NYC Educator: How to Stop UFT from Asking You to Make Phone Calls

NYC Educator: How to Stop UFT from Asking You to Make Phone Calls:

How to Stop UFT from Asking You to Make Phone Calls

A few weeks ago, I got a series of phone calls asking me to work for Bill Thompson for mayor. Several UFT reps made these calls, and one was pretty persistent. With Bill de Blasio as a serious contender, I couldn't muster the enthusiasm to do so. I might reconsider if he's in a runoff against Quinn, because she enabled Bloomberg's third term, and because the papers have all endorsed her. This tends to make me think she's even worse than she appears.

I suppose if you're a UFT employee trying to persuade chapter leaders, you have a number of tools in your kit. One, of course, is thinly veiled threats. "This is important. You must agree." In fact, no one outside of UFT has ever used that argument with me. Several UFT reps have now tried it with me, and clearly assumed it was a conversation-killer. They are not accustomed to hearing, "No, I don't have to agree, in fact I don't agree, and what kind of argument is that anyway?" They do not have anything at all to say when you give them that response.

Another favored tool is flattery. "I'm calling you because you're very intelligent and influential. We really value your participation." When you answer that, in fact, you actually wrote something in favor of Thompson, a good UFT response is, "Yes, I read it. It was eloquent." But it wasn't really. It was simply that you found him the least offensive alternative in the very small field of choices that appeared viable. And given that, whether or not the UFT rep actually read it is another