“You have reached the promised land,” UFT President Michael told 650 cheering audience members at the union’s annual New Retiree Luncheon at the Hilton Hotel in midtown Manhattan on Nov. 26. “You had hope and passion to change children’s lives,” he said, “and you did.”

The new UFT Queens borough office was decked out with colorful balloons and banners to welcome hundreds of Queens parents, grandparents, guardians and education activists for the 10th annual UFT Queens Parent Conference on Nov. 23.

About 200 students living in transitional housing received free winter coats, ate a Thanksgiving meal and tried their hands at many crafts and activities at the sixth annual UFT Thanksgiving Luncheon on Nov. 23, thanks to a partnership between the UFT’s Middle Schools Division and the DOE.

The annual Federation of Nurses/UFT Professional Issues Conference drew 250 nurses to the Westin in Manhattan on Nov. 22 for workshops, presentations, exhibits, lunch and a raffle.

The NYC Association of Foreign Language Teachers/UFT held its 22nd annual conference on Nov. 16 at UFT headquarters in Manhattan, where more than 200 participants chose from among 20 workshops during a day of professional development and camaraderie.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew met with the staff at PS 277, a Bronx Plan school, to assure them that the union has a dedicated team for Bronx Plan schools and is committed to giving them the necessary support to meet the needs of their students.

About 250 school psychologists came to UFT headquarters on Nov. 12 to enjoy free professional development, camaraderie and some appreciation from their union at the fourth annual School Psychologists Appreciation Day at UFT headquarters, Manhattan.

Bronx parents, grandparents, guardians and education activists came to the UFT Bronx borough office on Nov. 9 for the 10th annual UFT Bronx Parent Conference to learn about how to advocate for their families and public schools.

More than 100 Staten Island parents, grandparents, guardians and education activists came to IS 2 in Midland Beach for the 10^th annual UFT Staten Island Parent Conference to learn about college, bullying, special education and other topics of interest to public school parents.

The UFT High School Division and the AFL-CIO New York City Central Labor Council hosted the fourth annual Future in Focus career fair at UFT headquarters in Manhattan on Oct. 31 to help students at New York City’s public high schools learn the benefits of unionized careers.

Members from District 79 schools throughout the city gathered at Dallas BBQ in the Chelsea section of Manhattan on Oct. 29 for a Meet the President event with UFT President Michael Mulgrew.

Art educators converged on Beacon HS in Manhattan on Oct. 26 for a day of workshops and celebration at the 38th citywide Art Education Conference sponsored by the New York City Art Teachers Association and the UFT.

Nearly 600 Manhattan parents, grandparents, guardians and education activists came to UFT headquarters for the 10th annual UFT Manhattan Parent Conference to learn about college, bullying, special education and other topics of interest to public school parents.

UFT members across the city wore red on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019, to show solidarity with striking Chicago educators and the Chicago Teachers Union.

The UFT hosted more than 300 students from 25 middle schools across the city for an anti-bullying conference on Oct. 22, 2019, where students learned to recognize and help stop bullying in their schools.

More than 1,700 UFT members and guests packed the Grand Ballroom at the New York Hilton in midtown Manhattan on Oct. 20 to celebrate union activism past and present at the UFT’s annual Teacher Union Day event.

Thousands of UFT members joined the annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk at sites across the city on Oct. 20 to raise money for a cure.

A record number of participants enjoyed challenging workshops at the fourth annual UFT Conference on Effective Instruction for English Language Learners — ExcELLing — at union headquarters in Manhattan on Oct. 19.

UFT members across New York City dressed in pink on Oct. 16 to raise awareness about breast cancer.

UFT members joined students, family members and other educators on Oct. 13 to participate in the United Way’s March United for Public Schools, a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge to demonstrate the importance of public education and raise money for the United Way’s long-term public education programs. The walk led marchers to the “Future Festival,” a children’s learning fair at Brooklyn Borough Hall.

Fifth-graders from PS 194 in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, repeated the cries that once echoed around the busy port of New York as they raised the sail on an 1885 cargo ship during a class trip to Manhattan’s South Street Seaport Museum on Oct. 7.

The UFT Brooklyn borough office put together a festive evening of student performances and award presentations to thank schools that raised more than $1,000 apiece for the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk in 2018.

New York City public school students were among millions who took to the streets in more than 150 countries on Sept. 20 for a climate strike, led by young people leaving their classrooms to demand action on the climate crisis that threatens their futures. UFT members met up with the students marching from Foley Square at an after-school rally in Battery Park, where 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg addressed the crowd. “The UFT is proud to stand with the activists, including our members, who are fighting to protect our climate from harmful and short-sighted political decisions,” said UFT Vice President for Academic High Schools Janella Hinds.

Chapter leaders from across the city gathered at UFT headquarters on Sept. 20 to learn more about their responsibilities and the issues facing New York City public schools as the new school year begins.

Sensing in the civil rights movement a natural ally with shared goals and values, the early leaders of the UFT and its predecessor, the Teachers Guild, threw their support behind the movement and its objectives of racial equality and individual dignity, and forged a strong alliance with black leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr., A. Phillip Randolph and Bayard Rustin. UFT President Al Shanker encouraged New York City schoolteachers to attend the 1964 March for Jobs and Freedom co-organized by Rustin, and the union subsidized travel to the march for participating UFT members.

All photos courtesy: UFT Photo Collection, Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University

More than a thousand UFT members and their families marched up Fifth Avenue in the annual Labor Day Parade, and then gathered for food and games at a barbecue at the Robert F. Wagner Middle School on the Upper East Side.

Kids are kids, whether the calendar says 1890, 1910 or 2019.

So when 4th-graders from Brooklyn’s PS 10 took the “Sweatshop Workers” tour at the Tenement Museum on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, it’s no wonder they were fascinated to learn about the immigrant children who had lived there.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew joined Mayor Bill de Blasio, Chancellor Richard Carranza and a classroom full of students for an algebra lesson at Bronx Leadership Academy II on Sept. 5, the first day of the new school year.

It was the first day of school for 1.1 million children and their educators and families across New York City on Sept. 5, 2019.

A downpour couldn't stop UFT members from dancing at the West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn on Monday, Sept. 2, 2019.