Would you welcome better pay, better working conditions, and better benefits? Then pay close attention! The UFT elections are going to be held in the Spring and this is your chance to work toward better….EVERYTHING!
In May of 2025, ballots will be mailed to all UFT members to solicit their vote for new union leadership. Better leadership is possible, but rank and file teachers need to get involved. Teachers need to familiarize themselves with the issues. Better contracts are sorely needed. Our benefits should not be reduced, and our working conditions need an upgrade. So let’s discuss this upcoming event and be prepared to participate.
Our current union president is Michael Mulgrew. Mulgrew and his party, the Unity party, have run the union since its inception in the early 60s. Under Unity’s leadership, there has been a diminishment of benefits and teacher’s rights. For example, in 2005, Unity gave away a teacher’s right to grieve letters in their personnel file. This resulted an overwhelming number of teachers receiving unsatisfactory ratings. Some of these ratings were based on only one observation. In 2013, Mulgrew shook hands on a deal to overhaul teacher evaluations. This deal linked teachers ratings to test scores. It has brought about the complicated and taxing evaluation system we have today. NY State no longer requires that districts cling to this system, but here in NYC teachers toil endlessly under Danielson and test scores. In 2014, Mulgrew made a deal with Mayor DeBlasio to diminish retiree health benefits by placing all NYC retirees in a Medicare Advantage plan. He also consented to negotiate a change in active worker’s health insurance. (While this has not been made very public, we expect him to push for this change if he is reelected.) Mulgrew also allowed Tier 6 to be put into place without a bit of resistance. This allows our members to receive diminished benefits in retirement. In our recent 2022 contract , Mulgrew negotiated a raise that did not keep pace with inflation. The examples are many, but the point is that Unity has a poor track record. It has proven itself not to be up to the task of leading the UFT, and should not receive your vote in this next election.
There is some background you should know. In prior elections, opposition groups ran slates in an attempt to defeat Mulgrew. The groups were not successful. However, in recent elections, there has been an uptick in success. Fix Para Pay is a caucus that ran against Unity and won their election. This made it possible for their representative to replace a Unity member. RTC ( the retiree chapter) ran 300 delegates and took back their caucus. In the 2022, the opposition caucuses banded to gather and captured 33 percent of the vote, a much larger percentage than any group won before.
However, in this next election, there are two opposition slates: ARISE and ABC. ABC is a group of UFT members that has been meeting since last Spring. ABC is a group that claims to made of independent UFT members. The group has a combination of members from different caucuses and some independents new to UFT politics. As Norm Scott said his article “What makes this group different is there are Unity and ex Unity involved as you can see below with Paul Egan, Chad Hamilton, Steve Swieciki. Seventeen year veteran Katie Anskat is new to UFT politics, but in very short order has assumed a major and quite impressive role. This group states it has banded together to run in the election and will not form a caucus after the election. Their platform focuses on : making better pay a top priority, improving working conditions, building a more responsive union, derailing attempts to privatize public education. They believe they can accomplish more without caucuses, since caucus members need to report back to their caucuses for consensus on issues.
The other group is ARISE, which stands for Alliance of Retiree and Inservice Educators. They advocate for higher pay, ending back room contract deals, more school staff, teacher control over curriculum, firing abusive principals, paid family leave, imposing welfare fund benefits, and advocating for single payer healthcare.According to their website, they are composed of UFT members from three caucuses, MORE, New Action, and Retiree Advocate.This group believes that they can accomplish more by having caucuses work together.
Solidarity has not yet endorsed either group. We are seeking more information and hope to ascertain how the groups differ. One of our members, John Lawhead serves on the UFT election committee. He recently proposed in a resolution that a debate between candidates and slates be held. Although the committee listened politely, the resolution was votes down. At this time, there are no plans for a debate.
Both groups have websites and are holding meetings. Solidarity will be holding meetings and discussing the election issues in the coming months. It is in the best interest of all UFT members to look at these groups carefully, listen to their vision for our union’s future, and vote in the Spring election like your job depends on it. Because it does.
~Jackie Lyle