The United Federation of Teachers (UFT) finds itself up against an unlikely challenger: New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
On August 19, Mamdani pressed a lawsuit against the New York City Council over a measure backed by the UFT that would grant paraprofessionals—teachers’ aides—a one-time $10,000 bonus. This payment would represent a substantial raise for the city’s paraprofessionals, some of whom earn as little as $33,000 per year.
The City Council voted unanimously to approve the RESPECT Check Act in July, and it became law on August 19 without Mamdani either signing it or vetoing it, as reported by Chalkbeat. That same day, New York City Hall filed suit to block the statute. Then, on August 25, the UFT filed a motion to intervene in the litigation.
Mamdani’s suit against the Council centers largely on procedural points. In its complaint, the city contends that “the bill ignores nearly sixty years of well-established collective bargaining process under the Taylor Law—which requires that public employers and unions negotiate in good faith on mandatory subjects of bargaining.”
The filing also warns that by sidestepping that process and trying to boost paraprofessionals’ pay through legislative fiat (at a conservatively estimated cost of $324.9 million), the Council would set a dangerous and unlawful precedent with significant fiscal ramifications for the Department of Education of the City School District of the City of New York (DOE) and the City—and, by extension, for the taxpayers.
A spokesperson for the mayor, Matt Rauschenbach, reinforced these collective bargaining concerns. He stated that the administration would “not allow the political process to replace the collective bargaining table.”
“The City is filing a lawsuit to protect the right of every union to negotiate on behalf of its members, to fight for the workplace they deserve and ensure that workers – not politicians – determine their own futures,” he added in a public statement.
Although Mamdani isn’t typically seen as an emblem of fiscal restraint, his concerns about the bill’s budgetary impact are valid. In July, the Citizens Budget Commission (CBC), a nonpartisan civic watchdog group, issued a statement opposing the measure, estimating that it would add about $325 million to spending just two weeks after the budget was adopted.
“If this bill becomes law, other unions may also seek legislation to raise compensation beyond what they have collectively bargained for,” the CBC warned. “That would erode the bargaining framework, increase pressure for off-cycle pay raises, and expose the City to substantial future costs.”
The bill’s lead sponsor, City Council member Carmen De La Rosa (who put the cost at $250 million), argued that the expense would be warranted, according to News 12 Brooklyn. In a joint statement with City Council Speaker Julie Menin, De La Rosa noted that the city already faces a paraprofessional staffing shortage, which has led to $1.5 billion in settlements for shortcomings in meeting special education needs.
As the New York Post editorial board suggested, Mamdani could raise paraprofessional pay “by finding the cash somewhere in the city’s bloated $39 billion schools budget and negotiating it into the next contract.” That would be the ideal outcome. Yet given his recent increases to the education department’s budget—even as New York City public school enrollment declines—he may have to cover the costs later by asking taxpayers for more, without eradicating waste.
