New York City, NY – On Wednesday February 11, in the frigid cold of Manhattan’s financial district, rank-and-file unionists held a speakout in front of United Federation of Teachers headquarters, while the union’s monthly delegate assembly was being held. The action sought to put pressure on union leadership to do more to support immigrant students, families and staff from ICE attacks.

The speakout coincided with an “Immigrants Rights Week of Action in Schools” organized by the MORE Caucus (Movement of Rank and File Educators) which included sending mass emails to UFT top brass to pressure them to do more on the immigrant rights issue.

The teachers chanted “When immigrant students are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!” and “Legalization for all, say it from the union hall!” Calling out UFT President Michael Mulgrew by name, they shouted “Mulgrew Mulgrew hear our cry, we want support and that’s no lie!”

The teachers gave speeches comparing the militant anti-ICE actions of other teachers’ unions—like in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, and the leading immigrant rights work done by the Chicago Teachers Union and United Teachers Los Angeles—to the work of their own union in NYC.

They brought attention to the lack of funding and centralized guidance of the immigrant defense committees which have formed at various school sites in NYC after the election of Donald Trump in 2025. The UFT passed a resolution at their delegate assembly in June of that year rhetorically supporting the creation of the committees, but the teachers say they are lacking material support from their union leadership.

Ismael Ali Moussa, a Bronx teacher who participated in the action, said, “Wednesday’s speakout outside the UFT was a powerful reminder that when we come together and raise our voices collectively, we can’t be ignored. It wasn’t just about making noise; it was about standing in solidarity for our community but most importantly our immigrant students! Being there showed me how much energy and determination there is among us to fight for real change and demand for change.”

#NewYorkCityNY #NY #Labor #UFT #Teachers #MORE

New York, NY – The MORE Caucus (Movement of Rank and File Educators), the opposition caucus within the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), held their third General Assembly of the school year, December 3.

More than 40 teachers from all five boroughs gathered to air grievances and organize around the current state of teachers’ curriculum autonomy, which is the ability for teachers to exercise control over what and how they teach in the classroom. Specifically, the assembly addressed recent regulations enforcing scripted curriculums that remove the human element from teaching. These have been rolled out in different ways in different parts of the city, with some teachers being hit harder than others.

The meeting began with a brief overview of the financial interests involved in determining what students are taught, showing how public education has become increasingly privatized in the U.S. This web of interests included various “charitable” foundations, right-wing think tanks, and private institutions – names such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Heritage Foundation, Project 2025, and Johns Hopkins Institute for Educational Policy. These institutions all have their hands in developing and advocating for using certain curriculums in the New York City public school system, rather than schoolteachers who know their students.

The assembly included a panel where union organizers and chapter leaders shared their experiences fighting against the new aggressive regulations on curriculum. They mentioned tactics such as holding the line of non-compliance, getting UFT leadership involved, and rallying behind unfairly disciplined coworkers.

After breaking out into groups, teachers shared their different experiences across the city. Some teachers mentioned how their principals and administration seemed glad to use curriculum autonomy as a way to enforce tight controls on the teachers. Other people mentioned their dismay at having their teaching skills taken away from them by a robotic set of actions and words or being expected to teach conflicting curricula. Overall, the teachers at the assembly expressed the indignity of the situation and their drive to fight back in their schools.

To conclude, the assembly shared their takeaways and next steps to bring back to their union organizing. These included district-wide mass filing of grievances for missed prep time, starting or developing advocacy groups with concerned parents, and teachers taking control of their professional development away from administrators.

#NewYorkNY #NY #Labor #Teachers #MORE #UFT

NYC, NY – On November 5t, in Midtown Manhattan, the Movement of Rank and File Educators (MORE Cacus), the opposition caucus within the United Federation of Teachers, held their second General Assembly of the year. The event was called “Hands Off Our Schools: Building Union Power Under Authoritarianism” and heard from at least 40 teachers from across all 5 NYC Boroughs.

First, an introduction was made to what was meant by the word “authoritarianism”. Tech oligarchy, billionaires, the religious far right, and the use of repression and violence by a small elite were mentioned in the presentation.

Next, a panel took place with two MORE members discussing a recent resolution called “Hands Off Our Schools”, which was adopted by the UFT at the October delegate assembly. The resolution was drafted by rank-and-file teachers and MORE members after the election of Donald Trump and called on the union to oppose all attacks to public education, to education workers and to students, in all their forms. After considerable stonewalling and stalling from UFT leadership, when the resolution was presented to the delegate assembly, it was adopted with a 97% majority vote.

It was emphasized by the MORE Cacus how much opposition they face from union leadership in even being able have a resolution added to the agenda, let alone to have one voted on.

Teachers spoke and shared ideas in small groups and as a whole assembly. When discussing how authoritarianism manifests in their workplaces and lives, some mentioned curriculum mandates and the push for AI in education, the cutting off of SNAP benefits, and the threat of ICE raids and arrests.

When asked about what goals the unionists had, a lively discussion ensued where members shared “building a union which is strike ready,” “protecting our students,” “give our students what they need,” “be able to teach about Gaza” and many other ideas.

In order to meet these goals, the unionists emphasized that it was necessary to struggle against UFT leadership, who aren’t doing anything to uphold progressive resolutions that have passed. Equally stressed was the importance of mobilizing the rank and file of unions, using militant tactics including striking, and focusing on shop floor struggles which are directly tied to the workplace.

The educators left the meeting inspired and ready with ideas to take back to their workplaces and chapter meetings, to continue the fight against threats to their jobs and to public education.

#NewYorkCityNY #NY #Labor #Teachers #MORE #UFT

Teachers from the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens all came together. The crowd was so large for the gathering that outside of the 45-person main room a spillover room had to be established down the street to hold a second set of participants connected via Zoom.

During the assembly, teachers shared how they were building immigrant rights committees, what they were working on developing within those committees, and shared resources with one another. Video messages from members of the United Teachers Los Angeles were shown to highlight how teachers on the West Coast have been organizing to protect their students and communities.

Over the course of the meeting, many people highlighted the need to make deeper connections with parents, students and community members in and around the school system to build trust and develop community circles to protect against ICE raids. Some of the tactics discussed were creating patrols of teachers on ICE watch to protect students at dismissal, holding different types of community events like Know Your Rights trainings, and providing different resources for students and their families.

The assembly comes at a time when tensions around immigration are very high in the city of New York and nationally, especially after a federal shock-and-awe campaign called “Freaky Friday” on October 3 which had rumors spreading quickly about ICE targeting schools.

Teachers left the assembly with strategies and skills to bring back to their schools and union chapters to continue fighting against Trump’s anti-immigrant attacks.

#NewYorkNY #NY #Labor #ImmigrantRights #UFT #MORE #Teachers

New York, NY – On September 6, in Midtown Manhattan labor unions began assembling at 8:30 a.m. for the annual NYC Labor Day Parade sponsored by the NYC Labor Council, AFL-CIO. The event is the nation's oldest and largest Labor Day Parade, with over 200 unions and constituency groups participating.

Many union locals had large floats which played loud music to energize the crowd of union members, who joined in to the event with their respective locals and enjoyed free food and drink.

Around 11 a.m., the crowd of tens of thousands of unionized workers began preparing to march north through the streets of Manhattan. While marching, they chanted, “Get up, get down, New York is a union town!” “Tax the rich! Tax the motherfucking rich!” and “Hey hey, ho ho, Donald Trump has got to go!”

Among the many unions and union locals present were the UFT, DC-37, NYSNA, UCATS 3882 of NYU, CSEA Local 1000, 1199 SEIU, NYC Iron Workers, and more.

The United Federation of Teachers, UFT, were in particularly strong force. The nearly 200,000-member public sector union had a float and hundreds of members present, reflecting a wide array of political interests. Slogans included “ “Union strong” and “Never cross a picket line.” Reflecting their opposition to Trump's anti-immigrant policies, educators also shouted “Up up with education, down down with deportation!”

A sizable group of UFT workers had signs and shirts which said “UFT for Zohran,” reflecting the union's recent endorsement of the progressive mayoral candidate. They chanted, “UFT for Mamdani” and “Hey hey, ho ho, Andrew Cuomo has got to go.” Many of these unionists discussed their experiences canvassing for Mamdani.

Other UFT members were present who had organized themselves into an autonomous group called “NYC Educators for Palestine” and were campaigning for the Teacher Retirement System of New York to divest from companies which support Israel’s ongoing occupation and genocide of Palestinians.

Many people not participating in the march watched it go by in solidarity. The march ended at West 64th Street with musical performances, chants and speeches.

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