When nearly 4,000 paraprofessionals were threatened with termination in the spring of 2009 for failing to meet certification requirements, the UFT went into high gear to save their jobs. The union held informational meetings in 940 schools and in each borough to help paraprofessionals understand what documentation or certification requirements they were missing and what they had to do. The union certification department and the union health and safety department worked days, nights and weekends for months to make sure all requirements were met by the Aug. 31, 2014, deadline. In the end, the UFT saved 3,949 jobs. Rose Ann Cimino of PS 132 in Brooklyn (pictured) was one of the paraprofessionals who credited the union with helping her to "keep a job I love."