You have our condolences. There are a number of steps you need to take. You can find out what to do when a retiree passes away on the UFT website. If you have further questions, please contact the UFT-RTC Pension Department at 212-598-9536.

At union headquarters, located at 52 Broadway in Manhattan, you’ll find:
• The UFT Welfare Fund, which oversees many health benefits and member services pertaining to health and leaves.
• UFT Certification Services to advise you on getting and maintaining your license and certification.
• The Teacher Center, which sponsors many graduate-level classes, educational workshops and professional conferences.
• Other union departments, including political action, grievance, safety, Just for Fun, retirees, paraprofessionals and providers, as well as union officers.

The UFT maintains five borough offices where you can call or walk in to ask a question or have a problem addressed. You can find a list here, with hours and addresses. 

In the borough offices, you will find:
• Salary representatives to help you with payroll problems or delays, and check that you are getting the right salary.
• Pension consultants who can respond to your questions about the pension system.
• Educational liaisons to advise you about certification requirements as well as classroom issues.
• Safety representatives are specially trained to respond to incidents as well as environmental health and safety issues.
• Other staff who can help or direct you to the proper place for any other issue such as leaves, health insurance, transfers, contractual problems.

If you aren’t sure whether or not you are already a member, look at your pay stub. If the deduction code says “UFT,” it means you are a member. If you are not a member, joining is very simple. Go to the UFT website at www.uft.org/enrollment-info and fill out the online union enrollment form. You should select the “enroll in the UFT” button to register for a website account (and verify your email address) and then you should follow the “join the union” prompts.

If you need assistance, please call the UFT Memberships Department at 212-598-6855.

For DOE employees, dues are currently set to .85 of one percent of the maximum contractual salary of your title at Step 8B plus 20-year longevity, plus added amounts for the union’s state and national affiliates. So, all the members who are teachers are paying based on the teachers’ salary schedule, all the school secretaries are paying based on the secretaries’ schedule, etc. The exception is paraprofessionals, who pay half the dues of teachers. Members of the UFT Retired Teachers Chapter who joined the chapter on or after July 1, 1984 have a dues rate equal to .4% of their pension. In general, members who do not have the step and lane salary structure like teachers or who are not DOE employees pay dues around .85% of salary, plus the pass-through. Dues change as a result of salary changes or revisions to the pass-through. Changes and the entire schedule of dues are published annually in the New York Teacher.

Here is the full listing of UFT dues for all bargaining units.

UFT members’ dues pay for the full array of services that your union provides to support you and your career — everything from professional support services and development to help you be better at your job to negotiating and enforcing the contract; from representing you in disciplinary cases to providing you with professional, social and entertainment activities; from keeping you informed through this website and union publications to shaping public policy through the media. Some part of your dues goes to support our state organization NYSUT and our national parent the American Federation of Teachers. But most of your dues pay for services provided directly to you.

Check the current dues schedule on the UFT website or call the Membership Department at 212-598-6855 to find out your dues amount. The website dues section also explains how your dues are calculated.

Yes, you can. Go to the UFT website at www.uft.org/enrollment-info and fill out the online union enrollment form. You should select the “enroll in the UFT” button to register for a website account (and verify your email address) and then you should follow the “join the union” prompts.

If you have any questions or run into difficulty with the online union enrollment process, please call the UFT Memberships Department at 212-598-6855. They will be happy to assist you.

Go to the UFT website at www.uft.org/enrollment-info and fill out the online union enrollment form. You should select the “enroll in the UFT” button to register for a website account (and verify your email address) and then you should follow the “join the union” prompts.

If you have any questions or run into difficulty with the online union enrollment process, please call the UFT Memberships Department at 212-598-6855. They will be happy to assist you.

You can enroll in the UFT if you are a New York City Department of Education pedagogue, paraprofessional, hourly group or retiree, or if you belong to one of the charter or private schools, hospitals or non-profit organizations in which employees have UFT representation.

To find out if you belong to a UFT collective-bargaining agreement, contact the UFT Membership Department at 212-598-6855 to verify your eligibility for UFT membership.