UFT contract negotiating committee discusses options

The UFT negotiating committee met on Jan. 5 at union headquarters for a confidential discussion about what next steps to take to reach a settlement in stalled contract negotiations. Mediation has failed to resolve the serious differences between the UFT and the Department of Education.

The 300-member negotiating committee has rank-and-file representation from every school level, district and functional chapter.

In the wide-ranging and intense discussion that lasted nearly two hours, negotiating committee members examined a series of strategies available to the union.

The most recent UFT contract expired on Oct. 31, 2009. Under state law, all the terms of the expired contract continue in place until a new agreement is reached.