Michael Mulgrew

Michael Mulgrew is the fifth president of the United Federation of Teachers, which represents nearly 200,000 New York City public school educators and school-related professionals, as well as child care providers, nurses, adult education instructors, retired members and other titles and organizations. He has been president since July 2009.

In the middle of the 2019-20 school year, the COVID pandemic created unprecedented health, safety and professional challenges for our members. Mulgrew led with a focus on protecting the children in our schools and their families, along with preserving members’ safety and their livelihood.

First pressuring the mayor to close the schools in mid-March, he insisted that schools not reopen in September 2020 without trained Building Response Teams, safety protocols, Personal Protective Equipment and random testing and tracing regimens.

Through collective bargaining and successful arbitration, the union fought off layoffs, negotiated payments for operational issues and secured paraprofessional workday equity.

Mulgrew advanced a five-point plan for the September 2021 return to schools, including smaller class sizes and interventions to support students’ academic and mental health, along with professional development for members.

Under his leadership, the union has won contracts that raised educator pay and benefits, extended due process rights to paraprofessionals and expanded the authority of school-based UFT consultation committees.

Mulgrew taught for 12 years at William E. Grady HS in Brooklyn, where he was chapter leader. The Staten Island native has degrees in English literature and special education from CUNY’s College of Staten Island.