VPerspective
UFT has done extraordinary work
Jun 4, 2009 5:52 PM
I’m not sure I’ve ever been prouder to be a UFT member. The work that we’ve done as an organization during this school year has been extraordinary.
When the credit market collapsed and working families were in dire need of economic assistance, the UFT was there, rallying on Wall Street and lobbying hard in Washington for the federal stimulus package.
When budget shortfalls meant 15,000 teachers could lose their jobs, the UFT was there, helping to develop and secure additional state revenues that would help fill in the gaps.
When New Yorkers were facing major subway and bus fare increases and service cuts, the UFT was there to help build a coalition and work with Albany to find sensible alternatives.
And, long before the swine flu outbreak even began to overrun nurses’ offices, it was the UFT that had teams in the schools every day to monitor absences and make sure that members were educated and prepared on how to deal with the situation.
The above are only a few examples of the work that goes on every day on behalf of students and our members. The simple fact of the matter is, the UFT never shies away from stepping up to advocate for public education, or for working families and the city’s most vulnerable citizens. We believe in the work and we believe in helping people because we know that a stronger city means a stronger union.
Our members’ unity and support is a testament to our ability to effectively engage in these issues. Without the thousands of members who step up every day to make calls, send letters, speak out at meetings or attend rallies, we would not be where we are today. When it comes to mobilizing people in a hurry, UFT members are true leaders in this city.
The aforementioned campaigns are only part of the story, however. What often goes unseen are the day-to-day efforts to help members deal with issues in their own buildings.
For example, every day calls and e-mails come in from the field that get routed to our Safety and Health Department. The issues can range from construction workers finding asbestos in a classroom to issues of life and death.
Depending on the situation, we have personnel that go to the school, meet with members and administrators, and work with various city and state agencies to resolve the problem.
Coming back from the long Memorial Day weekend, UFT grief counselors were immediately dispatched to an elementary school after learning that a 5th-grade student and his entire family were killed in a car accident. Just a few days prior to that, a union team was in the Bronx investigating mold and rot from water seeping into a dozen transportable classroom units.
A Manhattan school recently had to deal with an outbreak of bedbugs, which required collecting bug specimens for testing and putting various protocols in place to deal with the bugs and a rat problem.
Issues such as chemicals and fire sometimes require a school to be closed. In March, the cleanup of a former high school lab led to a mercury spill. Our team worked to get the building closed and the students relocated, then worked with environmental consultants and a HazMat contractor to ensure that the cleanup was comprehensive.
Calls and e-mails also come in every day from members who work with children who have special needs. Our “There Is No Excuse” campaign alone has generated some 900 calls since it was launched last month.
Some callers just have questions about an Individualized Education Program, while others may be concerned that a child is not getting proper services or a school is not complying with a particular mandate. We have people who field those calls and work with the members to get their issues resolved.
One recent case involved a principal who was not arranging for substitutes when paras were absent, which meant that children were simply farmed out to other classes and not receiving their services. Another recent call alerted us to a child in District 15 who has been waiting for services since November.
Similar structures are in place to help members with their benefits and their professional development needs. It’s all part of the union’s larger mission to advocate for our students and for the professional well-being of our members.
We are proud of the work and we are proud to protect our schools and our profession.
