Why I am Voting for Unity!
"...all those wonderful people that I met, the people who helped me and taught me everything were in the Unity Caucus. I feel a duty to do the same." - Tonia Cavio, Queens Paraprofessional
This post originally appeared on the substack.
When I first became a substitute paraprofessional, I didn’t realize that there was such a thing as a paraprofessional representative. That year was the year that Tier VI would come to fruition. One day, the representative asked me if I was still "subbing," to which I replied, "Yes." She then said, "Okay, never mind, this doesn't apply to you." I was hired on April 4th, 2012. If you remember, substitutes had until March 30th to join BERS in order to be eligible for Tier IV. After that, I began reading my UFT emails and searching the website for answers to my questions because I did not want to miss out on any other opportunities or information.
After being hired, I wanted to apply for a salary upgrade. I went through the motions of applying only to have my application rejected. I was so confused that I decided to call the UFT. I was told to leave a message. Oh great, I thought, it will probably take forever for someone to contact me. A couple of days later, I received a call back, and the person who reached out to me was Shelvy Young-Abrams, our chapter's chairperson, who answered my question. She answered my questions and gave me the information I needed to apply for the upgrade.
That interaction cemented my belief in the UFT and UNITY. I started to attend the meetings regularly, where I networked and collaborated with other paraprofessionals and our chapter's executives. The members I met with were encouraging, knowledgeable, and supportive. These interactions fueled my thirst for assisting other members in their quest for knowledge.
I later found out about caucases and all those wonderful people that I met, the people who helped me and taught me everything were in the Unity Caucus. I feel a duty to do the same, and to the best of my ability, I do. I share what I know, and I help everyone that I can.
UNITY, for me, will always live up to its name.
Rally for Para RESPECT - April 2nd!
Caption from original MissJamesNYC Instagram Post
Our paraprofessionals need to be paid more, and they need it NOW!
On April 2, we will be rallying at city hall for the legislation to give our paraprofessionals a check for 10,000+ yearly to help adjust the pay gap caused by pattern bargaining over the years.
The city is missing 1600 paras. That is 1600 students whose needs are not being met. Paras need a living wage in order to help fill this shortage. But more importantly, the paraprofessionals currently doing this work every day MUST be compensated fairly!
There are people working actively to hold up this legislation at city council, and our 73k signature petition shows that this is NOT what the masses want. We want paras to get this money annually, and we want it to start NOW. So come rally, sign the petition, and let's get our paras what they deserve.
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