With the UFT's current collective bargaining agreements for Public School members ending this fall, this episode of THOSE WHO CAN focuses on the importance of contract negotiations. Your hosts, Diamond and Greg, dive deeply into the subject with UFT VP Anne Goldman as well as school-based members Arthur Goldstein and John Perez.

Anne Goldman, the UFT Vice-President for non-DOE members discusses how the UFT-represented nurses dealt with the strains and struggles being on the front lines of the COVID pandemic. Anne also shares the recent monumental victory that the nurses at NYU Langone had in their contract negotiations that resulted in a fair contract that recognizes their hard work and allowed them to avoid a near-certain strike. The segment ends with Anne giving her insight and sharing her vast experience of what unions and their members need to think about when preparing for and conducting contract negotiations. 

Diamond and Greg are then joined by Arthur Goldstein and John Perez to discuss their experiences as members of the 400-member contract committee from the last round of UFT contract negotiations and their hopes and expectations for the new round starting at the end of March. Arthur, an ENL teacher from Francis Lewis High School shares his thoughts as a 37-year educator and long-time Chapter Leader. John, a Chapter Leader and paraprofessional from MS80 in the Bronx explains how important it was and is for functional chapters to have a voice in contract negotiations that affect them. 

THOSE WHO CAN is a podcast focusing on the issues that matter to all of our rank-and-file UFT members who do the work every day. THOSE WHO CAN is brought to you by the UNITY Caucus of the UFT.