Even before he was elected chapter leader at PS 116 in Bushwick in September 2018, Adam Shapiro led a “brigade” of 25 UFT members to a meeting at the UFT’s Brooklyn borough office to discuss their principal’s intimidation of staff and extensive breaches of the DOE-UFT contract.

Susan E. Wagner HS Chapter Leader Lillian Palladino credits the union-negotiated process for tackling excessive paperwork for resolving an issue at her Staten Island school and for “unifying staff, revitalizing morale and bridging the gap with administration.”

Melissa Alvarez, the chapter leader at John Bowne HS in Flushing, Queens, used the new dispute resolution process in the DOE-UFT contract to get a speedy response to a safety violation: no teacher assigned to the high school’s SAVE room.

Chapter Leader Lucas Rule knows he is fortunate to have a collaborative working relationship with his principal at Pathways College Preparatory School, a grades 6–12 school in St. Albans, Queens. But when one of his members struggled to resolve a workload issue with an assistant principal, Rule didn’t hesitate to take advantage of the new provision in the DOE-UFT contract that helps chapter leaders address violations of systemwide standards governing workplace issues.

When teacher Jeanette Acevedo arrived at Automotive HS in Brooklyn in September 2015, she was amazed to discover there was no chapter leader and “everyone was afraid.” “I wasn’t afraid,” she declared, “so I ran for chapter leader and won unanimously. What a year that was.” 

Chapter Leader Deborah Navarro has built a “union proud, union strong” chapter at PS 226 in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, based on what she calls “true collaboration.” 

Chapter Leader Rose-Marie Hannon is working hard to get a new roof over the heads of staff and students at PS/MS 47 to end the chronic leaks, mold and odors that plague the school in Broad Channel, Queens, and create a safe and healthy work environment.

When her former principal at PS/MS 108 in East Harlem declared, “The UFT is bad for teachers, bad for students and bad for schools,” Chapter Leader Amanda Walsh accepted the challenge and stood up to him.

Jason Klein, the chapter leader at Medgar Evers Preparatory Academy, is now the seventh round of his annual fight to bring class size under control in his high-achieving, overcrowded Bronx school.

Equilibrium has returned to MS 61, a well-respected Crown Heights school in with a strong gifted-and-talented program, after its relentless chapter leader took steps to get a bullying principal removed.