UFT Bronx Borough Office

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At the Delegate Assembly, an emergency resolution to join a national Day of Action and a demonstration on Friday, Jan. 23 in solidarity with educators, students and immigrant communities in Minneapolis was approved with 90% of the vote.

Union members in Minneapolis–St. Paul recently issued a call to show nationwide solidarity on Jan. 23 after a brutal ICE operation led to the killing of Renee Nicole Good, a Minneapolis substitute teacher, and the targeting of students, educators and immigrant communities in and around local schools.

Now we need to demonstrate our unity — visibly and collectively.

Here’s all the ways you can participate in this Day of Action: https://www.uft.org/get-involved/uft-campaigns/national-day-action-solidarity-minneapolis

Let's get out the vote for Zohran Kwame Mamdani at the UFT's canvass day in the Bronx this Saturday, Sept. 27! Link in comments to register.

Canvassing

If you travel to work by public transportation, you can save money by taking part in the City of New York Commuter Benefits Program, which covers the city and the tristate area.

This city benefit enables UFT members to pay for allowable commuting costs with tax-free funds. You can use tax-free funds to travel by many forms of transportation, including train, subway, bus or ferry, and for parking at or near public transit. As of Jan. 1, 2025, the monthly pretax limit for commuter benefits — set by the IRS — is $325 for both transit and parking.

The program, administered by Edenred, covers virtually any transit system in the tristate area. Here’s a partial list:

- New York City Transit, Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North Railroad, NJ Transit, PATH and NY Waterway
- Paratransit and the MTA’s Access-A-Ride program
- Parking at or near public transit to commute to work with the Park-n-Ride program.

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝘂𝗽

You decide how much to contribute toward your commute based on your monthly transit expenses. Funds are moved from your paycheck to your account before taxes are deducted. According to IRS guidelines, unused pretax commuter benefit funds cannot be refunded.

To enroll, change, suspend or discontinue payroll deductions in the Commuter Benefits Program, visit the Department of Education’s payroll portal. Remember to keep your current address updated with Edenred; changing your address with the DOE will not automatically update your address with Edenred. For more information, see Updating Your Commuter Benefits Account at the DOE’s HR Connect site.

𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘁 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀

𝗡𝗬𝗖 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗱: This prepaid card, which is funded monthly with the amount you specify, is fully compatible with the OMNY tap-and go payment system. Use this commuter card the same way you would use a debit card. The card is accepted at transit agencies, fare vending machines, designated transit retail centers and qualified parking facilities in the New York tristate area. You can add the card to your cellphone’s digital wallet or tap the physical card at OMNY readers on buses and at subway turnstiles. UFT members who previously used the annual transit card have been automatically transferred to the unrestricted plan of the NYC commuter card.

𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘁 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻: This plan allows you to arrange for home delivery of your transit provider passes and tickets through Edenred. There is an extensive list of transit providers in the tristate area that are part of the plan.

𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗸-𝗻-𝗥𝗶𝗱𝗲: This plan allows you to use your payroll deductions to pay for parking at or near a public transportation stop or station that you use to get to work. You must be enrolled in one of the other commuter benefits plans in order to participate in the Park-n-Ride program.

𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀-𝗔-𝗥𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘁 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲: This plan allows you to participate in the MTA’s Access-A-Ride program or other paratransit provider programs. In this plan, you fund an account with Edenred through payroll deductions and select your Access-A-Ride coupons or other paratransit options on the Edenred website. The city pays the monthly administrative fee.

For more information about these plans, visit the Edenred website, call 833‑584‑8109 from Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., or email Edenred at [email protected].

"This school year, we will see meaningful improvements in our working conditions — and our students’ learning conditions — as a result of fights we undertook as a union for the changes we need.

This September, 60% of classrooms citywide will be under the new limits in the state class size law, up from 46% last school year. The school-based application process for class size funding — driven by the hard work of our chapter leaders — is what enabled us to meet this year’s target in the law. The new process ensured that state funding for class size reduction went to schools with available space and a plan to use that money to create smaller classes.

Our union has fought for smaller class sizes for decades, and this year for the first time more than half of all teachers will get to experience the difference it makes. We will have to continue to organize and push to meet next year’s target of 80%.

We begin the new school year with two other changes we fought hard for: a cellphone ban and a state law requiring safe temperatures in schools.

The cellphone ban addresses a longstanding concern raised by teachers: the constant distraction of phones in the classroom. Educators have long made the case that cellphones were undermining learning. The new ban is a win for our profession and for our students. But we know that any new policy takes time to take root in schools. There will be bumps in the road, and educators must not be left to handle the fallout. The UFT will be with our members every step of the way to make sure the burden of enforcing the new ban does not fall on them.

The Cool Schools Act, which took effect on Sept. 1, is another victory for us. No student should be asked to learn — and no teacher asked to teach — in a sweltering, unsafe classroom. With this new state law, school administrators will be required to take action to cool rooms when inside temperatures reach 82 degrees and to relocate classes and student support services where practicable when inside temperatures reach 88 degrees.

These three changes demonstrate what we can accomplish when we band together as union members to fight for a common cause. Progress doesn’t happen overnight; it comes piece by piece, contract by contract, law by law. But over time, the changes we achieve have the power to transform our schools and our profession.

Of course, our work is never done. Two major unfinished legislative fights remain on our agenda this year: passing the “RESPECT check” bill into law and fixing Tier 6 of the pension system.

The ongoing shortage of paraprofessionals in our schools is proof that our city needs to do better for these members who work with our most vulnerable students. We will not back down until our paraprofessionals are able to get the annual RESPECT check they deserve.

This year, we will also ratchet up the fight to allow Tier 6 members to retire with an unreduced pension at age 55 with 30 years of service. More than half of all in-service DOE-employed members now belong to Tier 6. The lack of parity between Tier 4 and Tier 6 is making it more difficult to recruit and retain public school educators at a time when the city needs thousands more teachers to reduce class sizes. Reforming Tier 6 is not an option — it’s a necessity.

​​Our union’s core mission is to improve the lives of our members so they can give their best to the students they serve. We’ve proven what persistence and unity can accomplish. Let’s carry that determination forward this school year — to lower class sizes, to win fair pay for paraprofessionals and to secure equitable retirement benefits for all UFT members."

— UFT President Michael Mulgrew in his “Our fights yield better working conditions” column in the New York Teacher