WNYLaborToday.com Editor’s Note: Pictured above, Phil Rumore took some time to talk to WNYLaborToday.com before his final day on the job at the end of June after more than 41 years serving as President of the 3,800-Member Buffalo Teachers Federation.  Rumore discussed and reminisced on his long and storied career as head of the Teachers’ Union, including a walk back through time that was told in pictures, Thank You cards and messages, scrapbook clippings and photos - most notably of the City’s schoolchildren.  (WNYLaborToday.com Photos)

(BUFFALO, NEW YORK) – Phil Rumore rifled through a box of memories to locate a letter that he still holds dear to this day to share with WNYLaborToday.com as he finished packing up his office in late June after serving 41 years as President of the 3,800-Member Buffalo Teachers Federation (BTF).  That letter - personally written by a former student-turned-adult, whom he had helped at one time, served as a wonderful example of the way Rumore represented the City’s Public School Teachers that he had fought so hard for all those years, as well as standing up for millions of their students over that same time period.

“This job ‘is all about’ teaching,” said Rumore as he pulled out the letter and recounted the story: “I had a former student (that Rumore once taught as a Teacher himself) come in (to the BTF’s Office) who asked, ‘Do you remember me?’  I did.  He then asked me if I could ‘help him find a job.’  I knew some people in the City (of Buffalo’s) Parks Department, called them and then sent him over.  He got the job.  Years later, I got a card from him, in which he wrote: ‘You saved me when I was a kid and you saved me as an adult.’”

A choked up Rumore added: “I saved his card and have ‘always told then this story when I met with Teachers and Retirees because of the input Teachers have on kids and what impact their kind words have that they say to them.’  ‘It might have been something (positive) I said to him in the hall one day, I don’t (specifically) recall, but that’s the impact a Teacher can have.’  ‘It’s all about doing something not for yourself, but for someone else.’”

The 81-year-old Rumore, dressed this day as he always has been - in khakis, a button down blue shirt with the BTF logo emblazoned on it and a tie, leaves his Union after negotiating what could be described as a hard-fought-for and “historic” contract with the Buffalo School District - with wage increases of more than 20%, which puts Buffalo Public School Teachers on more of a level playing field when compared to what Suburban Teachers are paid.

During the last three weeks of its negotiation, Rumore was also able to help bargain for retroactive pay for Teachers, “knocked off some wage steps” which is now allowing them to achieve parity, and forge agreeance on class size limits.

“We wanted the School District to ‘do the right thing, but not one person accomplished this, it was because of people working - together,’” Rumore said.

In a letter Rumore subsequently sent to Buffalo Teachers before the contract was ratified, he thanked them “for all you do for our students and each other and also for your support and encouragement through our often difficult times.”

Wrote Rumore: “And for the honor, yes honor, of being your President for over forty years.  While I have at times, thought of retiring, there was always something looming that caused me to reconsider.  Now, as a result of our solidarity, we have a contract proposal through 2025-2026 that I am hopeful will be approved.  Therefore, since I am confident that your future is secure, I will, with heartfelt appreciation, retire at the end of my term on June 30, 2023.  Thank you again, with heartfelt appreciation, for all your support, encouragement and caring.  With love for all,” Rumore wrote.

It was 1981 that Rumore - a Teacher who attended the University of Buffalo after going to college at Cortland State where he majored in physics and philosophy, was first elected President of the BTF. 

In June 2021, he was elected to his 21st consecutive two-year term as BTF President (Read WNYLaborToday.com’s Report, Headlined: “Honored” To Be Re-Elected To Represent Buffalo’s Public School Teachers, BTF President Phil Rumore Embarks On His 21st ‘Consecutive’ Two-Year Term, ‘Vowing To Continue The Fight For Both’ Teachers & Schoolchildren At www.wnylabortoday.com/news/2021/06/02/buffalo-and-western-new-york-labor-news/honored-to-be-re-elected-to-represent-buffalo-s-public-school-teachers-btf-president-phil-rumore-embarks-on-his-21st-consecutive-two-year-term-vowing-to-continue-the-fight-for-both-teachers-schoolchildren/).

“It’s ‘been rewarding, especially when you start looking back’ (over his career),” Rumore told WNYLaborToday.com.  “I’ve had a ‘great’ Staff, I call them the ‘BTF Family.’  ‘We support one another and not one accomplishment we’ve had was done by one person.’  I’ve ‘turned down’ (personal) honors (in the past) ‘because I don’t like to be honored.’  ‘It makes me feel grateful’ (for his Staff and his Union’s Membership).”

Touring what remains of his office, much of which is packed away and moved out, are scrapbooks (including one with a page that displays the words: Could It Be Magic?) of his BTF past with photos of a much younger Rumore (who was part of an original group of five candidates before advancing to a run-off to win his first term as BTF President - “I ‘never gave it any thought of how long I would be doing this.’ ‘I was supposed to be teaching,’” Rumore says), including one almost unrecognizable photo that shows him with very long hair and a fu Manchu moustache while holding up two fish that he had caught. 

He sits to show several Thank You cards with dozens of notes and signatures and then stands to pause and reflect on several photos that still hang in his office of young Buffalo schoolchildren, some taken in their classrooms. 

He smiles at them with great affection.

However, Rumore has indeed been recognized for what he has done at the BTF, including being honored by City & State and named as the 33rd most influential Labor Leader on the publication’s New York State Labor Power 100 Listing.

City & State said of Rumore: Known as a hard-nosed negotiator and dogged advocate for his Union’s Teachers, Philip Rumore has headed the Buffalo Teachers Federation for 40 years.  One of his most recent advocacy efforts was a lawsuit that would have blocked students’ physical return to Buffalo classrooms.  Though unsuccessful on that front, Rumore has also spoken out against the Federal Government’s standardized testing requirement for Grades 3-through-8 during the Coronavirus Pandemic.

But not every BTF Member or anyone who has ever challenged Rumore for the BTF Presidency in the past had agreed with the decisions he has made, but quoting his beloved Mother, he said: “She told me ‘if you believe in what you are doing, stay true’ (to yourself).  ‘I’ve risen to the challenge all my life and it has been rewarding, especially now when I look back’ (over the years).”

Leaving with such a resume of Labor experience, Rumore said: “(The Movement) ‘must always remain vigilant.’  ‘There are many out there who are trying to break the Labor Movement, destroy us and take away the power of Workers’.  ‘You have to build an organization for your Members.’”

Asked what he believes the legacy he leaves after a more than 40-year career at the BTF, Rumore answered: “I ‘don’t know what that means, but maybe - I was there for them, there for us, because that’s what teaching is all about.’  ‘It’s (a) hard (profession), but if you can impress something (positive) on a student, where can you get that kind of gratification?’  ‘That’s a whole other aspect of what it’s all about.’”

Now that he’s retired, WNYLaborToday.com asked Rumore what he planned to do with his time. 

Besides doing some traveling, Rumore - unsurprisingly, turned to the topic of his hero - Albert Einstein, the German-born Theoretical Physicist, acknowledged to be one of the greatest Physicists of all time.

Rumore has been fixated on Einstein since he was in the seventh grade and over the years his office at BTF Headquarters on the corner of Niagara Street and Porter Avenue was jam-packed with everything Einstein - from photos and framed quotes to small statues to toy figures and books.

While enamored with Einstein, Rumore is more than fascinated by the Physicist’s development of the Theory of Relativity, as well as his important contributions made to the development of the Theory of Quantum Mechanics.

In the process, Einstein - a Nobel Prize winner, revolutionized our understanding of space, time, gravity and the universe.

“Why ‘was it always at the speed of light?’  ‘And why was it always c-squared?’  When I was in my senior year at Cortland, ‘I considered matter and energy as the origin of everything.’  A Teacher ‘agreed’ this was (a) ‘good’ (theory).  ‘It’s something I want to continue (researching in the years to come),” he said.

Now that he has the time, Rumore admits that’s just what he might be spending his time on.