The United Federation of Teachers (UFT), New York City’s largest teachers union has filed a lawsuit against Mayor Zohran Mamdani after he sought to block a pay raise for education paraprofessionals. Mamdani’s opposition to the policy follows the New York City Council unanimously passing a law that would offer up to a $10,000 bonus for education paraprofessionals.
Mamdani’s administration sued to block the law earlier this month.
The teachers union has since taken efforts to counteract Mamdani’s effort.
“We knew this lawsuit was a possibility, and we were prepared,” UFT President Michael Mulgrew told Fox News Digital. “The RESPECT check law, which was unanimously passed by City Council on July 16, was carefully drafted to make sure that it did not violate the state’s Taylor Law, which governs collective bargaining.”
“This City Council would not have introduced — let alone passed — this bill if it were illegal, and we would not have supported a bill that threatened our collective bargaining rights,” Mulgrew added. “This moment is an opportunity for Mayor Mamdani to create a new, fairer system and build the kind of city he said he wanted to lead. This administration must keep its promises, and we won’t stop until it does.”
The union previously endorsed Mamdani upon his securing the Democratic nomination for mayor last year.
The lawsuit is not the only action underway against Mamdani’s administration, as he has also been sued by a coalition representing immigrant-owned grocers in response to his plan to open several government-owned stores in the city.
