Powerful UFT union boss pushed $10K teaching assistant raises on top of bloated NYC budget

Powerful United Federation of Teachers union boss Michael Mulgrew was the driving force behind the City Council’s controversial move to give teaching assistants $10,000 raises — on top of a bloated education budget, sources revealed Friday.Mulgrew pushed council allies, including Speaker Julie Menin, to pass a bill with the pay bump that bypassed union contract negotiations, according to three sources with knowledge of the situation.But many critics worry the end-run around the collective bargaining process could open the floodgates for other budget-busting union asks.“It’s a bad idea and a bad precedent,” said Nicole Gelinas, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a prominent conservative think tank.“Are we going do this with all unions who can’t get a deal?”Sources said Mulgrew dropped the ball for years on paraprofessional pay during collective bargaining, leading him and his council cronies to craft a workaround after he faced a stiff leadership challenge last year.It means more funding for public schools, on top of the whopping $38.6 billion budgeted for the Department of Education, the most of any city agency.The final bill unanimously approved by the council Thursday also dovetailed with what insiders said was Menin’s desire to score political points against Mayor Zohran Mamdani, whom sources believe she plans to challenge in the 2029 Democratic mayoral primary.“Even though the council is positioning itself as more moderate, it wants to spend more than the mayor,” Gelinas said.Mamdani supported the raises during his 2025 mayoral campaign, but changed his tune once in office.

He raised concerns Thursday that the pay bumps should’ve been negotiated in collective bargaining.Now, all eyes are on whether Mamdani will sign the bill into law or opt for politically bruising veto fight.He has 30 days to either sign or veto it, or let it go into effect without taking any action.“The mayor is kind of in a box now,” one source said.

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