Getting out the vote for change

Hundreds of UFT members hit the phones and pounded the pavement this fall to campaign for union-endorsed candidates who support education and labor unions.

They traveled by bus, by car and public transit to knock on doors in Westchester County and in Brooklyn on Oct. 17 to get out the vote, respectively, for Cait Conley, who hopes to unseat incumbent U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler on Nov. 3, and for state Assembly hopeful Chris McCreight of Brooklyn. Members also canvassed on Staten Island for state Assembly candidates Charles Fall and Matt Mobilia.

Shawanda Weems, chapter leader at PS/MS 15 in the Bronx, knocked on doors in Hartsdale to get the word out about the election in the Conley race and the issues that matter for her students. “I think as Americans, we often accuse people of not knowing information, but some of us have to be out there giving the information,” she said. “So, if I can give a Saturday morning and get some free water and coffee for myself to just empower people with knowledge, I think it is worth my couple of hours on a Saturday morning,” she said.

Weems, a teacher for 28 years, said Conley supports public education and opposes school vouchers, which “pluck” money out of public school classrooms. “By her supporting public education, it allows opportunities for my Black and brown students to thrive.”

UFT members also took part in dozens of phone banks at borough offices in October for candidates endorsed by the UFT and state affiliate NYSUT. They include U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi, who is fighting for a second term representing parts of Queens and Long Island, and other candidates for Congress, state Senate and state Assembly. The Retired Teachers Chapter organized 10 get-out-the-vote phone banks at Manhattan headquarters during October and sent a contingent to door-knock for Conley.

This key political action work to advocate for the public education and labor issues important to UFT members is funded by members’ voluntary contributions to the union’s Committee on Political Education (COPE). Members can learn more by visiting COPE's page.

The Oct. 17 event for Conley, which brought members of NYSUT, the AFL-CIO, 32BJ and other unions together, began with a rally featuring Conley at the Westchester-Putnam Central Labor Body office near White Plains.

Conor Callagy, chapter leader at MS 22 in the Bronx, said he recently moved to Putnam County, part of Congressional District 17, and will vote for Conley. “Our current representative, Mike Lawler, has betrayed in my view the oath of office that he took,” he said. “He has hurt the Hudson Valley.”

Callagy said Conley supports public education, opposes school vouchers and will fight for public workers. “She knows that the unions are what make New York strong. She’s got our back, and that’s why we have her back and will make sure she wins on Nov. 3,” he said before door-knocking.

UFT Assistant Secretary Khiera Peña told the crowd that the American dream is “very unattainable and unaffordable for a lot of people right now,” but if Conley is elected, she will help ease the path by supporting parental leave, early childhood education, universal child care, career and technical education, expanded access to community college and other important programs.

Katherine Lewis, a retired speech therapist from the Bronx, went door-knocking for Conley and was also doing additional political work for the AFTerburners, a group of activist AFT retirees. She was writing political postcards to union households in Florida and New Hampshire. “We all have to work together to get the country that we want, for the kids of the future,” she said.

Mindy Rosier, a special education teacher who works for the UFT Teacher Center, said Conley is the right person for the job. Lawler is a “puppet” who “panders,” she said. “Yes, people can have different opinions and views and everything, but the way our country is going right now, we need fighters who are going to bring it back for our schools, for where we live, for our hospitals, everything.”