Decades of UFT advocacy bore fruit for the union’s paraprofessionals on Oct. 29 as a newly enacted state law guaranteed all UFT-represented full-time paraprofessionals — on the job now and in the future — will automatically become members of the Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS). After they retire, TRS members receive a monthly pension for the rest of their lives.

A Herculean effort by the UFT helped turn the largest-ever shortage of New York City public school paraprofessionals into a record number of new paras joining the ranks.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew told delegates at the Delegate Assembly on Nov. 17 that the union plans to seek extensive member input to help shape priorities for upcoming negotiations on the next contract and health care.

Thousands of UFT members and parents came together this fall to press the City Council to pass groundbreaking legislation that would reduce class sizes in city public schools by a quarter to a third. The union gathered nearly 40,000 signatures in support of the bill and organized two Days of Action in which more than 200 schools participated.

Schools around the United States are canceling in-person instruction with very little notice due to staffing issues, including teacher shortages and staff fatigue, exacerbated by the pandemic.

Amazon warehouse workers in Bessemer, Alabama, will have another chance to unionize after the National Labor Relations Board authorized a revote after its review found the online shopping giant had improperly interfered in the first election.