Job Protections

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One day, my principal told me I was terminated, effective immediately. I had worked at the same elementary school as a special education paraprofessional for 21 years. During that time, I saw four principals come and go without any problems.

The termination was horrible. In the blink of an eye, everything stopped: my health benefits, my paychecks. My principal tried to block me from filing for unemployment, and I had to fight for it. When my unemployment ran out, I worked for the health department. I wasn’t doing what I loved or making as much money as before. I struggled to support my daughter, who was still in high school.

The same day I was fired, I talked to my union representative. Every step of the way, she told me, “It’s going to be OK. We are going to fight this.”

My principal said I’d physically threatened her after she asked to speak to me about selling candy in the cafeteria, and that was why I was fired. I never threatened her, but I did disagree with her once when she wouldn’t let me give a slice of pizza to a student. The pizza was for kids with perfect attendance, and he had missed one day but brought a doctor’s note. I guess the principal didn’t like that I questioned her.

The union brought my case to arbitration so it could be heard by a neutral person who doesn’t work for the DOE. I was represented by someone that the union specially trains to represent paras in arbitration. The arbitrator found that my behavior warranted discipline, but was not threatening or menacing. Instead of termination, he gave me a suspension and a second chance.

When I found out I had my job back after three years, I cried. I knew the truth, and the system had finally listened.

Now I work at PS 11. It’s a lovely school. My life is just grand. I love working with kids and making a difference in their lives.

I tell a lot of people my story. You need to sign up, contribute and get involved with the union. I never thought this would ever happen to me, but it did.

- Cassandra St. Felix, paraprofessional, PS 11 in the Bronx

Instructional Support

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I didn’t have support when I worked in a non-union private school in New York City for three years when I first started teaching. I used to go to school trembling. I don’t have that nervous feeling in my stomach anymore. Now my mentor from the UFT Teacher Center comes in my room once a week to observe me and then we meet for another period.

She teaches me so many things. She’ll come in and say, “Maybe you can do it like this,” and then she’ll get me resources on top of it. Whenever I doubt myself or have any questions, she’s always there for me. And it’s better for the kids because as a new teacher, I don’t know if I would have gotten the hang of guided reading or progress reports, etc., right away. It’s such a blessing to have her.

At the private school, they just threw me in the school, and I didn’t know what I was doing. I didn’t have a go-to person to ask for help. We didn’t have a contract. We only got 15 minutes to eat lunch and then we had to do lunch duty. I didn’t even have a prep so I couldn’t get anything done during the day. And my principal would make up her own rules: We dismissed at 2:30, and my principal would say, “You have to stay here until 3 every day.” Or, “You need to be here on Sunday for an open house.” I’d say, “But I have a wedding to go to!” and she’d say, “If you want a job, you have to show up.”

I can actually say that I enjoy teaching now and if I’m stuck with something, I have that support. I can’t imagine going back to a job without a union. I’m so much happier now.

- Patricia Ginestri, first-year teacher, PS 151 in Queens

Member Support

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When we returned from the Christmas break in 2013, we were devastated.

Laura Livingston, a teacher and our school’s unofficial cheerleader, had died of a brain aneurysm. It didn’t matter whether Laura was working with her 2nd-graders, her colleagues or parents; she was always upbeat, involved and very dedicated. Her death was so sudden. PS 19 is a small, close-knit neighborhood school so losing her really hit us hard.

To my surprise, on that first day back, the UFT was there, waiting to offer help and condolences.

I’m the chapter leader and I’ve been here 18 years — Laura was here 16, starting as a para — but I never thought about contacting the union. On their own, the Staten Island Borough Representative Debra Penny and some of her borough office staff realized it would be a hard day and decided that we might need some support. And we did.

Shortly after that, they took us out after school to a local restaurant where we could be together to talk and reminisce about Laura. It was wonderful, and the staff was so grateful.

The union stayed by our side until the second anniversary of Laura’s death when we hung a plaque in her honor and dedicated the redecorated teachers’ lounge in her memory.

- Jeanne Raleigh, chapter leader and 2nd-grade teacher, PS 19 on Staten Island

Health Benefits

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I woke up one morning at 3 a.m. It was like a bomb went off in my back. I felt an explosion of pain. I knew something was wrong. It was 1992. I was a 4th-grade teacher. And it happened on my 40th birthday.

After a year of excruciating tests, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. I had stage 4 cancer. I lost 85 pounds in one year. I started chemotherapy, and they put me on an experimental regimen of new medications to treat Hodgkin’s. It was very expensive. And then I needed injections to boost my white blood cell count, which was destroyed by the chemotherapy. Each shot was $800. The thing that scared me was that my parents would have to bury me. I was very sick.

Then my oncologist discovered a small breast tumor. I had a double mastectomy. I saw the hospital bills, I knew what it cost. The hospital room alone for 12 days was $28,000. Overall, it probably cost a half-million dollars to save my life. It would have wiped out everything my family had.

My life was saved with the health insurance provided by the UFT. I don’t know how others cope. For me, every day is a birthday.

My union supports my work, protects my rights, advocates for my profession locally and nationally and offers professional development, health and pension benefits, and counseling for personal issues. It literally saved my life. My union is my rock.

- Gloria Winograd, chapter leader and music teacher, PS 6 in Manhattan

Health and Safety

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When the pipes in our new school building malfunctioned and we didn’t have any water, the union was a continual support.

Two years ago, the ESL teacher in our school turned the water on in his room and it was coming out of the faucet blue — like a deep, sky blue. Initially, we got a big runaround from the School Construction Authority. But the union was extremely supportive.

I needed to know what was in the water, what my kids and the teachers were drinking. But I’m a guidance counselor, not a chemist. So the union sent people who knew what questions needed to be asked and what testing needed to be done. They gave me a report and sat with me at meetings with School Construction to make sure they understood what needed to happen.

The testing found levels of lead and particles from sewage. So we couldn’t drink the water or use it to wash our hands for more than a year. We had to bring in coolers, bottled water, wipes.

The union was able to push the right buttons to get what we needed and was also there in terms of emotional support. Eventually School Construction had to put in new pipes and reconnect them. I truly believe if the UFT hadn’t gotten involved, we would still be dealing with it.

- Orsola Bonilla, chapter leader and guidance counselor, PS 163 in Brooklyn

Contractual Rights

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From the beginning SESIS was a nightmare.

We didn’t get any real hands-on training when it was implemented in 2011 so there were all sorts of mistakes and glitches. Computers would shut down in the middle of inputting and you’d lose your work. Meanwhile our supervisors were putting the pressure on to get the work done.

SESIS was supposed to make it easier to consolidate special education students’ data in an online system but instead it made matters worse. It monopolized every minute of our free time as my colleagues and I tried to keep up.

I took my laptop home to work on it, and I even took my laptop on vacation to catch up.

We were thrilled when the UFT came to our rescue. As the assistant chapter leader at PS 92 in Harlem at the time, I encouraged colleagues to fill out the union surveys asking members to detail the amount of time we were spending beyond the school day. Those surveys were used to build the case for arbitration.

After the arbitrator ruled in our favor in January 2013, we didn’t know how much we would get in back pay until we received our checks. I couldn’t believe the $10,000 I got. I was ecstatic.

A colleague was thrilled to receive $36,000, but said the work she had to do at home put her marriage on the line.

We’ll never get back all the time we lost, but it meant a lot to us to finally be compensated for those lost hours. The UFT is still fighting to get us relief since SESIS continues to be a problem.

- Sandy Robinson, speech teacher, PS 92 in Manhattan