Wednesday, October 29, 2008

From A Union E-Mail

Four things to fear: the hoof of a horse, the horn of a bull, the smile of a Saxon, the promise of a principal. (freely adopted from the Irish)

(Sorry, Hula--but I could not resist!)

The union suits were at our school today, advising the best way to handle "emergencies". their advice was great though sad to have to hear. I already read most of this stuff on Chaz's blog.

My friend, the ATR, tried to talk to one of the Suits about her position as an ATR. All he did was tell her how lucky she was to be getting a paycheck. He had it rough, much rougher than she is having it. He was laid off in the 70's, no job, no income.

He didn't get how she was suffering. He didn't get that a wrong is a wrong is a wrong.

If he got shot in the heart twice and I got shot once, we would both be dead. What would it matter that he got shot twice as often as I did? Bad, is bad.

I would amend the above statement as follows:

Four things to fear: the hoof of a horse, the horn of a bull, the smile of a Union Representative, the promise of a principal. (freely adopted from the union e-mail)

5 comments:

mathmom said...

Sorry, Ms. PO'd but I have to disagree with you on the ATR. Especially in the current economic climate, there are fates worse than the ATR's paid position. People are being laid off with very little in the way of a safety net before they get to the point where they cannot feed their families. Self-employed incomes are drying up, and these people have no unemployment insurance available at all. The chances of getting a new job are slim in this economy and people are scared. What happened to your friend the ATR may be wrong, but not every wrong is as bad as any other; not every bad situation is as dire as any other.

Pissedoffteacher said...

What you say is true but I know the city is looking for a way to get them off the payroll.

Two wrongs never make a right and the union shouldn't be justifying what happened to them.

17 (really 15) more years said...

Mathmom-
The ATR should never be in this position in the first place, and we have Randi to thank. An ATR is generally a senior veteran teacher with years of service and experience. PO'd you're right- I am sure that with the next contract (you know- the one Randi said we wouldn't have to negotiate with Mikey) ATR's will be off payroll. Their pensions will be in jeopardy and it's simply not right. Back in the old days, an ATR would get a seniority transfer and possibly bump a newbie. Quite frankly, that's the way it should still be, since some of the new hires have little time invested in the system.

Anonymous said...

What a SOB!! I too was laid off in the 70's, but I had very little seniority. And, the UFT was there to support us even though they promised NO LAYOFFS. We were given training for recertified jobs, and I got recertified to teach Math in the Jr. High. I was employed for 6 months until my 2nd layoff. When the economic crisis was over, we were all recalled.

Schoolgal

Someone should have reminded the SOB that senior teachers were not laid off!!! Just the newbies.

avoiceinthewilderness said...

This is what I don't understand about Americans. 'Especially in the current economic climate, there are fates worse than the ATR's paid position'
People keep talking about how it could be worse.
It's like we're trained to except almost nothing. Hey at least you have a job.
How about we start demanding more?
The people up at the top do. You don't see the Bloombergs and the McCains of this world saying, 'Well, at least I have this..."
If anything, they keep taking more and more, as if it is their right.
Meanwhile, the little folks act as if living from paycheck to paycheck-if you're lucky enough lately - is some kind of blessing.
I am baffled.