They Keep the Schools Running—It’s Time We Had Their Backs

By Paul Egan, ABC Candidate for Secretary

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Last week, we met with more than 80 school secretaries from across the city. One after another, they painted a picture of a job that’s gotten harder, lonelier, and less respected, while the union that’s supposed to protect them has gone silent.

Let’s be honest about what’s happening.

School secretaries have seen their working conditions deteriorate while the expectations placed on them balloon. In too many buildings, they are the one-person operations team, expected to manage everything from payroll to parent calls, DOE systems to attendance, all while absorbing the frustration of administrators and staff over rules they didn’t write—and have no power to change.

They are being asked to do more with less. Less support. Less training. Less clarity. And far too often, less respect.

But what struck me the most in that meeting wasn’t just what secretaries are being put through. It’s how invisible they feel. How clearly they said they don’t believe that Michael Mulgrew even sees their struggles, let alone cares to fix them. They were quick to acknowledge how their Chapter Leader is trying all she can for them, but is being held back by Mulgrew.

Let me say this: they’re not wrong.

The current UFT President has built a culture where only one thing matters: maintaining their power. Not service titles. Not the dignity of the work. Not whether you're a para, a guidance counselor, a secretary, or a teacher. If you don’t hold a leadership position, if you don’t have a vote at 52 Broadway, you’re not a VIP. You’re a means to an end. The only VIPs in this union are the ones who hold the power and the rest of us are expected to fall in line, fund the operation, and stay quiet.

We’re done with that.

A Better Contract is about building something entirely different. We’re not climbing a ladder to join the elite. We’re tearing down the whole rotten scaffolding and replacing it with something built from the ground up—by members, for members.

Because secretaries deserve a union that has their back. Not just during contract time, but every single day. That starts with a member-driven mindset: one where secretaries organize, not just complain. One where they decide, not just hope. One where the union is not a place they go to for answers, it’s a structure they help shape to win the changes they deserve.

Imagine this: a union where secretaries aren’t isolated, but connected. Where they’re not scattered and scrambling, but part of citywide and borough-based networks that share knowledge, build campaigns, and push back together. Where DOE abuse doesn’t go unchallenged. Where no one is asked to do the work of three people in silence. Where your job description isn’t just a document—it’s a boundary backed by union muscle.

This is what member power looks like. Not lip service. Not backroom deals. Not "we’ll look into it." Real power, built by members standing together, across job titles and boroughs, demanding better and winning more.

Secretaries are often the first person a parent sees when they walk into a school. The first one a child speaks to when they’re late or scared. The one who keeps the building breathing when everyone else is scrambling. They are not background players in our schools—they are essential.

And they deserve a union that treats them like it.

We don’t have to accept this status quo. We can fight for something better—and we will. Because every UFT member matters. Every building matters. And every struggle to improve working conditions is a building block for the kind of union we’re trying to become.

We see you. We heard you. And we’re ready to fight alongside you.

Let’s build a union that reflects your strength, your leadership, and your worth.

Let’s build A Better Contract.