Cara Matthews

As they learned about the latest treatment protocols and other workplace issues at their annual union conference, Federation of Nurses/UFT members vowed they would continue fighting to make the state enforce the landmark 2022 safe staffing law and hold hospitals accountable.

After years of advocacy by the UFT, paraprofessionals will be included in the Teacher’s Choice program for the first time this school year.


State Attorney General Letitia James and Gov. Kathy Hochul — along with UFT President Michael Mulgrew — unveiled new legislation to safeguard children online on Oct. 11 at UFT headquarters.

Susan Kramer has always been the type of person that people gravitate toward when they are struggling with a life dilemma or need advice and support. After retiring at the end of the 2020-21 school year, she saw an ad for a course with the United States Chaplain Corps and applied.



A monthslong UFT initiative to reach out to retired paraprofessionals, connect them with union services and support, and encourage them to get involved in the Retired Teachers Chapter culminated with a meet and greet at UFT headquarters on Sept. 19.

The Federation of Nurses/UFT is in a pitched battle with NYU Langone Hospital–Brooklyn over short staffing that the union contends is putting patients at risk.


The UFT has made endorsements in all but one City Council race and in the district attorney races in the Nov. 7 election, but the union’s borough political action committees have been focusing on four contested Council races: one in the Bronx, one in Brooklyn and two in Queens.


Gov. Kathy Hochul signed state legislation at UFT headquarters on Sept. 6 to spur teacher recruitment, with a focus on increasing diversity, across the state. The state needs about 180,000 teachers in the next decade to meet workforce needs, she said.

The class trip for 1st-graders at PS 234 in Manhattan to Battery Urban Farm in lower Manhattan was a feast for the senses. The Battery Conservancy created Battery Urban Farm to teach students, residents and visitors about sustainable farming and healthy eating.



A new city Office of Healthcare Accountability will force all New York City hospitals to disclose what they charge for medical procedures and make it harder for them to engage in price gouging.