EONYC, The WIRE:
don’t confuse a temporary check with a raise.
don’t confuse a political campaign with collective bargaining.
Arthur Goldstein, The Ever-Shifting Rationales of Michael Mulgrew
You CAN’T circumvent collective bargaining.
That’s what he [Mulgrew] told us as we tried to pass 1096. No doubt he’ll trot this out again as we support the newly named 1008. The problem, he claims, with a bill that would make our health care city policy and eliminate his beloved co-pays is it violates collective bargaining.
Monday, Sept. 7, 2026 - Happy Labor DayParas Need a Living Wage Now, Not To Be Used as Political Props - Educators of NYC, Daniel Alicea
If we delve deeper, we can see that Mamdani is actually more pro-labor than Mulgrew and his corrupt UFT leadership by defending the collective bargaining agreement as the way to enact permanent economic health for paras as opposed to a one-time non-pensionable gimmick.
A lawsuit filed by the Mamdani administration to block $10,000 bonuses for teachers’ aides has put the mayor at odds with their union.
When Mayor Zohran Mamdani sued the City Council over its end-run move to give $10,000 bonuses to teachers’ aides outside the normal collective bargaining process, the mayor placed himself at the short end of a two-on-one battle.
Not only would the mayor square off against the City Council, a frequent sparring partner, but he would also embark on his first major fight with a public sector union, in this case the United Federation of Teachers.
In doing so, a mayor eager to burnish his pro-worker bona fides has scrambled conventional wisdom and left himself in the strange position of being praised by some of his most committed critics.
“Mamdani does right,” read a recent headline from The New York Post’s conservative editorial
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/31/nyregion/mamdani-uft-paraprofessionals-budget.html
Julie Menin’s power grab in pushing bonuses for NYC paraprofessionals would make Trump proud
Because Speaker Julie Menin knows better, her unabashed abuse of power in orchestrating a unanimous City Council vote for a $10,000 bonus payment for NYC’s deeply deserving school paraprofessionals would make Donald Trump proud.
Her usurping the mayor’s exclusive authority under the state Taylor Law to negotiate contracts was a naked giveaway to the powerful teachers union and United Federation of Teachers President Mike Mulgrew and sets a dangerous precedent at City Hall.
With 26k paras and 70K retirees and his re-election coming up a year later, losing big in those chapters could very well have turned into a loss for Unity - and both results spurred Amy Arundell and other unhappy Unity people to join with some standard opposition folk to form a potent ABC and become a threat. Mulgrew pivoted by declaring he no longer backed MedAdvantage and for the paras came up with the one-time non-pensionable 10k bonus.
And it seemed to work in time for the 2025 election . One of the reasons ABC actually thought it had a chance to win even in a 3 slate race was the hope that the para and retiree vote would be substantial. While the retiree vote dropped from 2024 it was still enough to continue to worry Unity with Unity regaining some ground but fundamentally in a 50-50 split with the ABC/ARISE combo retiree vote. (I will delve deeply into the upcoming RTC election.)
The para vote was not substantial, as the Unity blitz before the election gave paras the impression Mulgrew was really fighting for them. It will be interesting to see how things play out in the upcoming para chapter election if FPP runs a slate. Will there be some blowback if they still haven't gotten the check by the spring?
While supporting the 10k as an emergency bonus, ABC pointed out the one-time only gimmicky aspect and called for paras to get a permanent pensionable raise in contract negotiations, while also pointing out that Mulgrew had his chance to get them a big raise in the last contract and didn't even try. For taking that position, Unity attacked ABC as being against the 10K and that also cut down the vote. But 140 paras ran with ABC -- and none with ARISE.
Now that Mamdani is taking the collective bargaining position in opposing the 10k bonus and in essence challenging Mulgrew to bargain effectively (two contradictory words for UFT negotiators) he also puts to shame the Mulgrew position that supporting City Council bills to protect retiree healthcare violates collective bargaining and the Taylor Law. Taking one side for an issue and taking the contradictory side for another issue is not out of bounds in the UFT.
Tell Our Councilmembers to Support 1008
Please do your part to help get 1008 passed!
I left a text linking the para election issue at the Brian Lehrer show regarding the election after a segment on the para issue last week.
Daniel points out that if going around contract negotiations and using politics to bargain is good for the goose, it is also good for the gander as other unions will play the same game.
Daniel Alicea nailed the FPP election impact:
The ripple effects are already beginning.
Council Member Joann Ariola has announced legislation proposing $20,000 workforce stabilization payments for FDNY EMTs and $25,000 payments for FDNY paramedics, arguing they face the same recruitment and retention crisis.
She probably won’t be the last.
School aides.
School crossing guards.
School food service workers.
Childcare workers.
EMTs.
And countless other lower-paid municipal employees now have every reason to ask the same question.
Paras Need a Living Wage Now, Not To Be Used as Political Props
While UFT leadership, City Council Speaker Menin and Mayor Mamdani are cast as heroes and villains, we continue to forget paraprofessionals need a permanent living wage, now — not later.
More from Dan
The Good, Bad and Ugly - The NYC Para Bill
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