Our leaders seem confused. Are we a union or a call center?
Outsourcing, privatizing organizing and collective bargaining.
Don’t miss the article in today’s NY Times on the Davos Man, Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce.
Here is the money quote:
Mr. Benioff’s version of compassionate capitalism airbrushed key “stakeholders” out of the picture. His endless talk of the ohana did not include labor unions. At the center of his vision for his company — at the core of Davos Man thought in general — was the assumption that the most affluent people could be relied upon to do the right thing. The wealthy were magnanimous, so unions were an unnecessary intrusion on business, and taxes represented money seized by the government — money that could otherwise be showered on the fortunate people who would benefit from his philanthropy.
The article documents how Marc Benioff and his billionaire cohorts have made out like bandits during the pandemic.
Nobody would or should be shocked by this.
What is shocking is that our teacher union leaders would hire Benioff and outsource organizing to a company he owns.
Retired teacher and blogger Norm Scott busted New York teacher union president Michael Mulgrew for outsourcing a key union job to a private call center.
It once was that when a New York teacher union member called the union with a question or concern, they talked to a retired teacher like me.
It is important to understand that when a union member calls with a question or a problem it is an organizing opportunity as well as a central service to members.
Mulgrew has handed that job over to the Davos Man, Marc Benioff.
The face of the UFT is Salesforce. They have an entire floor at 52. Calling the UFT means calling a call center. It's concierge service with an exclamation point. Just like Med Advantage. Circles upon circles of misdirection and "customer service." Unless you have someone's personal cell # all you get is a scripted intake interview and hope for the best. You are not a member; you are a customer. Calling the UFT is like calling Amazon (except the UFT is not as responsive as Amazon). It's a shameless adaptation of the corporate American model. Questions are not asked; tickets are opened. Questions are not answered; tickets are closed. Well, sometimes. Rarely. Maybe. Usually they languish, and languish, and... Where have you been bro? Get with the program! We are not members; we are customers.
This is no small matter.
Years ago I had an discussion with Jo Anderson, former Illinois Education Association executive director and later a key education advisor in the Obama administration.
“The fight for collective bargaining is over and we won,” Anderson told me.
“You’re wrong,” I said. “We do collective bargaining every day. Every issue of contract enforcement. Every member who has an issue or complaint. That is still collective bargaining.”
When talking about privatizing and corporate greed we’ve looked at medicare, and charters, the College Board, and an HMO. None of those are surprises.
But it turns out that the UFT’s hated “concierge” telephone service – the thing that stops me from reaching offices in a normal way, and that leaves my members on long holds – and that makes everybody answer Big Data questions before proceeding to someone who can answer a question – that union call center is not one. It’s not a union call center.
There’s also the issue of having to call a call center. It’s like calling the cable company, but worse. Members deserve better from their union.
Norm Scott uncovered the secret. Mulgrew fired the retired UFT members who were answering the phones, and contracted the work out. Those are no longer UFTers you are talking to, wasting your time. Go read his first piece, The Face of the UFT is Salesforce, and then his follow up, Workers Sue UFT over being replaced by Salesforce. It’s a real story.
It sure is.
The NY Times:
Individuals like Mr. Benioff had benefited from public goods financed by taxpayers — the schools that educated their employees; the internet; roads, bridges and other infrastructure enabling commerce. Then they deployed lobbyists, accountants and lawyers to master legal forms of tax evasion that starved the system of resources. He and his fellow billionaires could crow about giving back in part because of how comprehensively they had taken.
And then our union leaders fire retired union teachers and outsource organizing to the same Marc Benioff.
You don’t have to think too hard to see why our union leaders are so out of touch with the classroom teacher.