More in Response to Unity UFT Leadership's Threat of Litigation Against A Better Contract
On December 8, 2025, A Better Contract received a cease and desist letter from UNITY/UFT leadership through an outside law firm. The letter accuses ABC of misusing the UFT name and allegedly creating confusion with the membership about our identity. We are choosing to address this publicly because members deserve full transparency, and because this cease and desist letter says far more about the current leadership of our union than it does about ABC. Read about the cease and desist letter here. This video below also explains:
A Better Contract (ABC) is a slate and community of UFT members. We are educators who want a stronger and more democratic union. We speak openly about our union because we are part of it. The right to speak, organize, and challenge union leadership is not only legal, but deeply rooted in the history of labor movements. It is how unions grow, improve, and stay accountable. Nothing in our work has ever suggested that we are the central UFT organization. We are UFT members who expect better from the people elected to represent us.
The cease and desist letter is not a ruling from a judge or any legal authority. In fact, Unity UFT leadership took ABC to an arbitration last school year and LOST. Read that decision here.
This new cease and desist letter from Unity UFT leadership is nothing more than a cheap political tactic designed by an elitist group to preserve their positions of power and self-interests.
Unity UFT leadership chose to threaten its own members, using the dues we pay, rather than engage in conversation or debate. What makes this even more concerning is the long and well-documented history of other UFT slates and caucuses publicly using the UFT name in their titles, on their websites, in their email addresses, social media handles, and in their campaign materials. Unity Caucus has operated for decades using official-sounding names and imagery that mirror UFT branding — including in their logo using UFT typography. Other groups have done the same (e.g. MORE-UFT, RA/UFT, NAC-UFT, SOLIDARITY-UFT).
Furthermore, UFT legal has been derelict in filing for a trademark for our union’s name and logo with the federal government in its decades of existence. A cursory search of the United States Patent and Trademark office seemingly shows no official registration for the union brand other than a poster design for a bullying campaign in 2014. This lack of an official trademark registration was mentioned by the arbitrator that denied Unity UFT leadership’s domain lawsuit against ABC, back in June 2025.
The selective enforcement of our union’s mark by Unity UFT leadership is impossible to ignore. If the concern were truly about protecting the UFT name, then leadership would apply this standard to everyone, including their own Unity caucus. Instead, they are targeting the one slate that has gained momentum, organized members citywide, asked difficult questions, and challenged the status quo. This is not about trademarks. This is about power.
This latest letter goes beyond the false claim of ABC using the UFT mark improperly. It seeks to erase our right to free speech and assembly. It goes as far as saying that ABC-UFT is not a faction within the UFT and that we cannot call for “a better contract” in relation to the UFT.
The letter attempts to intimidate hard-working, dues-paying members of our UFT by suggesting that individuals could be personally liable. This type of language is meant to scare volunteers away from participating in union democracy. The reality is that Unity UFT leadership has never done this before. They have never taken legal action against UFT members for participation in a slate or political organizing. By doing so, Unity UFT leadership are causing a political crisis of their own making.
UFT members should not be afraid. The right to organize within a union does not disappear because leadership is uncomfortable with criticism.Nothing in this cease and desist letter changes who we are or what we stand for. Despite this letter seeking to erase ABC-UFT as a faction and force within our union, A Better Contract will continue to share information, organize members, and advocate for salaries that outpace the cost of living, better working conditions, stronger pension and healthcare protections, improved transparency, and a more democratic union. These goals matter to thousands of educators across the city, and legal threats will not silence that work.
If anything, this moment reinforces exactly why ABC formed in the first place. A union becomes weaker when leadership uses fear instead of dialogue. A union becomes stronger when members participate, question, challenge, and push for a better path forward. We are committed to that work. We will continue to show up, organize, and speak the truth about what is happening inside this union. We will continue to be proud members of our UFT.
We are not going anywhere, and we will not allow bullying and intimidation tactics to stop UFT members from fighting for the union they deserve
We as UFT members are all entitled to voice our opinions. Threatening litigation based on a disagreement with any opinion shows a tactic we all abhor, Bullying! I pay union dues and keep an open mind to all members views. I did it as a CL and continue to do so as a retiree for any working or retiree members who contact me. Leadership should do the same.
It's been over 6 months since the UFT general election, and Unity just can't get ABC out of their heads.