The United Federation of Teachers’ ability to shape public policy goes beyond just giving lawmakers scripts to read at public hearings.
While UFT President Randi Weingarten vowed to “make some changes” over the embarrassing incident last week when her members were caught handing out cards with printed questions for council members, she was unashamed about the growing influence she and her army of lobbyists and political activists wield.
For example:
* The UFT spends millions annually on lobbying, campaign donations to politicians, advertising and for well-connected political consultants
* It turns on its powerful get-out-the-vote machine for favored candidates.
* A network of allied advocacy groups echoes UFT talking points
The UFT spent $245,406 lobbying the City Council alone in 2008, and another $47,074 in the first two months of 2009, records kept by the City Clerks Office show.
There are 30 in-house lobbyists registered with the UFT whose sole job is convincing or cajoling city lawmakers to share the union’s point of view.
Most prominent among them is Bridget Rein, a City Hall source said.
“She’s a schmoozer. Everyone knows her and she knows everybody,” the source said. “She knows if your father is sick or if your kids got into college. She’s almost always on the steps doing her job.”
To augment its traditional policy push, the UFT’s director of lobbying, Marvin Reiskin, also heads the union’s Committee on Public Education.
The committee is the political arm of the UFT, funded by union members who donate anywhere from 50 cents to $10 out of their paycheck.
COPE chooses which elected officials to support or oppose.
Council members need to pass three main COPE criteria to get the thumbs up: support for the UFT’s public-education policies, support for trade unions in general and support for “human rights,” which translates to support for policies that combat anti-gay and other forms of discrimination, a union source said.
The big reward for approved candidates is an influx of union cash in the form of campaign donations and access to the UFT’s network of phone banks.
In each borough, the UFT sets aside rooms with tables and telephones for its army of volunteers to call registered voters to get them to the polls to support its favored politicians.
Further, a political endorsement means access to a small army of teachers (the union has 135,000 members) to appear at campaign rallies or press conferences. For many parent voters, support from teachers translates into a general seal of approval.
Another political tactic of the UFT is to forge alliances with advocacy groups that share its views — such as against mayoral control or tying test scores to tenure.