The Quintessential Election Season DA

UFT Delegate Assembly Summary, Analysis, and Minutes - 4/9/25

First, a quick announcement: today, at 5:00 PM, New Action has a general meeting. If you didn’t already get a Zoom link from Michael Shulman by email, please reach out to get one.

Summary/Analysis:

In terms of the president's report, there was little to no actual news that hadn’t already been said in the executive board minutes from Monday. Despite this, the report was significantly longer than at the executive board, suggesting that filibustering might have been an intentional goal tonight, as I explain below.

One highlight from the questions period was when ARISE candidate, Kate Connors, asked about the possibility of endorsing Cuomo for mayor, given that Cuomo was behind the creation of Tier 6 when he was governor. Mulgrew responded that we fought a multimillion dollar campaign against Cuomo that took his numbers down previously, suggesting that this might be a major reason why public sector unions don’t seem to be endorsing him right now. As for our own endorsement, there’s a process that is still not complete. It sounded like Cuomo won’t be our first choice. Connors also asked about the makeup of the members of the healthcare committee, which in fairness has not completely shut out ‘opposition’ unionists. New Action has at least one member on it. Still, waitlist or not, it was a shame when Mulgrew denied Kate, one of the UFT’s most outspoken NYHA activists, from joining on the spot. Maybe we shouldn’t be surprised. At the February DA, Mulgrew urged people not to join the upcoming ‘healthcare committee’ if they have a ‘political agenda.’ In any case, hopefully the committee is as diverse as some on staff have been suggesting. When I applied to be on the previous iteration of a healthcare committee, I was denied (I did not apply this time). I hope at least some people can fill Kate’s role.

One major highlight from the new resolutions period was that a delegate from FDR was finally called on to motivate a resolution to organize chapters to defend immigrant students and families. The trouble is that this, as well as the “hands off our schools” resolution from ARISE presidential candidate, Olivia Swisher, are so far down on the agenda that they probably won’t be called on until well after Trump has already inflicted significant damage.

To that end, today’s entire motion period went to one agenda item - endorsements. They passed, some by thinner margins than probably expected, but they passed. The main opposition to the endorsements came from retirees who suggest that we shouldn’t be endorsing people who don’t support 1096. This is a controversial law, because while it would be good for Medicare-eligible retirees, at least in the short term, Mulgrew has stated that the UFT’s lawyers don’t believe it is an appropriate legal strategy by which to seek out protection from a switch to Medicare Advantage. He suggests that this is mainly due to precedential ramifications that could diminish positive aspects of the Taylor Law as applied to collective bargaining rights around healthcare. Whether Mulgrew’s explanation satisfies us or not, the other issue here is that many of the incumbent candidates who are not supporting 1096 are supporting educators and the UFT in other ways. (And some of the candidates who do support 1096 notably have records of not supporting or even attacking the UFT, as I discuss at the end of this piece.). In the end, the DA body voted in favor of all endorsements, even for candidates who are currently not supporting 1096.

Strangely, unless my memory is off about previous endorsements, the endorsement process does not usually take this long. The reason for the increased length was not a significant amount of debate, but rather the implementation of time-consuming procedural logistics in which many of the endorsements were considered separate resolutions. Realistically, I think there may have been a bit of filibustering going on.

By keeping us to one point of business, we did not make it to item number 2 - the controversial ‘union election interference resolution.’ On this matter, Unity got to have its cake and eat it too. On the one hand, they were able to make their arguments about ‘union election interference’ in three places. First, much of the president's report went to a discussion of ABC’s threat of legal action against the UFT for allowing in-person voting at certain events. (ARISE is not involved on either side of this lawsuit; the significant noise disrupting this report seemed to come from a pocket of ABC candidates/voters, including Norm Scott, who Mulgrew eventually let ask a question about the topic). While, to my recollection, he did not mention that ABC was behind the legal action, he did suggest that the legal actions could lead to disruptions of the elections - and that the counsel who had been retained (by ABC) has a habit of doing this with other unions. This implied that a slate other than Unity was working with outside forces to disrupt the union election. Second, the person who actually motivated the interference resolution to put it on the agenda in the first place was conspicuously called on, over all the hundreds of other people with hands up, as the first person to ask a question in the question period, where she asked a ‘question’ that was really a partisan reiteration of Mulgrew’s report on the lawsuit. Third, two days ago, the New York Post published a badly written hit piece on both ABC and ARISE (though weirdly enough without mentioning the slate names). While there is no proof that Unity was behind it, LeRoy Barr did offer a comment in the piece that “... when a UFT member runs for union office it is with the expectation that they are putting the needs of UFT members first. No outside organization is going to have the same commitment to our members’ livelihoods, working conditions or safety as we do. We serve the interests of our members, not the goals of outside groups.” You see my point - the idea that slates other than Unity are being operated by or in conjunction with outside forces was made outside the parameters of debate on this resolution. But candidates or voters who support slates other than Unity never got to make their own cases, because without time dedicated to the matter during the actual resolution period, there could be no debate.

Basically, this was an election season DA, plain and simple.

Thank you to two other New Action members for writing the informal minutes below.

President’s Report

Town Hall tomorrow specifically to talk about Federal issues. In-depth tomorrow.

SBOs - Opening up 4/28. This is the most used provision of our contract by in-service membership by far. 1350 schools use multiple SBOs every year. Putting our pre-approved set of SBOs again. Every year: multiple complaints that we didn’t do SBO vote properly. CLs should reach out to UFT if they need help. Want to protect you.

Usually don’t report on election things but I need to report on something now. This is factual. Not passing judgment. I’m proud of how we run our elections. Election committee gets together and gives us an election guide. One of the things we’re looking to do is get out the vote. We want more people to vote. This year the committee wanted to increase ways to get the vote out. Traditionally, we’ve had one polling station at AAA. No longer using AAA. This year, polling stations are being increased on certain days to help get the vote out. Vote to increase polling stations. Voted on unanimously. Last week, our attorney called me. I received a letter from a lawyer saying this will be one of two election challenges. The first challenge would be that they’re going to sue the UFT this Monday or Tuesday that they can’t use the polling stations. The election committee voted on it unanimously. Executive Board voted to support. We were not sued yet. We found out this particular lawyer hired by one of the slates has a history of trying to disrupt union’s elections. Right before ballots will be sent out, we might go to court. Once information was supplied to me that this attorney has done this at least three times. That’s democracy. They have the right. But we have the right to stop somebody from trying to disrupt the election. What we have done this afternoon, which is very unorthodox… (crowd yelling… takes time to settle them down) what we have done is this: we filed to go to court. We have filed to ask them because we want this debate, this claim to be heard now. We’re not going to let people try to disrupt our elections because they’re not happy or whatever it is. You may have differences on an election but not that an election done fairly is good for a union. We want a declarative judgment from the court. We do not know what part 2 of 2 is. Only part 1 (of lawsuit). The tactics of this attorney are strictly to disrupt this union’s elections. We’re supposed to do our elections on time, with transparency. We want it to be known to the court that these tactics are being done to disrupt the election. We have all sorts of rules around the timing of our election. If we can’t all agree that it’s in our interest to get election done on time in the way it’s outlined in our constitution, we go out of our way as a union to go above and beyond to make sure everything is done on time.

Norm Scott (RTC, ABC) - We were told we’d be able to observe (as part of election committee). Told there’s a new wrinkle that if we’re involved in elections, we cannot observe. It violates the original purpose of the election guide.

MM - Nobody running can be at polling because they can influence. You can’t have candidates sitting at the damn polling place. If this is going to be an issue, it’s in our best interest to get the judgment done but not the day before as this attorney has done numerous times.

Counsel: Candidates cannot be there but every candidate can have a designated observer.

Federal Government

Federal government is tying Title 1 funding to DEI. The issue is that nobody has any clear understanding of what they mean when they say good DEI vs. bad DEI. They said “You can teach MLK Jr. was a man who was alive in the United States.” They don’t care what the law is. If they don’t like what we’re doing, they can threaten us with funding. For state to participate in Title 1, there is a legal barrier that must be met. State commissioner must sign state attestation saying we have met that. We need to be in compliance with Title 6 of the Civil Rights amendment, which we are. State commissioner Rosa told federal government this. Now expecting fed govt. to say that since you didn’t sign our DEI attestation, you are not entitled to Title 1. State will file lawsuit.

Member action committee - Asking people to sign up for rallies, meetings, different things where we need people to go.

Federal government stuff is just starting. Certain things are going to get damaged. One case went up to stop government from removing money from a specific program. Case was that the fed gov said once we disperse that money, chances of getting it back are very slim. Said fed gov can withhold money now. Everything that comes out you’re going to see multiple lawsuits. A majority of time it will have to do with us and our profession. The hits to the states from Medicaid are going to be dramatic. Going to be a long, long year. A tough road. This is what’s coming at us. As educators in NYC, we deal with lots of challenges. We’re the ones the government is going to come after because if NYC falls, that’s it. Internal debates are fine but in the end we have a greater responsibility to our union as a whole. We all have one piece of common ground. We won’t let anybody try to privatize public education.

State Issues

State budget not done. Most has to do with policy. Reforms to the bail reform law. Policy issues being debated in Albany. If state approves budget, that’s a legal defense we can use. We want them to approve budget sooner than later. We need it done.

All 750 schools received an email that the Class Size proposal they submitted has been approved. I did a press conference today with Mayor Eric Adams. When you’re in jobs of leadership, you do what needs to get done. I appreciate him saying our children deserve this. This is over 30 years we have fought for this. After COVID, we went into overdrive. At first we thought we had a lot of traction in City Council at that point. When we got close, fighting started and didn’t get it through. But we never stop.

Real challenges start now. 60% of classes next year must be in compliance. 800 schools applied,

750 got approved. We’ll help the 50 that got denied get their application in better shape. More than 60% will be in compliance with Class Size law. A couple hundred schools will be 100% in compliance.

3000-4000 teachers retire every year. Adding 3,700 teaching positions on top of that. Those positions will be on Open Market. These 3,700 teaching positions do not come out of the budget.

These are paid for. There’s going to be 3,700 openings in Open Market. This will help a lot with

bad principal behavior because now you can just leave. DOE should not tell schools what to do.

Schools should tell them what to do.

City Issues/Union issues

Para rally. Thanks to everyone. Way over the permit number. The energy was heard. Has had a good effect. Nothing is simple. Backdoor conversations, reaching out to City Council. We have the facts on our side, the market economy, the business model, and the moral high ground. Check for 4/21 when we get back. I think we’ll be in a better position in the next phase of this bill and getting something done.

Healthcare Committee - 1st meeting officially took place. I think 10 years from now, we’ll be talking about how this is one of the smartest things we’ve done. It’s highly complicated stuff. Digging in. Figuring out how it works, how the different gears fit together. Medicaid and Medicare in our country are under complete attack. Will go in depth tomorrow. We have a lot to go and have to move quickly. Next meeting hopefully in early May. City Council Bill 1096 - Problem with bill in terms of precedent. Locks in retirement benefits which is great, but the bill is in violation of the Taylor Law as told by my lawyers. We have attorneys for a reason. The issue isn’t the actual bill, it’s the piece of the Taylor Law no governmental entity can change terms and conditions around collective bargaining in state or local law. If we do this, the next mayor or governor can change law to make us pay premiums. This union is still the only union that has put in writing to MLC, City of NY, the judge, that we no longer support Medicare Advantage. If there’s a vote on it, we won’t vote on it. The idea of passing the bill at the moment may feel good, but 5 years from now, it could hurt us.

Leroy Barr - Secretary’s Report

Early childhood conference this past Saturday. Thanks to Karen Alfred.

Para rally - thousands on the street.

UFT Family Day in Long Island. Sold out.

High School Awards celebration on 4/25. See Janella Hinds about that.

New Science Regents. Meeting tomorrow after Town Hall. Meeting for Science teachers.

May 1st is coming up. Rally. 1-5pm. Logistics being worked out now. Will get info out soon.

May 6th is Teacher Appreciation Day. It’s also Fix Tier 6 Day as well.

May 7th is Nurse Appreciation Day.

May 17th - Spring Conference. Sold out for para luncheon a few weeks ago. Want even bigger

crowd.

Ballots for election going out on May 1st. Ballot capped on May 29th. We want a large turnout. Talk to people at your schools, work sites. Do everything you can.

Next DA is May 14th.

Question Period

CL, Edward R. Murrow HS - It was disturbing to hear the last report you made. We know election is coming up. There was a vote to allow our elections to go through polling stations. People who brought that to the board are now having buyer’s remorse and have engaged an attorney. Are we going to be acting like union members preserving our union and allowing election going off the way it’s supposed to go through?

MM - I gave the report on purpose because it’s probably going to hit the papers. There is a track record of this attorney disturbing unions and causing chaos. I don’t know if people who hired him know that, but we know that. We do our homework. I do know people have rights to challenge. This is what a union with a democracy looks like. You’re the representatives. Everyone in this room represents lots of people.

Question (District 17, Brooklyn) - Class Size reduction. My school was denied. Is there an appeals process or anything we can do?

MM - Not officially. Will be another round this year. I’ll have someone reach out.

Bernadette Alexander - A lot of misinformation about Welfare Fund. Will UFT send an email clarifying?

MM - Later in the year. We have the best Welfare Fund bar none in the country. People need to get the facts before they disparage.

Victoria A. - Any progress being made with grievances re: taking time to get COVID vaccine in September and October?

MM - Going to arbitration.

Herb, RTC - If union is supporting, can we have signs that say Stop ICE, no deportation?

MM - No specific orders.

Jerry, District 35 - My principal circumvents SBO process. What can I do?

MM - Write to LBarr@uft.org.

Kate Connors, Delegate: We need to fix Tier 6. The mastermind of Tier 6 has entered mayor’s race. Andrew Cuomo pushed it through.

MM - We ran close to $5.5 million campaign against him and took his numbers down dramatically when he ran. Probably a reason why unions aren’t supporting him at this point. Mayoral candidates have to do well in school.

Kate Connors (follow-up): I’m from MORE. Can I join Health Committee?

MM - Committee is packed.

Allison Lobel, OT/PT: OT/PTs having issues with Open Market.

MM - In a constant fight for Open Market for OTs/PTs. Open Market transfer on OTs/PTs and other titles. Close to settling it. Hoping at end of process to settle grievance for OT/PTs and various other titles. We believe this will solve the injustice to those titles when it comes to their ability to transfer from one school to another.

Motion Period

Yadi, Delegate FDR HS: Would like to introduce Resolution for next month’s agenda. This 1/20, the Trump admin launched exec orders at immigrants. Stripping schools, mandating undocumented immigrants register with fed gov. Mayor Adams also said he “won’t interfere with ICE.” We have 350,000 students in public schools who speak language other than English at home. As educators, we have responsibility to protect our students. To do so, it’s crucial we use our independent union power and show in action, that they will not take our kids. This resolution is about creating a formation of committees to defend immigrants at our schools. Informing families. Work closely with PTA. We have highest concentration of immigrants in NYC. Highest rate of unionization in the country. We have the power to show the rest of labor the way forward. The DA at UFT encourages chapters to form school-based committees to defend immigrants by working with parents, communities. These are our fellow students, workers, neighbors, and act to support them in this hour of need. Vote to place on next month’s agenda.

694 yes, 107 no (online); 324 yes, 12 no (in-person). 90%. PASSES.

District 8 CL - Bus drivers who lost employment protections. The resolution is in support of safe, dependent, and reliable transportation for all students. Employees protections have been removed and have impacted consistency in transportation for our students. We want to restore employee protections that were removed.

693 YES, 76 NO (online); 314 YES, 2 NO (in room). 92%. Passed.

Motions directed to the agenda

AGENDA ITEM #1 - NYC COUNCIL AND DISTRICT ATTORNEY ENDORSEMENTS

Resolution In Support of The UFT Endorsing Eric Gonzalez for Re-Election for Brooklyn District Attorney

WHEREAS, Eric Gonzalez is a lifelong Brooklyn resident who has served the residents of the borough as a public prosecutor for almost twenty-five years and now as the Brooklyn District Attorney since 2016; and

WHEREAS, his 2020 Office Action Plan indicates his plans to collaborate with the Department of Education so that school-based offenses can be dealt with using restorative justice practices that allow young people to take responsibility for their actions, make amends to the people they have harmed, and avoid prosecution entirely;

WHEREAS, in the summer of 2016, he established one of two Young Adult Courts in the country to handle cases for young people under 24 who are too old to be treated as juveniles but not developmentally prepared to be treated as adults; and

WHEREAS, in an effort to protect immigrant families, he created the first in the city Immigration Unit to handle cases involving immigrants to make sure that low-level cases do not result in disproportionate punishments, such as deportations;

WHEREAS, as Brooklyn District Attorney, he will work to send fewer people to jail without compromising the safety of Brooklyn residents; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the UFT endorse Eric Gonzalez in his re-election for Brooklyn District Attorney as we believe he will be a strong ally for working people, our schools, and our community.

YES - 516 NO - 182 (online) YES - 241 NO - 49 (in-person). 77%. PASSES

Resolution In Support of The UFT Endorsing Dermot Smyth for City Council District 30

WHEREAS, Dermot Smyth is a Queens resident and political activist who has advocated for education and labor throughout his entire career; and

WHEREAS, as a former teacher, he understands the needs of students and their families and will fight to ensure our schools are fully funded and well-resourced so that all students can succeed; and

WHEREAS, as a proud union member he has and will forever work to protect union member benefits so that all brothers and sisters in the labor movement are employed in fair and prosperous workplaces; and

WHEREAS, as a community activist he will champion policies that will combat climate change and improve our public transit system; and

WHEREAS, he will work to expand employment opportunities to residents of the 30th Council District and safeguard local businesses and tenants by holding landlords accountable and investing in programs that incentivize entrepreneurs and affordable housing; and

WHEREAS, his commitment to the UFT is invaluable, having helped the union forge alliances with organizations and elected officials that have assisted its growth and success; therefore; be it

RESOLVED, that the UFT endorse Dermot Smyth in his primary election for City Council as we believe he will be a strong ally for working people, our schools, and our community.

YES - 514 NO - 111 (online) YES - 241 NO - 62 (in-person). 81%. PASSES

Resolution In Support of The UFT Endorsing Cliff Hagen in The Special Election for City Council District 51

WHEREAS, Cliff Hagen is a lifelong Staten Islander who has advocated for education and served as a community activist his entire career; and

WHEREAS, as a lifelong teacher, he understands the needs of students and their families and will fight to ensure our schools are fully funded and well-resourced so that all students can succeed; and

WHEREAS, as a proud union member he has and will forever work to protect union member benefits so that all brothers and sisters in the labor movement are employed in fair and prosperous workplaces; and

WHEREAS, as a community activist he will champion policies that will combat climate change and improve our public transit system; and

WHEREAS, he will work to expand employment opportunities to residents of the 51st Council District and safeguard local businesses and tenants by holding landlords accountable and investing in programs that incentivize entrepreneurs and affordable housing; and

WHEREAS, his commitment to the UFT is invaluable, having helped the union forge alliances with organizations in Staten Island that have assisted its growth and success; therefore; be it

RESOLVED, that the UFT endorse Cliff Hagen in his Special election for City Council as we believe he will be a strong ally for working people, our schools, and our community.

YES - 494 NO - 73 (online) YES - 257 NO - 37 (in-person). 87%. PASSES

Resolution In Support of The UFT Endorsing Alvin Bragg for Re-Election For Manhattan District Attorney

WHEREAS, the New York City 2025 local elections UFT endorses Alvin Bragg for his reelection to the Office of Manhattan District Attorney; and

WHEREAS, Alvin Bragg served as the Chief Deputy Attorney General in New York State overseeing some of the office’s biggest cases, including suing film producer Harvey Weinstein over the existence of a hostile work environment, challenging the Trump administration over the U.S. Census for its inclusion of citizenship questions; and bringing significant criminal charges in bribery, securities fraud, and Medicaid fraud matters; and

WHEREAS, Alvin Bragg, the 37thDistrict Attorney elected in Manhattan, is a son of Harlem who has served as both a state and federal prosecutor and has spent more than two decades fighting to make New York’s communities safer and the criminal justice system fairer.

WHEREAS, Alvin Bragg demonstrated to the UFT members in Manhattan that he would best serve the needs of their borough and pledged to support our local schools and prioritize the needs of the UFT; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the UFT endorses Alvin Bragg for his re-election to the office of Manhattan District Attorney.

YES - 516 NO - 182 (online) YES - 241 NO - 49 (in-person). 77%. PASSES

Resolution In Support of The UFT Endorsing Julie Menin CD5, Carmen De La Rosa CD10, Crystal Hudson CD35, & Rita Joseph CD40 for Re-Election to Their Respective City Council Districts

WHEREAS, the UFT will endorse four NYC City Council candidates for early endorsements in the June 2025 Primary; and

WHEREAS, the 2025 local elections in New York City feature four incumbent City Council members; and

WHEREAS, City Council candidates seeking to represent City Council Districts 5, 10, 35, and 40 submitted our UFT City Council candidate questionnaire and participated in candidate interviews hosted by the borough representative and the political action coordinator; and

WHEREAS, Council Member Julie Menin, Council Member Carmen De La Rosa, Council Member Crystal Hudson, and Council Member Rita Joseph, have served their communities well and supported the schools; are the best representatives for their districts; and pledge to continue to support their local school communities and prioritize the needs of our union; and be it

RESOLVED, that the UFT endorses Julie Menin CD5, Carmen De La Rosa CD10, Crystal Hudson CD35, and Rita Joesph CD40 to continue their roles as City Council Members to represent their respective districts.

YES - 388 NO - 201 (online) YES - 208 NO - 90 (in-person). 67%. PASSES