Here is a schedule of chapter meetings for lab specialists for the 2015-16 school year.

Keep an eye out for email updates about our annual safety training for lab specialists in January. It’s important that we maintain our skills, and stay up-to-date on the latest developments in our field. It’s also important to attend chapter meetings. It gives you a chance to have input into the union’s agenda.

UFT members overwhelmingly ratified a groundbreaking nine-year contract with the Department of Education on June 3. The contract passed with more than 77 percent of the roughly 90,000 votes, which were counted by the independent American Arbitration Association.

The UFT’s Delegate Assembly on May 7 overwhelmingly approved sending the proposed new Department of Education contract to the union’s members for a vote.

The UFT and New York City leaders on May 1 announced a historic proposed nine-year contract that they said demonstrates the extraordinary progress possible in public schools when a city works in partnership with its educators. At a City Hall press conference, UFT President Michael Mulgrew called the proposed agreement the “contract for education.”

David Kazansky, the UFT Director for Safety and Health, said the Jan. 2 accident at Beacon HS occurred because of “a systemic failure” of the DOE, which has not staffed secondary schools with laboratory specialists.

The UFT calls on the DOE to immediately use all lab specialists now in excess and to hire more lab specialists in order that every secondary school in the city has a lab specialist. It also calls on the DOE to ensure that all science teachers and other relevant staff receive lab-safety training.

The UFT will remain mindful of the need to use inclusive and broad language whenever possible and appropriate in referring to its members, and tthe UFT’s members will be encouraged to use the word “members” instead of “teachers” when referring to the union’s membership.

Bill de Blasio, who criticized the growing income inequality in the city and promised to restore respect for teachers and unions, was elected mayor of New York City on Nov. 5. In his victory speech, he painted a vision of a city where "we all rise together."

The UFT began the first fact-finding hearing for a new contract on May 6. The dispute pivots largely on the question of pattern bargaining. The UFT’s position is that its members are entitled to the same raises as other city workers have received. The DOE counters that it can't afford it.