In the second of a two-part series, “Am I Patient #6?”, UFT President Michael Mulgrew talks with the union’s point person for nursing, Anne Goldman, about why the UFT is fighting for legislation that would set mandatory staffing levels for surgical, emergency, critical and acute care units. Too many New York hospitals cut corners on nurse staffing, with most patients not knowing their risk of injury or death rises when a nurse-to-patient ratio increases — by even one patient — beyond 1:5.

Let’s say you land in a well-known New York hospital for a medical procedure or an emergency. The hospital is housed in an expensive, new building. You take for granted that there will be enough nurses on duty. You shouldn’t. Too many New York hospitals cut corners on nurse staffing, with most patients not knowing that their risk of injury or death rises when a nurse-to-patient ratio increases — by even one patient — beyond 1:5. In a two-part series, “Am I Patient #6?”, UFT President Michael Mulgrew hears from front-line ER nurse Howard Sandau about the dangers patients face when hospitals refuse to properly staff units, and the need for New York to pass a safe staffing law.

Teachers across the country are leading a labor resurgence as they fight for their students, their schools and their profession. Hear UFT President Michael Mulgrew and former New York Times labor reporter Steven Greenhouse discuss this movement as they talk about Greenhouse’s new book, “Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past, Present and Future of American Labor” on the latest episode of “On the Record with Michael Mulgrew.”

How can we make teacher observations less intimidating and more meaningful? In this season’s first episode of “On the Record with Michael Mulgrew,” UFT President Michael Mulgrew talks with three New York City public school educators about ways teachers can take more control over their observations. The UFT recently negotiated needed changes to the teacher evaluation process, including reducing the minimum number of observations for most teachers to two a year. But real change, Mulgrew and his guests say, will only come when we change the culture around observations – when we see observations as an opportunity to have a conversation about educational practices between two professionals.