Asian American Heritage Committee

The Asian American Heritage Committee promotes awareness of Asian and Asian American cultures in the United Federation of Teachers and the broader labor movement. We accomplish this goal by hosting a wide array of events throughout the year and participating in all union activities.

Our two most important annual events are the Chinese New Year Parade, in January or February, and the Lunar New Year Dinner, in February or March. We have participated in the former for several years and have hosted the latter for more than two decades. We also host an annual origami workshop at the UFT’s Manhattan Borough Office in the fall.

The committee proudly participates in all UFT events. We mobilize our members to join fellow teacher-unionists for rallies, marches and phone-banks as well as for cultural and celebratory activities. We are also very proud to share aspects of our culture at the union’s annual Spring Conference, where we host popular exhibition tables dedicated to calligraphy and origami.

We also participate actively in the New Yorkchapter of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance with similar groups from other area labor unions and count many Asian and Asian American community organizations among our friends. The proceeds of the raffle at our annual Lunar New Year Dinner are donated to support these allies.

The committee meets on the first Tuesday of each month at 4PM in the Manhattan Borough Office.