In preparation for next week's MORE summer series on the history of caucuses and what we can learn, thanks to Vera Pavone, we have created an online version of the pamphlet we produced almost 40 years ago (minus the graphics). I will have some hard copies with me next week but I urge you to download it and read the 25 page pamphlet to see just how much has remained the same.
Some of our suggested changes read pretty funny today but that we put them forth at the time is a sign of how we saw possibilities then. How about calling for direct election of district reps by the members in the district? 25 years later Randi would end DR elections even by chapter leaders despite the fact that every DR except one was in Unity -- see she didn't even trust Unity people to elect people she wanted.
The Coalition of NYC School Workers was not strictly a caucus in that we never would run in an election without being in coalitions with other groups. I'll share some more info about the CSW at the MORE event. James and Ellen are covering New Action, Kit is doing TJC, I'm doing Ed Notes/ICE and I will put out a timeline for each group along with some history of how Unity consolidated power -- I imagine I will have to find some down time in LA at the AFT convention to get it all done.
UPDATE - This did not translate very well so it is best to read it or download it on scribd: http://www.scribd.com/doc/232878840/Democracy-Politics-in-the-Uft-Finalmodforscribd
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