Two previous unions of New York schoolteachers, the Teachers Union, founded in 1916, and the Teachers Guild, formed in 1935 failed to gather widespread enrollment or support. Many of the early leaders were pacifists or socialists and viewed with suspicion. The ethnically and ideologically heterogeneous nature of the teaching community and of New Yorkers as a whole also made the creation of a single organized body difficult.
The UFT was founded in 1960, largely in response to perceived unfairness in the educational system's treatment of teachers. Pensions only were awarded to retired teachers over 65 or with 35 years of service. Female teachers faced two years of mandatory unpaid maternity leave after giving birth. Principals could discipline or fire teachers with almost no oversight. The schools, experiencing a massive influx of Baby Boomer students, often were on double or triple session. Despite being college-educated professionals, often holding advanced master's degrees, teachers drew a salary of just 66$ a week - in 2005 dollars, the equivalent of $21000 a year.
The UFT was created on March 16, 1960, and grew rapidly. On November 7th1960, the union organized a major strike. The strike largely failed in its main objectives but obtained some concessions, as well as bringing much popular attention to the union. After much further negotiation, the UFT was chosen as the collective bargaining organization for all City teachers in December 1961.
From 1964 onwards, the president of the UFT was Albert Shanker, a controversial but successful organizer. He was UFT head until 1974, when he became president of the larger AFT.
In 1968, in the context of nationwide unrest over race and discrimination, several Jewish teachers were fired in the largely African-American neighborhood of Ocean Hill-Brownsville. Claiming discrimination and a violation of due process, teachers citywide struck.
The 1970s were a time of fiscal crisis for New York City. In 1975, some 14,000 teachers were laid off and class size soared. Another strike addressed some of these complaints and gave long-serving teachers longevity benefits.
Current Issues
The current president of the UFT is Randi Weingarten. She has clashed repeatedly with the mayors of the city; in particular with former mayor Rudy Giuliani and current (as of 2005) mayor Michael Bloomberg. The latter has controversially made student promotion to third, sixth and eighth grade contingent upon performance on standardized tests; the UFT opposes these plans.
