"You have reached the promised land,” UFT President Michael Mulgrew said, congratulating 650 cheering new retirees at the union’s luncheon in their honor at the New York Hilton in midtown Manhattan on Nov. 26.

In accordance with the 2014 DOE-UFT contract, all UFT-represented employees who worked from 2009 to 2018 (or a portion of that period) received a lump-sum payment in October 2019. The payment represents 25 percent of the money owed in 2018. There will be one more payment in October 2020.

Two former UFT chapter leaders and union activists from Brooklyn reconnect and start a new Mid-Hudson Retiree Section.

A former English teacher at JHS 240 in Brooklyn may have retired from his job but he’s been working the theater audiences in Florida for the past 20 years.

Hundreds of UFT members watched as the names of six lifelong unionists joined those of other UFT giants on the Wall of Honor in the lobby of union headquarters in Manhattan on Nov. 18. The crowd overflowed into Shanker Hall to watch a livestream of the unveiling on an evening of mutual respect, solidarity and union pride.

The UFT’s Member Assistance Program was launched on Dec. 8, 2009.