Misogyny, Silence, and Power: What Two Harassment Cases Reveal About the UFT’s Broken Culture
Our social contract with union leadership remains broken. Calls to just 'move on' and ignore the elephant in the room are ANTI-UNION.
The following article was submitted by a UFT delegate. They’ve asked to remain anonymous because of fears of retaliation and bullying.
In recent weeks, two powerful accounts—Katie Anskat’s exposé of sexual harassment at a UFT Delegate Assembly and Jamie Polzin’s personal account of alleged, prolonged abuse under a senior UFT official—have cracked open the façade of solidarity at the United Federation of Teachers. Beneath the surface of one of New York’s most powerful labor unions lies a culture of patronage, impunity, and institutional failure when it comes to protecting its caucus loyalists —and even its own staff—from gender-based harm and workplace protections.
These incidents aren’t just personal tragedies or isolated “bad apples.”
While some would like nothing more than to pit these incidents against each other in some sick, caucus-fueled ‘Sexual Harassment Olympics’, we’re woefully missing the root cause of a cancer in our collective midst.
Some would rather say “it’s time to move on from all of this” and “let’s just focus on our union’s other enemies”, but to do so without self-analysis means we are our own worst enemy.
Both incidents are case studies of a systemic failure: a lack of enforceable safeguards, inadequate procedures for victims and the accused, and an entrenched power structure that discourages transparency and accountability.
Incident One: Weaponized Misogyny at the Delegate Assembly
On June 11, laminated images of union reform leader Amy Arundell with the phrase “Piss on my face” were found inside men’s bathroom urinals during the UFT Delegate Assembly at 52 Broadway. The message was unmistakable: women who speak out—especially those who challenge Unity Caucus control—will be humiliated in the most dehumanizing way possible.
While President Michael Mulgrew condemned the act and ordered an investigation, questions remain: Who felt emboldened to carry this out in union headquarters? What safeguards were in place to protect delegates and staff from harassment at official union events? Why were no immediate internal mechanisms triggered?
This was not just a case of crude vandalism. It was gendered intimidation with political intent, aimed at silencing dissent and punishing female leadership.
Incident Two: A Staffer Silenced
In her essay “To My Union Siblings,” UFT staffer, Jamie Polzin, recounts months of alleged harassment by her supervisor, Paul Egan, a high-ranking figure with longstanding ties to Mulgrew’s administration. She alleges sexually aggressive language, retaliatory behavior, and a toxic work environment in which complaints were ignored or, worse, used against her.
The accused, Egan, vehemently denied Polzin’s allegations and claims that an internal, informal investigation took place nearly 9 years ago.
We must surmise that, ultimately, this matter was handled “in-house” by top leadership and resulted in the charges being unsubstantiated as Egan was not immediately terminated, removed, nor sanctioned while Polzin was moved to another department.
Anything less than that supposition means that top UFT leadership allowed sexual misconduct to go unchecked.
Egan was removed from his union post, nearly two years later. He and a co-worker had an 18-month consensual relationship that went sour. Egan, once again, insists he did nothing wrong and that the charges were politically motivated.
While this all may be construed by some as a classic case of “he said, she said”, what’s painfully clear is that Polzin’s efforts to report and be heard were obstructed by systemic failures at a UFT 52 Broadway workplace that reportedly doesn’t even have an HR manual.
Conversely, we also see no clear internal UFT workplace provisions or processes for due process for the accused either — with Egan.
This is not just a catastrophic failure of top leadership—it’s a symptom of a union culture that lacks independent accountability, a clear HR infrastructure, and basic protections for workers that contribute to systemic rot.
A Deep-Rooted Culture of Impunity
What emerges is a portrait of a union where informal power dynamics overshadow both union values-based policy and justice:
No Victim-informed Harassment Policy: There appears to be no clear, survivor-centered process to report, investigate, and address sexual and workplace harassment in UFT. Victims and the accused alike are left to navigate a political minefield with no clear protections.
Patronage v. Oversight: A powerful and entrenched caucus dominates internal elections and staff assignments. Many argue that loyalty—rather than conduct, performance and competency —is rewarded. Even abusers are protected if they serve the political machinery well enough.
Fear of Retaliation: Victims seemingly admit lacking confidence in the UFT’s procedures, fearing retaliation reflects barriers to reporting and trust.
Delayed Justice: Instituting external probes or transferring offenders appears reactive, often only after incidents become public or legally pressing—leaving victims exposed in the interim.
Limited, Unclear Systemic Guidelines: A lack of defined policies, processes and bylaws systemically allows for very loose, fluid guidelines, wanton and subjective enforcement and internal partisan politics to prevail.
The Urgent Need for Structural Reform
To shift from optics to action, UFT must confront several stark realities:
Anti‑Harassment Enforcement -The union must institute transparent, enforceable policies—covering all union spaces—with mandatory sexual and workplace harassment training tailored for internal functions and interactions.
Independent Oversight Mechanisms- Reliance on internal caucus leadership to police peers is a conflict of interest. Independent and/or member-run protected channels for reporting and follow‑up are non-negotiable.
Accountability over Loyalty - UFT leadership must commit to rooting out harassment irrespective of rank. Personnel investigations should culminate in timely, transparent outcomes.
Protecting the Vulnerable - Union culture should empower—not punish—the marginalized. Whistleblowers deserve support, safety, and recognition—not suspicion, caucus-centered character attacks, ostracism, or silence.
Rooting Out Patriarchal Practices -The high-stakes, combative dynamics of caucus politics must be replaced with respectful, rights-based margins, especially around gender equity, ending vote suppression, increasing member input and demanding professional conduct in all spaces.
Allowing the Administrative Staff to Unionize - While teachers, paraprofessionals and other UFT professionals enjoy the protections of collective bargaining, the administrative staff within UFT remain unorganized and unprotected.
These staffers/workers often operate at the mercy of political elected officials and appointees, with no grievance procedures or recourse against retaliation, favoritism, or sudden termination. They deserve the same rights UFT fights to guarantee for others: due process, job security, and a voice on the job. The union must support—not obstruct—their right to organize independently. To do otherwise is hypocritical and undermines the labor values UFT claims to champion.
Final Take
The misogyny, harassment and lack of workplace protections exposed aren’t anomalies.
They’re symptoms—of a union where informal, caucus-centered power persists, due process is anemic and subject to conflicts of interests, and political patronage excuses abusive behavior. These express anti-union values.
For a union that represents 200,000 educators—75% of whom are women—this failure is not just cultural; it’s an institutional crisis.
The path forward is clear: UFT leadership must shift from crisis discipline to proactive culture reform. It requires codifying rights, ensuring independent oversight, and holding every member—regardless of rank—accountable. Only then can the UFT truly live up to its values: a workplace where every educator feels valued, safe, and heard.
Yes, we are the UNION but we also have a social contract with those we’ve entrusted to lead and protect. This social contract appears to be broken.
There are dozens of other stories to be told. Other officers, department heads, Representatives. All of these complaints covered up, people paid off in exchange for their silence. It’s a toxic culture and maybe members would ask themselves why they should care. One of the biggest complaints from members is abusive/ intimidating admin and the union has no protocol to deal with that and the individual member is left to deal with it themselves. Someone should ask the grievance department how many retaliation grievances have been brought to arbitration. The number is quite low. No case is ever strong enough. These things are connected when the union represents mostly women.
I think that UFT staff not being protected by a union says everything you need to know about the UFT leadership.