Yesterday, many of us had to pick up our physical paychecks from a single location. There was little to no social distancing happening and nothing was being enforced. One woman was told that she had to stand in line as instructed. She pointed out, that by standing where she was told, that social distancing wasn’t happening. She was told that she had to stand there regardless.

There we no less than 100 people waiting to receive their paycheck and numerous workers handing out the checks.

The union was not there to make sure that its members were being protected. The union did nothing to partner with the DOE to help alleviate the number of people who were required to report to a single destination to pick up their check. There should have been a single destination in each district to minimize the number of people having to gather at one location.

I was doing okay, anxiety wise, until yesterday. Now, I’m furious and filled with anxiety. I have been diligent in trying to protect myself and the NYC DOE and UFT have single handedly ruined that.

For those of you who might be quick to point out that I should have direct deposit. I did and then my local branch decided to close. I have been in the process of trying to set up direct deposit at my new bank for the last six weeks. I have submitted the paperwork to the NYC DOE three different times and still no direct deposit.