There are two different types of delegates: 

1. Delegate to the delegate assembly – These delegates are elected at their school or work site or can be elected by the members of a functional chapter. Each chapter is entitled to one delegate for each sixty (60) members, or major fraction thereof. This means that they are entitled to a second delegate with 91 members and so on.
2. Delegates to national conventions such as the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), New York State United Teachers (NYSUT), and the National Association of Education (NEA) – these delegates are elected once every three (3) years and serve as representatives of members of the UFT to each convention listed.

Additionally, the delegate assembly meets once a month to discuss union policy at the UFT. It is comprised of chapter leaders and delegates from around the city.

Active status is defined as being on any one of the following: 

• on payroll, using CAR days or sick time, on an annual leave, on a paid leave, on Parental Leave
• on an unpaid leave for a pregnancy-related condition
• on an unpaid leave due to a medically-disputed Line of Duty Injury (LODI) for up to three months
• on a leave pursuant to the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), FLMA, or other statutory leave

For non-birth parents, your UFT parental leave will start the next day, but still will end no later than six calendar weeks (eight weeks for a C-section) starting on the day of the event. For birth parents, parental leave will start after the use of any CAR/sick days towards a recovery period. 

Members are eligible for an additional UFT parental leave if they have been an eligible employee in active status for 10 calendar months following the initial covered event, exclusive of time on an unpaid leave other than parental leave. 

Multiple births from one pregnancy are considered to be a single covered event, so you will get the same six calendar weeks (eight weeks for a C-section). 

Read more about UFT parental leaves »

No. Individuals who work F-status are not eligible to take UFT parental leaves. Time worked F-status will also not count towards eligibility to take parental leave. 

No. Days when DOE employees do not work (such as a holiday, a school break or a weekend) during your parental leave will not extend its six-week duration. However, if you are a birth parent who uses your CAR days for six or eight weeks after the birth and prior to starting UFT parental leave, you will not be charged for a CAR day on a day when DOE employees are off.

Read more about UFT parental leave »

Your parental leave application also serves as an official notice to your school or work office of your intentions of how long you plan to be out so that they can prepare for your absence. You are encouraged to directly discuss your plans with your supervisor as well. You are able to amend your application and leave plans later if your intentions change. 

Unless there are special circumstances, you will not be eligible for a parental leave if you do not submit an application within 10 days of the birth. Late applications will be accepted and subject to review for valid special circumstances, which could relate to, but is not limited to, one of the following: a medical condition of the employee or the employee's family member, a premature birth, a death in the family, or reasonable travel necessary to adopt a child. 

For delivering parents, failure to submit during the proper time frame may result in being placed into a limited version of Traditional Maternity Leave WITHOUT the right to borrow days or to use a grace period. 

As chapter leader, your responsibilities include the following:

• Holding at least six regularly scheduled chapter meetings each year.
• Forming a chapter consultation committee,meeting monthly with the committee and the principal, and reporting the results of the meeting to the chapter.
• Representing all chapter members in informal resolutions of problems with the administration and in grievances.
• Involving the chapter with the union by advising members of meetings, programs, rallies and other activities.
• Attending Delegate Assembly, district and citywide chapter leader meetings and divisional meetings where the concerns of the chapter can be transmitted.
• Explaining VOTE/COPE to the members and collecting VOTE/COPE checkoff cards.
• Explaining the union’s positions to members.
• Providing for informal resolution of problems between members.
• Serving as a resource for members about pensions, health coverage and other matters.
• Providing regular communications to chapter members (emails, electronic or print newsletters) and maintaining the UFT bulletin board.
• Working with the district representative and other union representatives.
• Inviting union speakers into school regularly: officers, staff, the district representative, Welfare Fund speakers and pension experts.
• Contacting and lobbying politicians.
• Registering members to vote.
• Working with parent groups.
• Taking the lead in seeking to ensure that the health, welfare and rights of members are protected.
• Disseminating UFT materials via members’ mailboxes and/or electronically.
• Conducting letter-writing campaigns and other union activities.
• Attending training sessions in order to serve the members better.
• Distributing Welfare Fund forms.
• Protecting the confidentiality of all members.
• Involving newer members and members of functional chapters in the life of the school chapter.
• Ensuring that the negotiated contracts are enforced and implemented at the school level, and that UFT members’ rights and benefits are protected.
• Leading the chapter in discussion, development and implementation of educational policies in the school in accordance with union policy.
• Functioning as the chapter’s historian,keeping records that need to be handed down.