For Immediate Release
Press contact: Mike Schirtzer
(917)683-7014
(New York, N.Y.) The "A Better Contract" slate is sounding the alarm on a desperate, undemocratic move by United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew and his Unity Caucus in the upcoming UFT union-wide officer elections. Despite paper ballots being mailed out to members on May 1st, Mulgrew has decided to add his own election rules and block several attempts to increase voter participation.
After years of rejecting electronic voting—even though our sister AFT union, PSC-CUNY, already uses it successfully—and watching turnout plummet, Unity is now pushing a last-minute in-person voting plan at select, controlled locations. Meanwhile, they’re rejecting the one solution that would actually boost turnout and empower members: in-person voting at our own schools and worksites, the same way we vote for our union contract, Chapter Leaders, Delegates, and Paraprofessional Representatives. The fact we elect our building representatives in school, but not who leads our union is absurd.
Online voting would also allow for members with disabilities, such as those who are visually impaired, to cast their votes independently. This would be considered a “Reasonable Accommodation” under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA).
“They had no interest in increasing participation when members demanded real reform,” said Amy Arundell, UFT Presidential challenger. “Now that they’re losing their grip, they want to stage controlled, in-person voting sites where they can feed you, give you a gift—and convince you to vote again.”
Here’s the catch: if a member votes again in person, that vote overrides their mail-in ballot. That means your original vote—already cast —gets thrown out and replaced. It’s double voting with a twist: only the second vote counts.
Even more concerning, many of these in-person voting events are being held at special dinners and award ceremonies—mixing voting with celebrations in a way that creates the appearance of impropriety. This raises serious ethical concerns and calls into question the legitimacy of the entire process.
“They won’t let us vote at school or online—but they’ll hand out dinners, awards, and gift bags, then tell members to vote again. First vote tossed. That’s not democracy—it’s a scam,” said Daniel Alicea, candidate for UFT Vice President of Middle Schools.
“This is about one thing: control,” said Arundell. “Unity knows the only way they can hold onto power is by stacking the deck—selecting who votes where, while their loyal insiders run the show.”
To make matters worse, the so-called “nonpartisan” election committee is anything but. It’s filled with Unity Caucus members and paid union staffers, making this entire process biased from the top down.
The A Better Contract slate has filed a lawsuit to stop this manipulation and is demanding a fair election—where every vote counts, no matter how or where it’s cast.
“This union belongs to the educators in our classrooms—not to a political machine clinging to power,” said Arundell. “We’re not backing down.”
Link to full lawsuit here
A Better Contract is an independent slate of over 550 UFT members that will challenge the over six
