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Acknowledging those headwinds, Mulgrew has since withdrawn the UFT's support for the the plan, which would have provided the city with hundreds of millions of dollars in annual savings.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.
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