Fix Tier 6 Day of Action

May 6, 2025

Fix Tier 6 Day of Action

UFT members citywide participated in the union's May 6 Day of Action to turn the heat up on state lawmakers to fix Tier 6 of the pension system. Members in Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan held simultaneous rallies; Bronx members passed out leaflets at three major transit hubs; and Staten Island members held in-school actions. Their top demand: Allow public school educators to retire with an unreduced pension at age 55 with 30 years of service.

Two UFT members take a selfie at the UFT Fix Tier 6 Rally held at Brooklyn Borough Hall on May 6, 2025.

Olivia Winters (left) and Karla Rodriguez-Miletsky, teachers at the Urban Assembly School for Law & Justice in Brooklyn, take a selfie during the rally outside Brooklyn Borough Hall.

Jonathan Fickies

Chapter Leaders Rob Roszkowski of P993Q and Francisca Gachett of P9Q, both District 75 schools, hold up numbers that correspond with their respective pension tiers at the Fix Tier 6 action in Queens.

Erica Berger

Two UFT members at a rally hold up handmade signs to Fix Tier 6.

Teacher Janice Kaul-Smith (left), chapter leader at PS 183 in Queens, and Meagan Dunn, the paraprofessional who works with Kaul-Smith at the school, hold up handmade signs during the Tier 6 rally at Queens Borough Hall.

Erica Berger

Kristin Defendis, chapter leader of MS 51 William Alexander in Brooklyn, pushes for Tier 6 reform as she wears a shirt showing she has 29 more years to go before she can retire at age 63 with an unreduced pension under current Tier 6 rules.

Jonathan Fickies

UFT President Michael Mulgrew (center) stands with members who want to improve pensions for Tier 6 educators at the Fix Tier 6 rally outside the Adam Clayton Powell Jr. State Office Building in Harlem.

Gina Callaghan

Tier 6 member Noah Benus, who teaches at PS 134 Henrietta Szold in Manhattan, speaks about the need to bring Tier 6 on a par with Tier 4 during the rally in Harlem.

Gina Callaghan

Bronx teachers take a group photo while leafletting by Yankee Stadium to Fix Tier 6.

Yaroslav Grytsayo (left), a teacher at MS 328 in the Bronx, advocates for Tier 6 reform at the 161st Street Yankee Stadium subway station with teachers Janelle Rudder (center) of PS/MS 4 and Craylyn Dillard-Skinner of PS 63, also in the Bronx.

Mike LoVerde

Rich Sherman (center, facing camera), a teacher and chapter leader at Validus Preparatory Academy in the Bronx, spreads the message to passersby in the Bronx about the importance of fixing Tier 6.

Mike LoVerde

Bronx UFT members, alongside NYSUT Vice President Ron Gross, hand out leaflets to commuters outside the subway station at 225th and Broadway.

Staten Island members give a presentation on pension reform at PS 6 on Staten Island.

Teacher Andrea Conroy (left) and Delegate Stefanie Singer-Barnas give a presentation on pension reform to colleagues during the Fix Tier 6 virtual rally at PS 6 on Staten Island.

Jonathan Fickies

Paraprofessionals at PS 6 on Staten Island hold signs for the Fix Tier 6 campaign on May 6, 2025.

Paraprofessionals (from left) Jackie Ocasio, Hoda Mansour and Nivin Wassif of PS 6 hold signs about the Fix Tier 6 campaign to change the minimum retirement age after 30 years of service from age 63 to age 55.

Jonathan Fickies

Members from PS 16 on Staten Island show their support for fixing Tier 6.

Olivia Winters (left) and Karla Rodriguez-Miletsky, teachers at the Urban Assembly School for Law & Justice in Brooklyn, take a selfie during the rally outside Brooklyn Borough Hall.

Jonathan Fickies

Chapter Leaders Rob Roszkowski of P993Q and Francisca Gachett of P9Q, both District 75 schools, hold up numbers that correspond with their respective pension tiers at the Fix Tier 6 action in Queens.

Erica Berger

Jonathan Fickies

Gina Callaghan

Tier 6 member Noah Benus, who teaches at PS 134 Henrietta Szold in Manhattan, speaks about the need to bring Tier 6 on a par with Tier 4 during the rally in Harlem.

Gina Callaghan

Mike LoVerde

Rich Sherman (center, facing camera), a teacher and chapter leader at Validus Preparatory Academy in the Bronx, spreads the message to passersby in the Bronx about the importance of fixing Tier 6.

Mike LoVerde

Bronx UFT members, alongside NYSUT Vice President Ron Gross, hand out leaflets to commuters outside the subway station at 225th and Broadway.

Teacher Andrea Conroy (left) and Delegate Stefanie Singer-Barnas give a presentation on pension reform to colleagues during the Fix Tier 6 virtual rally at PS 6 on Staten Island.

Jonathan Fickies