Contract negotiation FAQs

The following FAQ answers some commonly asked questions about contract negotiations.

How do contract negotiations work?

Bargaining is a back-and-forth process. The Negotiating Committee makes a series of demands that reflect the membership’s priorities, which are based on the results of a survey sent out  to the full UFT membership. Then, the city responds to those demands and submits its counter demands. Eventually, the bargaining is narrowed down to the most essential issues for each side. 

The two sides continue to talk until they reach agreement on all topics on the table, including length of contract, size of wage increases and any changes to working conditions or terms of employment. The Negotiating Committee meets to review the tentative agreement and votes to endorse and send to the Delegate Assembly. The tentative agreement is taken to the Delegate Assembly for approval before it is sent to the membership for a ratification vote. If a majority of the members vote to approve the tentative agreement, then the new contract will take effect.

What will be happening this year with contract negotiations? 

We are already getting started! Here’s what’s coming up this fall and winter. We will share more actions as they are planned. 

October: 

• Push to get members subscribed to UFT emails by Oct. 16
• Survey pledge
• Contract teach-in Day of Action 

November: 

• All-member contract survey -- survey swarm

December: 

• Negotiating Committee analyzes survey results and begins to formulate demands

How does the UFT develop its demands?

The union will send a contract survey to every DOE-employed UFT member. The results of the survey will be shared with the 750-member UFT Negotiating Committee. The committee is then broken down into  subcommittees, which then formulate demands specific to their functional chapter, division or topic and present them to the city and DOE. 

What topics can be discussed in contract negotiations?

The UFT may negotiate on pay, working conditions, components of evaluation and observation, contract enforcement, career-ladder positions and the configuration of the workday, to name a few.

What topics are prohibited by law?

The contract Negotiating Committee cannot negotiate or create demands to  change:

• The New York State pension system (state law)
• Tenure (state law) 
• The student discipline code (a DOE prerogative) 
• School funding formula
• Health care benefits
  • Health benefits for UFT members are not part of the DOE-UFT contract negotiations. Instead, the Municipal Labor Committee (MLC), the umbrella group of more than 100 municipal labor unions including the UFT, negotiates with the city on the health care benefits for all city employees, as was done with the adoption of the NYCE PPO plan last year. 

What does a bargaining session look like?

Nearly all 750 members of the UFT Negotiating Committee, led by UFT President Michael Mulgrew and the union’s chief negotiator, Carl Cambria, attend an initial negotiation session. Officials from the city Office of Labor Relations and the Office of Management and Budget, along with DOE officials, are present for the other side.

Later, smaller subcommittees meet with the DOE and the city to present and discuss their specific demands. Those subcommittees report back on their progress and seek input from the larger Negotiating Committee.

What is the role of the 750-member UFT Negotiating Committee?

The large committee — made up mostly of rank-and-file members — drives negotiations. Its participation is invaluable because rank-and-file members understand firsthand what it is like to deal with inflexible supervisors, unreasonable paperwork, onerous work rules and all of the other challenges UFT members face in schools. The sheer number of rank-and-file members involved also can have an impact on the city negotiators by showing the union’s strength and unity. It is a signal that hundreds of union members are invested in a process that demands serious attention.

Why are negotiations kept confidential?

Negotiations remain confidential to protect our bargaining position. Although overall findings of our member survey are distributed to our full membership, detailed analysis is kept strictly internal so city negotiators cannot leverage our data against us. Presenting our key priorities on our own terms ensures maximum impact during negotiations.

What information can committee members share?

UFT Negotiating Committee members can’t openly discuss the content of specific demands because negotiations are confidential. However, in their committee meetings, all UFT Negotiating Committee members can pass on ideas and suggestions from their colleagues to help shape union strategies and priorities.

How can other rank-and-file members get involved?

Rank-and-file members can demonstrate the union’s strength and unity by completing the all-member survey in November and by participating on their school’s Contract Action Team. These teams will help organize and promote future school-based actions and activities in support of negotiations, and will keep members informed about where the union is in the bargaining process.

What is meant by “pattern bargaining” and how does it work?

New York City has a long practice of negotiating a contract with one union that sets a wage pattern for all other contracts in the same round of contract bargaining. The city looks to reach a deal with a union that is both large enough and respected enough that its Office of Labor Relations can then use that contract as a benchmark that all agreements within that round are expected to match in terms of cost. 

Can unions ever get more than what the pattern establishes?

Once the initial bargaining pattern is established, it becomes an enormous challenge to get the city to grant significantly better terms to another union. Pattern bargaining continues to fail our lowest-paid city employees, as demonstrated in our current RESPECT campaign and legislation. That’s why we’ve been fighting and will continue to fight the city’s overreliance on this practice.

What role does the DOE play in contract negotiations?

The DOE is mostly concerned with educational issues and special initiatives and programs embraced by the chancellor. The DOE generally does not get involved in negotiating financial issues, unless they concern paying educators more in return for taking on new duties. Otherwise, monetary items are primarily the concern of the mayor, his budget director and his labor negotiators, who try to adhere to the established bargaining pattern.

When does our current contract expire? 

Our current DOE contract expires on Nov. 28, 2027. 

What happens when a contract expires? Can public employees go on strike?

Under the Public Employees’ Fair Employment Act (commonly known as the Taylor Law), which was enacted in 1967, the terms of the old contract remain in effect until a new agreement is ratified by members.

The Taylor Law granted public employees in New York State the right to collectively bargain, but it also barred them from striking. The penalties for an illegal strike include a loss of pay for each day the employee is on strike plus a fine of an additional day’s pay for every day on strike and potential discipline for misconduct.

Before the Taylor Law, public employees in New York had no collective bargaining rights. Under the Condon-Wadlin Act, a 1947 law that the Taylor Law replaced, striking public employees were penalized by being fired.

Since strikes pose a high risk and hardship to members, they are only considered if absolutely necessary. 

Are public employees entitled to retroactive pay if there is a delay in reaching a contract?

The concept of retroactive pay is the principle that no matter how long a delay there is in reaching a successor contract, workers will receive retroactive pay for portions of the wage increase dating back to the end of the former agreement. The UFT has a successful history of advocating for retroactive pay for members if the contract is not finalized before the current contract expires.