United Federation of Teachers: A Comprehensive Overview

The United Federation of Teachers (UFT) is a prominent labor union representing educators and school-related personnel in New York City. As AFT Local 2, the UFT is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). It stands as one of the largest local unions in the United States. Since gaining prominence in the mid-20th century, the UFT has become one of the most influential and well-known teachers' unions in America.

Currently, the union represents over 120,000 active members and 70,000 retired members. It serves as the monopoly bargaining option for most non-supervisory educators and school staff in New York City. Its membership includes teachers, classroom aides, school administrative workers, counselors, and school nurses. The UFT exerts considerable influence on schooling policy within New York City and the state. The union, its political committees, and the New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) state-level federation are significant contributors to the dominant Democratic Party in the city and state.

Historical Background

The origins of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) can be traced back to 1912, when Henry Linville, a biology teacher at Jamaica High School in Queens, initiated the publication of a journal called The American Teacher. Linville and his colleagues subsequently established a labor union known as the Teachers League, which played a role in founding the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). As of 2025, the AFT is the second-largest national teachers union and maintains close ties with the UFT, with three of its most recent four national leaders having previously or concurrently led the New York City union.

For nearly four decades, the union struggled to attract significant membership among New York City teachers and faced opposition from city leadership. By 1935, the Teachers League had been renamed the Teachers Union and was entangled in a generational conflict between older, more traditional progressive teachers and younger Communist sympathizers. In that year, the "old-guard" progressive teachers, convinced that the radicals were directly linked to Moscow, left to form the "Teachers Guild," which would eventually evolve into the modern UFT.

Formation of the UFT

The catalyst for the establishment of the modern-day UFT was a long-standing rivalry between high school teachers, who tended to be male, possess advanced degrees, and receive higher pay, and elementary and middle school teachers, who were more likely to be women and often held only a bachelor's degree. In 1947, the New York State Legislature eliminated a 25 percent high school pay differential, exacerbating the rivalry between the Teachers Guild and the smaller High School Teachers Association.

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After years of internal strife, a compromise was reached to base pay on merit and degrees earned, rather than the level at which one taught. This led to the merger of the HSTA and the Teachers Guild in 1960, resulting in the formation of the UFT.

Collective Bargaining and Strikes

In 1959, New York Mayor Robert Wagner, Jr., granted municipal worker unions, including the UFT, the power to bargain collectively with the government. Following Mayor Wagner's order, the union demanded pay increases, work-free lunch periods, and automatic payroll deduction of dues. When the city resisted these demands, the UFT called a strike in 1962.

The 1962 strike was led by Al Shanker, the son of Socialist-aligned Russian Jewish parents and a former math teacher. Shanker gained a reputation as "a fighter more than a thinker" due to his conflicts with city-level and national education policy rivals and collective bargaining counterparts. Shanker had previously edited the Teachers Guild newspaper and rose to become secretary of the merged UFT; he was elected president of the UFT in 1964.

Decentralization and Conflict

An effort by Mayor John Lindsay to decentralize control of schools in New York led to a series of UFT strikes that strained relations between African American and Puerto Rican communities in the city and Jewish and white-ethnic communities. African American community leadership had responded to poor conditions and performance in New York City public schools by demanding "community control" of schools, under which neighborhood-level panels would set curriculum standards, establish budgets, and hire staff.

The Lindsay administration agreed to trial a limited form of community control in three parts of New York, most notably Ocean Hill-Brownsville, a formerly Jewish-majority neighborhood that by 1968 was 95 percent Black or Puerto Rican. The Ocean Hill-Brownsville experiment was financially supported by the Ford Foundation. A local board was elected in 1967 and chose Black-radical educator Rhody McCoy to manage the new district.

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While Shanker and the UFT initially attempted to cooperate with the decentralization plan, disputes over hiring-and-firing powers led to conflict. In May 1968, the local board ordered the termination of 19 educators, all of whom were UFT members and the majority of whom were Jewish. Shanker threatened a citywide strike if the Ocean Hill-Brownsville board did not reinstate them; despite an arbitrator's order, the board refused.

In response, the UFT conducted three walkouts for a total of 55 days from September through mid-November 1968. The strike was marked by heated rhetoric, with supporters of the Ocean Hill-Brownsville board resorting to anti-Semitic pamphleteering and sloganeering, and UFT leadership comparing the firing of the teachers to Nazism.

Shanker's strategy proved successful; Mayor Lindsay ordered the teachers reinstated and the Ocean Hill-Brownsville board placed under state oversight. In 1969, the state legislature passed a school decentralization law supported by the UFT, which created 30 smaller "community districts" subordinate to a city-wide Board of Education. The UFT capitalized on low turnout in community district elections to become the "strongest force in decentralization" under the 1969 law.

Political Activities and Endorsements

The United Federation of Teachers (UFT) maintains an active Political Action Department that advocates for left-leaning and pro-labor union policies in New York City, New York state, and nationally. According to DiSalvo, the UFT's manpower and financial resources in New York City politics are unmatched. Furthermore, the UFT's membership constitutes the largest single voting bloc in mayoral elections.

The New York State Democratic Party and the UFT maintain a close relationship; the State Senate Democratic Campaign Committee once received office space from the union. The UFT was also a significant contributor to the Senate campaign of then-First Lady Hillary Clinton. As of 2014, the UFT and its state-level federation NYSUT were the largest source of funds for the Democratic Party in New York.

The UFT also provides substantial funding to left-progressive advocacy groups. In 2018-2019, the union reported funding the NAACP, Al Sharpton's National Action Network, Alliance for a Greater New York, and the Hispanic Federation.

During the mayoralty of Michael Bloomberg, the union faced some setbacks. Bloomberg recentralized control of schools in the mayor's office and, prompted by city council hearings called by Eva Moskowitz, secured minor changes to the "rubber room" disciplinary processes and teacher tenure rules negotiated by the UFT. He also expanded charter schools in exchange for significant salary increases.

In the 2021 Democratic primary, the union opposed the candidacy of New York City Mayor Eric Adams, urging voters not to select him on their ballots. In late 2023, the union filed a lawsuit against Adams to block cuts to education funding, challenging his cost projection for providing migrant services.

Following the October 7, 2023 Hamas terror attacks against the State of Israel, the NYC Department of Education's chancellor, David Banks, released a statement condemning the attacks. In response, the UFT's "Movement of Rank and File Educators" caucus criticized Chancellor Banksâ comments, claiming they represented an erasure of Palestinian students, staff, and families. The caucus also released educational resources from Teach Palestine and Rethinking Schools for member teachers and announced its co-sponsorship of a Pro-Palestinian rally in Brooklyn on October 20th with groups including the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).

In July 2025, the UFT endorsed self-described "democratic socialist" Zohan Mamdani in his campaign for Mayor of New York City.

Legislative Priorities

The United Federation of Teachers (UFT) advocates for major left-leaning issues, including supporting state bills such as the Reproductive Rights Act, which expanded abortion availability, and the Jose Peralta New York State DREAM Act. The UFT has also criticized policies of the Trump administration, such as capping the state and local tax deduction in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

The UFT supports significant tax increases, including wealth taxes. It is a critic of Trump administration Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and her support of school choice, opposing charter schools and supporting legislation to close most charter schools.

In 2024, the union published state and city legislative priorities that focus on increasing school funding and teacher pay and benefits, as well as policies to limit the expansion of charter schools and curtail the influence of the New York City Mayorâs office on the cityâs school system. To generate new revenue for schools, the union has called for substantial tax increases, including raising taxes on companies with over $2.5 million in profits, instituting a capital gains tax, raising the state income tax, and establishing a tax on billionaire wealth.

Other state legislative priorities include increasing charter school oversight and limiting their expansion, funding a housing voucher program, and lowering some teachersâ retirement age to 55. At the New York City level, the union opposed the cityâs 2024 budget, stating that it reduced school funding by $1.2 billion and that the proposed capital plan "cuts $2B for new school capacity, reduces the number of new classroom seats by nearly 50 percent, and omits proposed locations or grade levels for 78 percent of projects, a lack of transparency that violates the class size law." The union also called for $8.6 million in funding for its UFT Teacher Center, which has 170 sites across the city, and support for an anti-bullying hotline and a homework help hotline.

The union opposed a proposed casino in Times Square in 2024, with UFT President Michael Mulgrew stating that "[A casino] would undermine the Theater District and dilute the distinctive power of Broadway, an industry that offers unique educational and career opportunities for our students." The UFT joined the No Times Square Casino Coalition, which included the Broadway League and 30 other neighborhood and Broadway industry groups.

During the 2024 election cycle, the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) echoed the endorsements of New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) and the American Federation of Teachers and supported then-Vice President Kamala Harrisâs campaign for president. NYSUT also endorsed candidates for congressional and state legislative seats in New York in 2024, endorsing almost exclusively Democrats such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY).

Congestion Pricing and Healthcare

The United Federation of Teachers (UFT) opposes New York Cityâs congestion pricing toll system, arguing that "some of its educators drive from the outer boroughs to Manhattan schools in the congestion zone, and they will be among the hardest hit by the toll." The union sued Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx in an attempt to stop congestion pricing. The city has countered that the tolls fund and encourage the use of public transit.

Environmentalists have criticized the union for its stance on congestion pricing.

In 2024, the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) withdrew support for Mayor Eric Adamsâ administrationâs attempt to switch municipal retirees to a cost-saving private health plan. UFT President Michael Mulgrew said the union also would no longer back ongoing negotiations for a new benefits plan for current city employees and pre-Medicare retirees.

Chapters and Affiliations

The United Federation of Teachers (UFT) operates several chapters that span numerous classes of school employees. The UFT also operates the Federation of Nurses/UFT, a nursesâ union that is among the largest health care workersâ unions in New York City. The union represents Registered Nurses and Licensed Practical Nurses at two private hospitals in New York City, and the majority of its membership is made up of home healthcare nurses.

The union dates to 1979, when union leaders at the Lutheran Medical Center disaffiliated with the New York State Nursesâ Association and chose the UFT as their bargaining agent. The union added nurses at several other health care organizations to its ranks over the years and currently claims membership of roughly 5,000 nurses.

UFT Welfare Fund

The United Federation of Teachers (UFT) Welfare Fund was founded in 1965 and provides access to health care and benefits to eligible UFT members and their dependents. The welfare fund is a standalone nonprofit organization.

NCCRS Membership and Learner Outcomes

The United Federation of Teachers (UFT) has been an NCCRS member since August 2019. It represents nearly 200,000 members and is the sole bargaining agent for most of the non-supervisory educators who work in the New York City public schools. It represents approximately 75,000 teachers and 19,000 classroom paraprofessionals, along with school secretaries, attendance teachers, school counselors, psychologists, social workers, adult education teachers, administrative law judges, nurses, laboratory technicians, speech therapists, family childcare providers, and 64,000 retired members. It also represents teachers and other employees at a number of private educational institutions and some charter schools.

The UFT is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, the AFL-CIO, and the Central Labor Council. It is also the largest member of New York State United Teachers, which is affiliated with the National Educational Association, and Education International.

Upon successful completion of UFT courses, students will be able to: examine language acquisition theory and research; apply language acquisition theory and research to instructional design; determine the difference between social and academic language and how it impacts learning; identify and discuss the stages of second language acquisition and what students are able to do at each stage; utilize best practices for academic language learning; employ a variety of differentiated strategies to support learners at all levels of language development; analyze the connections between language and culture and discuss how they impact learning; examine aspects of cultural competence and culturally responsive teaching with the lens of increasing student achievement; describe the significance of federal law as it relates to equity and access for diverse learners; and examine state law, procedures and policies and their impact on instruction and assessment of diverse learners.

Major topics include cultural and language development factors that impact the achievement of students learning English as a new language; research-based pedagogical practices to support the design of content-area instruction that meets the needs of English Language Learners; and tools and techniques to foster academic achievement for ELLs at varying levels of language and literacy development.

Previous Unions and Key Figures

Two previous unions of New York schoolteachers, the Teachers Union, founded in 1916, and the Teachers Guild, founded in 1935, failed to gather widespread enrollment or support. Many of the early leaders were pacifists or socialists and so frequently met with clashes against more right-leaning newspapers and organizations of the time, as red-baiting was fairly common. The UFT was created on March 16, 1960, and grew rapidly. On November 7, 1960, the union organized a major strike. The strike largely failed in its main objectives but obtained some concessions, as well as bringing much popular attention to the union.

Albert Shanker, a controversial but successful organizer was president of the UFT from 1964 until 1984.

Challenges and Reforms

Following the 1975 New York City fiscal crisis, some 14,000 teachers were laid off and class sizes increased. The Unity Caucus, formed in 1962, predominates in the union, holding nearly every leadership position. According to UFT's Department of Labor records since 2005, about 32% of the union's membership are considered retirees, with eligibility to vote in the union.

The previous president of the UFT, Randi Weingarten, resigned in 2009 to lead the American Federation of Teachers. She has clashed repeatedly with the mayors of the city; in particular with former mayor Rudy Giuliani and mayor Michael Bloomberg.

The UFT opposes merit pay for teachers, opting for seniority-based pay, but joined in November 2007, with Mayor Bloomberg in agreeing to a voluntary incentive program for high-achieving schools with high-needs populations. The union does not support a proposed reform of the seniority-based LIFO (education) law.

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