Latest news with #ABetterContract
Yahoo
01-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Teachers union prez handily wins reelection in low-turnout race
Michael Mulgrew handily won re-election as United Federation of Teachers president Saturday, clinching more than half the votes for his sixth term. Mulgrew got 54 percent of the vote, sources said. His closest competitor, A Better Contract candidate Amy Arundell, netted 32 percent, according to numbers obtained by The Post. Olivia Swisher, the candidate from the Alliance of Retired and In-Service Educators, finished third with approximately 14 percent of the vote. All told, 201,791 ballots were mailed in with 413 voided for various reasons. The full and complete count was announced around 3:30 p.m. via Instagram. Sources revealed fewer than 30 percent of eligible UFT voters mailed ballots in. 'Apathy prevails in this union of educators,' offered retired teacher Arthur Goldstein, an A Better Contract candidate for assistant secretary. The votes were counted by the independent Global Election Services. It was the slimmest margin of victory since Mulgrew's first run more than a decade ago, sources said. In 2022, Mulgrew's Unity party won with 66 percent of the votes, besting United For Change's then-34 percent. Mulgrew's new three-year term begins July 1.
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
UFT President Michael Mulgrew reelected to top NYC teachers union post
NEW YORK — United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew won his reelection bid Saturday, edging out two rival candidates who challenged the longtime incumbent over his handling of retiree health care and dissatisfaction with the status quo. Mulgrew's caucus, known as Unity, secured 54% of the vote this election cycle, compared to 32% and 14% for the opposition slates, A Better Contract ('ABC') and Alliance of Retiree and In-Services Educators ('ARISE'), respectively. More than 58,300 UFT members cast ballots — the highest voter turnout in a teachers union election in recent years. 'I want to thank the tens of thousands of UFT members who put their trust in Unity and in our work on behalf of the union,' Mulgrew said in a statement. The UFT is New York City's second-largest, public-sector union — with nearly 200,000 active and retired teachers, paraprofessionals and other members. With his latest victory, Mulgrew, the UFT president since 2009, has won six consecutive elections, but by increasingly smaller margins. In 2022, Unity won roughly 66% of the vote, while the opposition slate in the race secured 34% of ballots. This year's election results continued that trend. The results cap off a particularly invigorated election cycle, including an unsuccessful legal challenge by A Better Contract over in-person voting. In recent months, Mulgrew campaigned on the passage of the state's 2022 class size law, took a sharply critical stance of Mayor Eric Adams' relationship with the Trump administration, and tried to push through legislation to boost pay for paraprofessionals. ARISE brought together three caucuses, including the progressive Movement of Rank and File Educators ('MORE') and 'Retiree Advocate,' which last year toppled Mulgrew's ally who led the Retired Teacher chapter. The ARISE coalition, led by Olivia Swisher, a middle school art teacher in Brooklyn, hoped to harness the anger against Mulgrew over efforts to move former city workers onto privatized health care, known as Medicare Advantage, which retired teachers said could diminish their care. Acknowledging those headwinds, Mulgrew has since withdrawn the UFT's support for the the plan, which would have provided the city with hundreds of millions of dollars in annual savings. A Better Contract was led by Amy Arundell, a former top borough official at Unity. She left the caucus after she was removed from her position overseeing all union matters in Queens amid controversy over a pro-Israel union resolution. ABC, too, stood against the switch to Medicare Advantage. The insurgent bids seized on a growing anti-incumbent sentiment, which most recently played a part in the ouster of longtime health care labor leader George Gresham of 1199SEIU, who POLITICO reported used member dues to benefit himself, his family and political allies. Driven in part by that feeling, voter turnout increased by 15% since last election, according to the results. Both slates insisted that pay raises in the last contract did not keep pace with the cost of living. Mulgrew's rivals have also accused current leadership of not giving the rank and file enough of a voice in union matters and also of backroom dealings. In particular, some of his critics took issue with the city's new reading curriculum mandates, which were announced alongside the UFT, which they said threaten teacher autonomy and professionalism. The UFT president and other newly elected officers will serve three-year terms, starting on July 1.
New York Post
31-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Re-election for teachers union prez Michael Mulgrew in low-turnout vote
Michael Mulgrew handily won re-election as United Federation of Teachers president Saturday, clinching more than half the votes for his sixth term. Mulgrew got 54 percent of the mailed-in ballots, sources said. His closest competitor, A Better Contract candidate Amy Arundell, netted 32 percent, according to numbers obtained by The Post. 3 Michael Mulgrew received 54 percent of the votes. Robert Miller Olivia Swisher, the candidate from the Alliance of Retired and In-Service Educators, finished third with approximately 14 percent of the vote. All told, 201,791 ballots were mailed in with 413 voided for various reasons. The full and complete count was announced around 3:30 p.m. via Instagram. 3 Amy Arundell followed Mulgrew with 32 percent of the votes. Sources revealed fewer than 30 percent of eligible UFT voters mailed ballots in. 'Apathy prevails in this union of educators,' offered retired teacher Arthur Goldstein, an A Better Contract candidate for assistant secretary. The votes were counted by the independent Global Election Services. 3 Olivia Swisher finished third in the election. AriseUft/X It was the slimmest margin of victory since Mulgrew's first run more than a decade ago, sources said. In 2022, Mulgrew's Unity party won with 66 percent of the votes, besting United For Change's then-34 percent. Mulgrew's new three-year term begins July 1.
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
UFT President Michael Mulgrew reelected to top NYC teachers union post
United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew won his reelection bid Saturday, edging out two rival candidates who challenged the longtime incumbent over his handling of retiree healthcare and dissatisfaction with the status quo. Mulgrew's caucus, known as Unity, secured 54% of the vote this election cycle, compared to 32% and 14% for the opposition slates, A Better Contract ('ABC') and Alliance of Retiree and In-Services Educators ('ARISE'), respectively. More than 58,300 UFT members cast ballots — the highest voter turnout in a teachers union election in recent years. 'I want to thank the tens of thousands of UFT members who put their trust in Unity and in our work on behalf of the union,' Mulgrew said in a statement. The UFT is New York City's second-largest, public-sector union — with nearly 200,000 active and retired teachers, paraprofessionals and other members. With his latest victory, Mulgrew, the UFT president since 2009, has won six consecutive elections, but by increasingly smaller margins. In 2022, Unity won roughly 66% of the vote, while the opposition slate in the race secured 34% of ballots. This year's election results continued that trend. The results cap off a particularly invigorated election cycle, including an unsuccessful legal challenge by A Better Contract over in-person voting. In recent months, Mulgrew campaigned on the passage of the state's 2022 class size law, took a sharply critical stance of Mayor Adams' relationship with the Trump administration, and tried to push through legislation to boost pay for paraprofessionals. ARISE brought together three caucuses, including the progressive Movement of Rank and File Educators ('MORE') and 'Retiree Advocate,' which last year toppled Mulgrew's ally who led the Retired Teacher chapter. The ARISE coalition, led by Olivia Swisher, a middle school art teacher in Brooklyn, hoped to harness the anger against Mulgrew over efforts to move former city workers onto privatized healthcare, known as Medicare Advantage, which retired teachers said could diminish their care. Acknowledging those headwinds, Mulgrew has since withdrawn the UFT's support for the the plan, which would have provided the city with hundreds of millions of dollars in annual savings. A Better Contract was led by Amy Arundell, a former top borough official at Unity. She left the caucus after she was removed from her position overseeing all union matters in Queens amid controversy over a pro-Israel union resolution. ABC, too, stood against the switch to Medicare Advantage. The insurgent bids seized on a growing anti-incumbent sentiment, which most recently played a part in the ouster of longtime healthcare labor leader George Gresham of 1199SEIU, who POLITICO reported used member dues to benefit himself, his family and political allies. Driven in part by that feeling, voter turnout increased by 15% since last election, according to the results. Both slates insisted that pay raises in the last contract did not keep pace with the cost of living. Mulgrew's rivals have also accused current leadership of not giving the rank and file enough of a voice in union matters and also of backroom dealings. In particular, some of his critics took issue with the city's new reading curriculum mandates, which were announced alongside the UFT, which they said threaten teacher autonomy and professionalism. The UFT president and other newly elected officers will serve three-year terms, starting on July 1.
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ex-UFT borough official challenging union chief Michael Mulgrew for top spot
A former teachers union borough official is charting a path back to the upper ranks — challenging United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew for the top spot. Amy Arundell was removed on October 2023 from her position as the representative for Queens after trying to soften a union resolution supporting Israel, as first reported by the Daily News. On Monday, Arundell will announce her bid for teachers union president in this spring's elections with A Better Contract — one of two slates mounting a challenge to Mulgrew's Unity caucus. A Better Contract is running on a platform including premium-free healthcare, raises that keep pace with the cost of living, pension reform, and being responsive to members. In a press release, the slate insisted Arundell's campaign be seen as an indictment of the union's current leadership. 'I have been an employee of the UFT for 21 years, and this wouldn't have been something I would've thought of doing,' Arundell said in an exclusive interview with The News. 'The culture of the UFT is you get picked by leadership, leadership decides who they think would be the next appropriate president — and I played by those rules.' 'But members are increasingly dissatisfied with a lot of the decisions that have been made by the UFT,' she added. 'And it became harder and harder to look people in the face and tell them, 'This was a good thing.'' Mulgrew, the UFT president since 2009, has won five consecutive elections — most recently in 2022. But after a lower-than-expected margin of victory last referendum, his challengers say he could be vulnerable in this year's contest. Arundell herself worked on Mulgrew's campaign. 'The UFT is a democratic organization that thrives on a vigorous exchange of ideas,' read a statement from LeRoy Barr, chair of the Unity caucus, on the upcoming elections. 'Unity has a track record of improving the lives of UFT members and so we look forward to the campaign.' Unity has been in power for more than 60 years. Arundell oversaw all UFT business in Queens from 2017 until her sudden removal. Just days after Oct. 7, 2023, she privately proposed changes to a UFT resolution supporting Israel, including a suggestion to drop the word 'terrorist' to describe the Hamas attack. Arundell explained she did not want to debate if Hamas was a terrorist organization, but to recognize that not all of the members she represented agreed with that statement — and avoid a public argument that she said ensued during the resolution vote. 'When I was reassigned, I did not know why. I was never told. And to this day, they have never actually told me,' Arundell said. 'I don't pretend I believe things I don't believe, but I also don't use my position as a representative for the UFT to push a personal agenda.' Arundell did not challenge the UFT's decision to remove her, but told The News she thinks it was unfair, arguing it's one of a series of 'bad decisions' that did not consider the membership's point of view. Thousands of members came to Arundell's defense in a petition after her removal. The union president hopeful raised concerns about an effort to switch retired teachers onto private healthcare, mayoral control of public schools, and 'everybody deciding how people should teach except teachers.' 'I held a meeting with 600 people to answer questions about healthcare,' Arundell said of the Medicare Advantage plan. 'I answered questions based on what I was told by leadership. And I will say now, I do not believe as a staff person at the UFT, I was told the truth about all the implications of this decision. And that's embarrassing to me.' Mulgrew has since dropped his support for Medicare Advantage. Most recently, Arundell questioned Mulgrew's attempt to secure raises for underpaid paraprofessionals through legislation, outside of the typical contract negotiation process. While she agreed the special education staffers are overdue for a raise, she said she worried what precedent it would set to sidestep the city's longstanding practice of reaching a deal with one union, setting a pattern for all other contracts during a round of bargaining. 'Making 'pattern bargaining' the enemy is unbelievable to me, because its history is rooted in the idea that unions will not compete with one another, that we are one labor movement, and that we are stronger when we are together,' Arundell said. The nomination process closes next month. The UFT will mail ballots to members and count votes on May 29. Members elected president and other officers will serve three-year terms, effective this summer.
