How Mulgrew Undermined the UFT Pension Dept., Broken Promises Over TRS Election - Part 1

 

July 6, 2026

I am seeing things in a new light. I always assumed Unity was monolithic and there was little internal debate - that since Shanker the person at the top controlled everything. But an interesting perspective is emerging as current and former higher level Unity reveal the internals. 

Despite serious disagreements, activists within the usual suspect legacy caucuses opposed to Unity managed to have some working relationships with the leadership. In a sense, the active Unity and oppo people became a sort of sub-class in the union of people who were involved beyond the regular membership - a sort of synchrony of common interests, which comes undone for a few months every 3 years during UFT election. These are the people you are likely to see in early September at Labor Day Parades where all sides greet each other with some warmth. 

We knew which officials were competent, such as Amy Arundell. Appointees to union positions has always been political and based on loyalty to Unity Caucus and the leadership but being capable and competent was part of the equation. 

Yet, over the past few years there has been a shift as we saw less and less competence  and internal and external unhappiness with the Mulgrew leadership and we see major purges within the caucus and threats to those who don't conform.  

The theme of this post delves into this Mulgrew shift - total control of every aspect of the UFT, total loyalty expected and valued over competence, as evidenced by comments from current and former Unity and union officials. That has led to fear and resentment among the Unity faithful. 

UFT full time and part- time staff were threatened with their jobs if they didn’t get the votes from their school for Tom Brown in the TRS election, a pattern Mulrew has set since The Friday Night Unity Purge/Massacre of June 27, 2025. The Queens Borough Rep, who replaced Amy Arundell, held meetings telling pension consultants, “If you don’t get the votes for Tom, you are replaceable." In areas where Tom Brown votes were weak there may be some nervous district reps.

I use the Frank Panebianco story as a case study of the loss of competence at the UFT, not to mention David Kazansky, both of whom ran against Tom Brown, their former colleague, in the recent TRS election. Shedding these two, along with Amy, D. 30 Rep Ashley Rzonca, Leah Lin, paras Hector Ruiz, Jr., and Migda Rodriguez is a serious brain drain. A Unity insider commented:

Downgrading competence: The essence of internal UFT policy: Never pick a successor who might do a better job than you. Always pick someone less competent than you so they won't do better.

UFT members have been noticing. 

More Words from inside Unity:

• No one is a free thinker anymore. Mulgrew controls every aspect of the union. When I started and was recruited to Unity, there were spaces for debate, conversation, dare I say suggestions. All totally gone now. 

• Mulgrew makes everyone have a fear-based mindset so even if you’re good at your job you don’t really do it the best it can be done because that’s not what’s wanted.

• The entire union. Teacher center, and welfare fund are cash cows.  

• Numerous Unity oldheads told us that under Randi, it was also a dictatorship, but that she at least not only tolerated dissenting voices, but wanted a couple of them in the room when an issue was being considered. When she made her decision that was that, but at least she heard both/all sides before she did. Under Mulgrew all of those dissenting voices have been pushed out. 

• Don't forget the ouster of Maria Niera from NYSUT Leadership a decade ago and making sure we all voted for their endorsed candidates by checking the ballots before we submitted them. 

• The firing of pension expert Frank Panebianco days before the end of summer because he was telling people he was going to run for TRS because Tom Brown told him he would retire. When he asked Mike Sill and Mulgrew about it, they said they knew nothing about it. So who fired Frank? Read the surprising answer below. 

• Mulgrew shook hands on it: "I give you my word and nothing means more to me than my word." Soon after, Mulgrew went back on his word. 

Like Trump, Mulgrew seems to have the ability to unite more and more people against him, even those with differences.

 

My mantra over the past few decades has been that Unity will not be defeated until the oppo organizes in enough schools to challenge their control. Yet, as elections have proven, other than high schools, there has not been much of a dent in Unity control with the exception of the 2024 retiree win, which is proving that unless you win the entire union, not a lot changes. 

 

The 2025 general union election showed that there are defections from Unity but many defectors did not feel comfortable landing in one of the existing legacy caucuses but did feel comfortable with ABC, a new entity. The question is can humpty-dumpty be put back together again where legacy caucuses and ABC can come to some form of accommodation? 

 

Their combined total of 46% offers the possibility of victory in 2028 but the resentment towards ABC upstarts is palpable, from the legacies and Unity, where we see them at times working together as both are threatened. As legacy groups fade in influence, the future oppo to Unity may hold the irony of Mulgrew's actions are helping form that opposition. 

 

Let's look at some of the growing cracks in Unity by focusing on the Teacher Retiremee election and how it is linked to the pension department S candidates and the impact on the pension department.

 

My recent blogs on the TRS election leads to bigger conclusions on the way the leadership has politicized the formerly semi-independent areas of the union. 

• David vs Unity Goliath in TRS Election as Fear and...
• TRS Election Pre-Outcome Analysis
• TRS Election Count - No Final Results Until June 2...
• Mulgrewism is the UFT Version of Trumpism MAGA     

Mulgrew wants tight control and total loyalty from every corner of the union. Current and former Unity insiders point to:

• Pension/TRS: Victoria Lee acts as boss in Mulgrew's name.
• Welfare Fund: Geoff Sorkin in name only.
• Call Center: Salesforce replaces UFT staff.
• Teacher center: Mary Vocarro turns it political.
• Grievance: Mark Collins. There hasn’t been a real grievance chair since Howie Solomon. There is no institutional knowledge and a fear to take cases. So much is non-precedential, so it’s wack a mole.
• Political action: The director is there just as a figure head. Cassie Prugh and Mulgrew make all the decisions. (Witness the decision to endorse Dan Goldman over Brad Lander, exposing Mulgrew's true politics.) 
• Borough offices: Amy Arundell fired from Queens office, along with Leah Linn, not the first time put in someone under his thumb. In 2016 Mulgrew replaced the popular Brooklyn Boro rep Debbie Poulos with a political hack according to some staffers. Some point to changes in the Bronx office too.
• NYSUT - Mulgrew's total takeover 2014 NYSUT Election Update: Message to Revive: Now that...NYSUT Election Update: Julie  Cavanagh Defeats Mulg...  NYSUT Update: MORE's Lauren Cohen Stands Up to Bul...

All politicized. The removal of institutional knowledge and so similar to Trump.

 

Coming Next: Part 2 - Genesis of the 2026 TRS Election.

The TRS election put a focus on former Unity loyalists who have been cast out of the cult. Recent history of TRS elections. How Mulgrew undermined trust by politicizing the pension dept and putting loyalty over competence.