During the final Delegate Assembly of the school year on June 12, UFT President Michael Mulgrew talked about how the new DOE-UFT contract has given members a greater voice in their workplaces this year.

Public school teachers in California are forced by state law to pay for their own substitute teachers when they take extended sick leave. 

Hundreds of McDonald’s workers walked off the job in 13 cities on May 23 to call for a minimum wage of $15 per hour and expanded rights in their workplace, including protection from sexual harassment. The labor action came the same week as employees in 20 cities filed sexual harassment complaints against the fast food company.

The wave of teacher strikes hit California’s Bay Area on May 20, when teachers walked out of their classrooms in the school district covering Union City and South Hayward for the first time in the district’s history. About 600 educators, represented by the New Haven Teachers Association, joined picket lines outside their schools to demand pay raises over two years totaling nearly 7 percent.

A week after tens of thousands of Oregon educators walked out of their classrooms on May 8 for a statewide “day of action,” the state's governor signed a $2 billion funding package into law to pay for smaller class sizes and more educational programs.

The nation’s first-ever strike by unionized charter school teachers occurred in Chicago in December and set a precedent for other charter schools in the Windy City struggling with low teacher pay, crowded classrooms and poor funding.