More than 1,000 UFT members and guests — including James Geigel, his immigrant grandparents Angelina and Modesto Hernandez and his mother Nitza Hernandez — all paras or paras who became teachers — packed the New York Hilton's Grand Ballroom to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the chapter.

The UFT unveiled its new app a year ago. With UFT-Mobile, members can handle much of their union business, from registering for CTLE classes to checking what the DOE-UFT contract says on key topics to calling a union office or Welfare Fund program.

A substantial increase in state funding for New York City public schools topped the agenda for the more than a thousand UFT members and public school parents who traveled to Albany on March 18 to meet with their state representatives for the UFT’s annual Lobby Day.

About 100 musicians in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra have traded their instruments for picket signs, striking to demand a contract that protects their pension plan and provides fair wages.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew made the case for more funding for school programs that directly aid students in budget testimony on March 20 before the City Council Education Committee. At the same time, he asked the Council members to make sure state funds are not derailed or swallowed up the city’s education bureaucracy.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew reminded the Delegate Assembly on March 20 that the new citywide safety standards called for in the DOE-UFT contract are in effect and he urged chapter leaders who hadn’t gotten the necessary training to do so as soon as possible.