The UFT has been a political player since its founding 60 years ago, first in New York City and New York State and now across the country as its retiree ranks have grown and those retirees have settled in other parts of the United States.

The union has always encouraged its members to vote and has endorsed candidates at the local, state and national level who support union goals of strong public schools and social justice. Now, for the crucial presidential election on Nov. 3, UFT volunteers have been busier than ever as they work to turn out a record vote for the Biden/Harris ticket.

Volunteers are making phone calls from home, with most using the Labor Action Network, which provides training, caller scripts and lists of voters that can be broken down to meet the needs of every retiree section.

Phone bank coordinators agree that the myriad ways the nationwide Labor Action Network lists break down — including by political party, district, school board and candidates with bios — is extremely helpful.

Millie Glaberman was a teacher and the UFT political coordinator when she set up the union’s first phone bank 40 years ago. She is still active today. “We used phones back then to encourage in-service members to vote in every aspect of politics that affected us,” she explained. “We got to know the candidates, and they began to realize the political importance of union endorsement.”

Glaberman now has an army of 180 retiree volunteers in New York City, with the list still growing. Some use the New York State United Teachers platform to call 4,580 New York State retirees in electoral districts where we have endorsed candidates. The rest use the Labor Action Network to reach 14,177 retired and in-service households here in New York, as well as educators and other union members in Florida, a crucial swing state.

With Florida’s in-service educators overwhelmed by the state’s school openings, the new president of the Florida Education Association, Andrew Spar, who is also secretary treasurer of the state’s AFL-CIO and a native New Yorker, called on the UFT for help. So, in addition to trying to get the UFT’s 10,000 or so Florida residents out to vote, UFT retirees will also be calling AFT and AFL-CIO members in the state.

“These are not just New York transplants, but also native Floridian union members, in-service and retired,” notes RTC Chair Tom Murphy.

Christine Rowland and Patti Vitucci, the RTC coordinators on the Florida coasts, report that volunteers completed 4,500 calls to UFT retirees in Round 1 by the end of September, with three rounds of follow-up calls set before Election Day. The first of the follow-up calls will be to ensure mail ballots have been received, the second to encourage voters to vote early, and the last to encourage anyone who still has not voted to cast their ballot.

Mark Chakin, the New Jersey political coordinator, reports UFT volunteers, working with AFT volunteers, have completed Labor Action Network training and are busy on the phones. Since all voters in New Jersey get mail-in ballots, volunteers are urging them to fill out the ballots carefully and send them in immediately.

Murphy thanked the volunteers for their efforts to overcome obstacles social distancing imposes on traditional political activities.

“The prospect of four more years of the kind of debacle witnessed in the first presidential debate,” he said, “has motivated many to work even harder to help elect a positive, labor-friendly ticket: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.”