How NYC Teachers Ran a Slate to Build Member Power

Teachers measure time in school years, not calendar years. As the new school year begins, I’ve been reflecting on my experiences from last year as an unexpected candidate for president of the 200,000-member United Federation of Teachers in New York City.

When last school year started, I was focused on teaching my students, supporting colleagues, and coaching middle school soccer. Running for the highest office in the largest local union in the country was not on my radar. I didn’t see myself as a potential presidential candidate, but fellow organizers within the UFT reform movement did.

In January 2025, I accepted the nomination to lead the Alliance of Retired and In-Service Educators (ARISE), a coalition slate uniting three major reform caucuses in the UFT: MORE (the Movement of Rank-and-File Educators), New Action, and Retiree Advocate.

We ran a slate of over 500 rank-and-file members committed to transforming the UFT into a militant, democratic, and social justice-driven union ready to fight for educators, students, and the communities we serve. We weren’t running to gain power for a few; we were running to build power for all UFT members.

We ran against the Unity Caucus, which has controlled the UFT since its founding in the 1960s and whose incumbent president, Michael Mulgrew, has headed the union since 2009. Also running was the A Better Contract (ABC) slate, led by a disaffected Unity Caucus member who had not been in the classroom since the early 2000s. Ours was the only slate helmed by a working educator.

My decision to run was driven by duty rather than ambition. In a time of rising authoritarianism, it is clear that we need a union that’s organized, courageous, and unapologetically on the side of justice, not just for UFT members but for all New Yorkers.

AN ORGANIZING CAMPAIGN

Early in the campaign, we got a powerful piece of advice: Don’t think of this as just an electoral campaign, but treat it as an organizing campaign. One that builds new relationships, develops new leaders, and earns real credibility for a bold, member-driven platform.

Through our platform, we fought for fair pay for all UFT members, an end to backroom deals with the city and state, and the implementation of open contract bargaining. We demanded the preservation of retiree benefits and championed single-payer healthcare for every New Yorker.

We pushed back against curriculum mandates that undermine teacher autonomy and reduce students to passive recipients rather than full, thinking human beings.

We called for restructuring how decisions are made in our union, making those processes more transparent, democratic, and member-centered. In January, we were the only slate brave enough to call out the Trump Administration’s attacks on our immigrant and LGBTQ+ students and to take to the streets with fellow New Yorkers.

We weren’t running just to win votes; we wanted to earn members' trust and build their belief that an organized, member-led, student-centered UFT is possible.

‘CANDIDATE CONVERSATIONS’

A core strategy of our campaign was to go to members and make a connection. Through our “Candidate Conversations” series, held in living rooms and on Zoom, we met with UFT members in small groups, prioritizing listening over speaking. We heard their fears, frustrations, and exhaustion, but also their hopes for their students, their schools, and their communities.

These conversations built trust in our vision for the UFT. Again and again, members said to us, “Your platform sounds amazing, but it doesn’t seem possible.” We responded by sharing real victories of our organizing in our schools and the victories of our labor siblings across the country.

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We drew from the experiences of educators in Massachusetts striking under anti-strike laws similar to New York State’s Taylor Law, Los Angeles teachers’ 2023 solidarity strike with their labor siblings in SEIU, and the Chicago Teachers Union’s contract that enshrined teaching Black history as a rebuke to Trump-era attacks. These weren’t just feel-good stories—they were proof of what’s possible, and some of our members heard about them for the first time from our campaign.

Another core strategy was treating the election as a learning opportunity for all UFT members. We created jargon-free, political education materials using social media and print to inform members about key issues: the pitfalls of our 2023 contract, health care fights, curriculum mandates, the impact of pattern bargaining for NYC public employees, and the importance of rank-and-file organizing. These resources built credibility and helped new leaders, who used them to spark one-on-one conversations in their schools.

STAY OUT OF THE MUD

We also built trust through our approach to the election. UFT elections are often toxic, and this one was no exception. ARISE candidates faced harassment, bullying, and even doxxing from members of the opposing slates.

We refused to be distracted and remained focused on the urgent needs of our schools. Sometimes it felt like we were the only ones focusing on school issues and staying out of the mud. That focus helped us build bridges, not just within ARISE, but even with members of opposing slates. In a deeply divided space, we showed what real leadership rooted in integrity and purpose looks like.

Unity ultimately secured 54 percent of the vote, their narrowest victory to date, with voter turnout at just 29 percent. ABC won 32 percent, and ARISE won 14 percent. Michael Mulgrew began his sixth term as UFT President on July 1.

For ARISE candidates and supporters, this campaign marks not an end, but a beginning. My hope is that we can maintain our shared commitment to maintaining the relationships we’ve built, developing new leaders, and organizing around our platform, so we will not have to start from scratch in two years if we decide to run in UFT elections again. Instead we can start from the strong foundation we have built.

More importantly, I believe we can reach and unite with even more UFT members who share our vision for a student-centered, rank-and-file-led union. By coming together intentionally over the next few years, we can hopefully avoid a divided opposition and build the collective power needed to transform our union.

While we did not win numerically, our message is winning. For me, it’s never been about who runs the union, but how it’s run. While we didn’t win the election by vote count, we did win through our impact.

Because of our campaign organizing pushing for a more robust response to the Trump administration, the UFT now has a Member Action Committee uniting members to resist attacks on public education. Additionally, in the run up to voting, our opponents in the Unity caucus adopted a platform plank dedicated to fighting for 12 weeks of paid family leave, months after we had made a similar commitment in our campaign platform.

Finally, just two weeks after the election and at the invitation of UFT staff and officers, two members of the ARISE slate and I led a full-day Secrets of a Successful Organizer training at our union’s headquarters. This was one of the first organizer trainings offered to members in decades and hopefully indicates a willingness from the elected officers and staff to start supporting this type of work by members. Most importantly, we’ve built a movement of in-service and retired educators organizing side by side for the betterment of the UFT members, our students, and the communities we serve.

Change is happening in the largest local union in the country, and I am proud to say that ARISE’s positive campaign helped make it possible.

Olivia Swisher was previously a middle school visual arts teacher and UFT Chapter Leader at MS 821 in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. This fall she is joining a new school community at PS/IS 30 in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, teaching visual arts to elementary and middle school students.