoped Mamdani would do is to quickly fix outstanding inequities. The gross underpay of Paras. The gross underpay of Emergency Medical Techs. I want him to put his thumb on the scale for job security for CUNY Adjuncts.

I wanted – and want – him to tell the Office of Labor Relations (OLR) – where he reappointed the same commissioner who’s been in that office since Bloomberg (ugh) – that her job is to fix problems, not stonewall. I want him to tell agency commissioners that part of “efficiency” is mandatory discussions with workplace-level union reps. That they will be graded and assessed on their ability to reach mutually agreeable solutions to problems – worker problems as well as agency ones.

Instead, the City’s labor relations seem like business as usual. I was not wholly dismayed when he answered my question in April about collaborative bargaining by saying ‘I need to talk to my people about that.’ That’s was not an illegitimate answer, although a socialist should have labor questions at the top of their list of issues to address. But who did he talk to - the same OLR that is the problem? 

Mulgrew is a center/right Democrat, as is Weingarten and the entire UFT/AFT apparatus, despite some progressive rhetoric and Randi's resignation from the DNC - a purely "finger in the air" move. A leader of the DNC lives in my building and rolled his eyes when Randi's move came up and called her a political opportunist - she should wear a sign.

Marc cites Daniel Alicea's EONYC: 

As explained and itemized in this article by Educators of New York City, in the most recent contract round, Mulgrew made various concessions that gave him $450 million to allocate as he saw fit, above and beyond the “pattern” raise that all city workers received. Mulgrew could have allocated it to increase Para salaries. Instead, he used most of that money to give an additional $1000 to each member. I think this EoNYC image really sums up the UFT’s “Teacher’s first” decision: 

Daniel has been doing yeoman work on the para issue: 

 July 11, 2026

The Newly Revised UFT Para Bill: The Promise That Kept Shrinking: How the UFT sold a permanent para pay index that would seek to offset pattern bargaining—and ended up with a temporary one-year payment. And only if it passes or survives legal challenges at all.

Followed on July 19 with:

The Respect Check Passes: A Temporary Victory Built By Pressure - And the Unfinished Fight: How rank-and-file pressure pushed paraprofessional pay from a union fight to a City Hall vote—and why the legislation remains temporary, non-pensionable and legally unsettled.

And he followed up with Part 2

For roughly sixteen years under Michael Mulgrew’s leadership, there was no fundamental effort to restructure paraprofessional salaries. Aside from modest improvements to longevity raises in the 2018 contract, paraprofessional pay remained largely governed by the same pattern bargaining that had left many struggling to survive.

Then came the last contract.

The UFT had roughly $450 million in recurring, non-pensionable retention money available.

The Good, Bad and Ugly - The NYC Para Bill: A deep dive into the UFT and City Council's $10k pay plan for paraprofessionals.

BTY - listen to Daniel's interview with para Alyson Monzon in his Talk Out of School WBAI program: https://wbai.org/archive/program/episode/?id=66311

Alyson's substack: 

Why I’m speaking up for us!

           

I have a few brief items for you today. Celebrate my rare briefness. 

Monday, July 13, 2026

Council Sets Vote on $10K Perk for Paraprofessionals

Para Pay Raise bill at City Council, Mamdani switcheroo - really, if he wants to talk affordability, para pay should be a prime factor. But there is also the factor of bonus vs pensionable salary and we are in contract negotiation territory with a cast of thousands negotiating committee. 

Leah Linn infographic on history of para bill:

https://www.instagram.com/reels/DawC3M3Ry_g/ 

One comment:  

Nothing like an ad for your caucus: A UFT Leaflet for labor day

 This City Reporter article mentions Fix Para Pay.

Some paraprofessionals, though, feel the payment isn’t enough and doesn’t address longstanding issues that they say have been ignored by the union.

Marie Wausnock is a paraprofessional on Staten Island who also co-founded Fix Para Pay, a union caucus slate that opposes Mulgrew.  Some paras leave for other city jobs that require less training and have better pay, she said.

“How do you give respectable pensions and dignity to paras when you want to give them non-pensionable money?” she said. “Paras are so underpaid. We get crumbs every time.”

 750 Unity Loyalists Junket in Washington for AFT convention: They got 54% but get 100% of delegates - ABC and ARISE should have 46%

In last year's UFT election we voted for 750 AFT/NYSUT convention delegates. And I bet a batch of non-delegate Unity staffers added - call it over 800 and maybe 900. 

Unity received 54% of the vote but in a winner take all system they get 100% of the delegates as 46% of UFT voters are shut out of both the AFT and NYSUT. And of course, all 750 will vote as told on every reso - all dictated by what Randi wants.

This perversion of democracy will enforce the alliance between the UFT leadership and the Dem Party corporate center. Note the speaker list below. I see one progressive - the next Mayor of Washington who is a social-democrat. You won't see many SDs at this convention. 

Watching Hakim Jeffries and Chuck Schumer and the awful Neera Tanden disparage the SD movement is getting to be LOL - how close are they to Trump reactions. They are threatened and rather then lose control of the bailiwick they'd rather see Republicans - and billionaires - win.  

The rise of SD as a challenger to the Dem Party - see the drama being played out in Maine  is also a threat to Unity hegemony. Too bad the SDs in the UFT have had a decade long failure to show any similar organizing chops that SD has had. Ironically, the closest I've seen to an SD organizing model has been ABC and hopefully the Fixed Retiree Benefits group can also show some organizing chops. Both are a work in progress. 

 From AFT PR:

Nepotism and Cronyism: Mulgrew Undermined UFT Pension Dept., Broken Promises Over TRS Election

 My most recent blog exposing the Mulgrew machine has been getting some notice.

---

The Blind Spot: How Oligarchs Dominate Our Democracy

What exactly has changed all that much in 250 years?

I'm a big fan and paid subscriber to Sam Seder's The Majority Report where I get great interviews and commentary and a lot of fun every weekday at noon-2:30. 

For history buffs, this interview, especially for a history major like me who took courses in the American Revolution, this interview with Jeffrey Winters was fascinating. The theme is that the founding fathers were fundamentally oligarchs who believe in small d democracy - very small d. That the constitution was designed to protect their wealth. And in this interview he goes into detail. They had a problem in their new system which had a level of democracy never seen before. How to control that democracy so their wealth would never be threatened. 

We are taught about checks and balances as one branch of government checking the other branches. In this interpretation, C&B were designed by the oligarchs leading the revolution to check the rabble who might get too much democracy and take away some of their wealth -- in case they want to tax the rich. So what else is new? 

https://www.youtube.com/live/3j7Y-w-XhVk?si=GzVwfqgVfXjlakkE&t=1863 

An urgent and shocking examination of how the ultra-rich dominate democracies, hoard political power, and maintain inequality—and how we might chart another path.

The wealthy and powerful few have dominated the many throughout most of human history. This is now more starkly visible than ever—a time when, with politicians bought and paid for across the political spectrum, the gulf between oligarchs and average citizens is larger than any gap that existed during European feudalism or the slave society of Imperial Rome. One thing is clear: the world is heading into an even deeper state of inequality, one that oligarchs of past eras could only have dreamed of. The strange thing is, for the first time in history, this domination is accomplished through democracy. Yet we aren’t in open revolt against the system. In fact, we seemingly keep voting to prop it up. Why?

In The Blind Spot, political scientist Jeffrey Winters delivers a timely, incisive account of how we reached this era of in-your-face oligarchy. Tracing the evolution of wealth power through the modern democratic era, he demonstrates how domination by oligarchs isn’t just a flaw in our democracy, but a foundational feature—allowing the wealthy to limit the agenda, control the marketplace of ideas, and rewire the law to defend, hide, and increase their money and power. Now, in an extraordinary paradox, we exist in a state of “participatory inequality,” a world in which the 99.99 percent of us participate openly, freely, and democratically in our own ongoing exclusion and exploitation.

But The Blind Spot ultimately sounds a clarion call for change, arming us not only with a vital lens through which we can understand just how bad our political reality has become, but also with bold ideas for how we might shift the balance of power. While powerful oligarchs do not cede power willingly, this period of shocking inequality is nevertheless an opportunity for change.

The Winters interview on you tube:

 

           

The point of my recent articles is that something is going on inside the tent that is getting some people to give up the money. And while the number is low, there is a lot of people seething but not willing - yet. I do know that a number of Unity people voted for ABC in the election. Will we see more breaks in the next few years? My contention has been that Unity can be beaten when there are enough defectors with school-level networks that ally with the opposition to break the Unity monopoly at the school level. There were signs in last year's election.

Part 2 focuses on the TRS elections as a function of the pension department and how Mulgrew installed his operatives who put political loyalty over competence in a crucial area of the UFT where every member ends up using on the way to retirement. I include the story of one of the UFT's top pension consultants who was in much demand until he was sent back to teaching at the end of August 2025, seemingly a threat due to his attempts to run for TRS rep in the 2026 election. He ran anyway.

Wednesday, July 8, 2026 

• 2013: Frank Panebianco is promoted from an after school Bronx pension rep to full-time at 52.
•  
• 2014: Tom Brown becomes TRS rep when Mona Romain retires. Frank is alternate.
•   
• 2015: Long-time pension expert Mel Aaronson, who fundamentally had free reign to train and promote pension reps, retires from TRS and tells Frank that he deserves the job but there is worry at the top the opposition would complain and they are going with David Kazansky instead. Why the oppo would complain about Frank given the oppo never had comments on TRS elections, is a mystery. Frank is alternate.

• 2016: Sandy March retires and tells Frank he would be best for the job but they can't have 3 white men. Debra Penny, UFT Staten Island Borough Rep replaces her. 

• 2018: David runs again, Frank is alternate.
• 2019: Penny runs again, Frank is alternate
• 2020: Tom Brown runs again, Frank is alternate

See: TRS Passport Funds Underperform Over Last 10 Years: TDA investment options cost members hundreds of thousands in lost returns

Pensions with Ben Morgenrath

Jun 10, 2026

           

July 6, 2026

I am seeing things in a new light. I always assumed Unity was monolithic and there was little internal debate - that since Shanker the person at the top controlled everything. But an interesting perspective is emerging as current and former higher level Unity reveal the internals. This is Part1. Part 2 is here: https://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/2026/07/nepotism-and-cronyism-mulgrew.html

Despite serious disagreements, activists within the usual suspect legacy caucuses opposed to Unity managed to have some working relationships with the leadership. In a sense, the active Unity and oppo people became a sort of sub-class in the union of people who were involved beyond the regular membership - a sort of synchrony of common interests, which comes undone for a few months every 3 years during UFT election. These are the people you are likely to see in early September at Labor Day Parades where all sides greet each other with some warmth. 

We knew which officials were competent, such as Amy Arundell. Appointees to union positions has always been political and based on loyalty to Unity Caucus and the leadership but being capable and competent was part of the equation. 

Yet, over the past few years there has been a shift as we saw less and less competence  and internal and external unhappiness with the Mulgrew leadership and we see major purges within the caucus and threats to those who don't conform.  

The theme of this post delves into this Mulgrew shift - total control of every aspect of the UFT, total loyalty expected and valued over competence, as evidenced by comments from current and former Unity and union officials. That has led to fear and resentment among the Unity faithful. 

UFT full time and part- time staff were threatened with their jobs if they didn’t get the votes from their school for Tom Brown in the TRS election, a pattern Mulrew has set since The Friday Night Unity Purge/Massacre of June 27, 2025. The Queens Borough Rep, who replaced Amy Arundell, held meetings telling pension consultants, “If you don’t get the votes for Tom, you are replaceable." In areas where Tom Brown votes were weak there may be some nervous district reps.

I use the Frank Panebianco story as a case study of the loss of competence at the UFT, not to mention David Kazansky, both of whom ran against Tom Brown, their former colleague, in the recent TRS election. Shedding these two, along with Amy, D. 30 Rep Ashley Rzonca, Leah Lin, paras Hector Ruiz, Jr., and Migda Rodriguez is a serious brain drain. A Unity insider commented:

Downgrading competence: The essence of internal UFT policy: Never pick a successor who might do a better job than you. Always pick someone less competent than you so they won't do better.

UFT members have been noticing. 

More Words from inside Unity:

• No one is a free thinker anymore. Mulgrew controls every aspect of the union. When I started and was recruited to Unity, there were spaces for debate, conversation, dare I say suggestions. All totally gone now. 

• Mulgrew makes everyone have a fear-based mindset so even if you’re good at your job you don’t really do it the best it can be done because that’s not what’s wanted.

• The entire union. Teacher center, and welfare fund are cash cows.  

• Numerous Unity oldheads told us that under Randi, it was also a dictatorship, but that she at least not only tolerated dissenting voices, but wanted a couple of them in the room when an issue was being considered. When she made her decision that was that, but at least she heard both/all sides before she did. Under Mulgrew all of those dissenting voices have been pushed out. 

• Don't forget the ouster of Maria Niera from NYSUT Leadership a decade ago and making sure we all voted for their endorsed candidates by checking the ballots before we submitted them. 

• The firing of pension expert Frank Panebianco days before the end of summer because he was telling people he was going to run for TRS because Tom Brown told him he would retire. When he asked Mike Sill and Mulgrew about it, they said they knew nothing about it. So who fired Frank? Read the surprising answer below. 

• Mulgrew shook hands on it: "I give you my word and nothing means more to me than my word." Soon after, Mulgrew went back on his word. 

• David vs Unity Goliath in TRS Election as Fear and...
• TRS Election Pre-Outcome Analysis
• TRS Election Count - No Final Results Until June 2...
• Mulgrewism is the UFT Version of Trumpism MAGA     

• Pension/TRS: Victoria Lee acts as boss in Mulgrew's name.
• Welfare Fund: Geoff Sorkin in name only.
• Call Center: Salesforce replaces UFT staff.
• Teacher center: Mary Vocarro turns it political.
• Grievance: Mark Collins. There hasn’t been a real grievance chair since Howie Solomon. There is no institutional knowledge and a fear to take cases. So much is non-precedential, so it’s wack a mole.
• Political action: The director is there just as a figure head. Cassie Prugh and Mulgrew make all the decisions. (Witness the decision to endorse Dan Goldman over Brad Lander, exposing Mulgrew's true politics.) 
• Borough offices: Amy Arundell fired from Queens office, along with Leah Linn, not the first time put in someone under his thumb. In 2016 Mulgrew replaced the popular Brooklyn Boro rep Debbie Poulos with a political hack according to some staffers. Some point to changes in the Bronx office too.
• NYSUT - Mulgrew's total takeover 2014 NYSUT Election Update: Message to Revive: Now that...NYSUT Election Update: Julie  Cavanagh Defeats Mulg...  NYSUT Update: MORE's Lauren Cohen Stands Up to Bul...