Tuesday, June 18, 2024
It's been an absolute pleasure working with decades old Retiree Advocate/UFT group since I joined them around 2016. We've had success by working as a consensus group with the understanding that if we disagree with a general consensus we will be willing to give in the interests of staying united. We have kept our eye on the prize -- I think due to the many years of experience and learning the ropes of working with others.
So today at 1 RA and many of its supporters (growing since Friday) will be at 52 at noon handing out a leaflet and attending the 1PM meeting, the final one run by Tom Murphy. It should be quite an experience, unlike anything we've experienced in the UFT. We expect the formal announcement of the results of the election.
Following that there will be a celebration from 3-5 at a local joint.
RTC
Membership Meeting - Tomorrow, 1 p.m. at the UFT
Tomorrow is the last RTC meeting of
the year. Registration info is below, so please sign up for virtual or
in-person attendance. UFT President Michael Mulgrew will be there, as
well as special guest, AFT President Randi Weingarten. There will be
presentations on the AFT's political priorities for the 2024 U.S.
election. And there will be information on the latest retiree progams.
Finally, there will be a short play written by a late UFT retiree.
(There may even be an official announcement of the RTC
election results!)
 |
Date: Tuesday, June
18th
Time: 1 to 3 p.m.
EDT
Where: Online or
in-person at Shanker Hall, 52 Broadway, New York, NY
|
|
Join us after the meeting for some
celebration and refreshment.
London & Martin Co., 6 Stone St, between
Whitehall & Broad Streets. 2 1/2 blocks from the
UFT.
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Retiree Advocate UFT · NY 11201, United States
The NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees shares the following press statement from UFT Retiree Advocate and will make a statement separately.
Retiree Advocate Caucus Wins Leadership Election in the UFT Retired Teachers Chapter Over Michael Mulgrew's Unity Caucus
Friday’s Election Proves Actions Have Consequences
NEW YORK, June 17, 2024 — Friday's
election in the Retired Teachers Chapter of the United Federation of
Teachers (UFT RTC) was historic. In its over 40 years of existence, no
caucus other than the Unity caucus has led this organization. The RTC is
over 70,000 members strong and is the largest functional chapter within
the UFT.
Retiree
Advocate's win proves that good, old-fashioned, grassroots organizing
can move a mountain. Unity's efforts to privatize the retirees’ Medicare
benefits and diminish their healthcare had consequences. UFT leadership
cannot claw back retiree benefits and expect to get re-elected!
In
the 2021 chapter election, 23,024 total votes were cast. The incumbent
Unity caucus won with 70% of the vote. On Friday, June 14, 2024, the
equation flipped. 28,346 votes were cast - an increase of 5,322 voters -
and the Unity caucus was taken to the woodshed with a yet unofficial
tally of 17,226 to 10,114 votes. A Retiree Advocate victory of 63%-37%!!
Bennett Fischer, the Chapter Leader-elect of the Retiree Advocate Chapter whose team won this historic election states, “For
three years we have been fighting for our lives. Fighting for the
promises made to us and the benefits we earned; fighting to preserve the
public Medicare and supplemental benefits that keep us well, without
networks and gatekeepers. This is an absolute win for our members and
our union."
Bobby Greenberg,
the Treasurer-elect of the Retiree Chapter states, “This is a new day
for our union. Task one, NO PRIVATIZATION of our health coverage!”
Gloria Brandman, the
Secretary-elect of the RTC states, “We deserve this victory and we will
fight like heck to keep the healthcare that we have and work hard to
bring democracy back to our chapter and our union! Power to the People!”
Michele Rayvid, the
Assistant Treasurer-elect states, “This is a bright new beginning for
our Retiree Chapter, and I am so proud to be part of a change toward a
more democratic and transparent chapter that promises to listen to its
members.
###
Media Contact
Bennett Fischer 646-591-7598
Tremblychap@gmail.com
12 PM Sampling UPDATE: It's going to be close.
Looks like they started counting already so discount my complaints
below. Counting ballot...
-
Unity Caucus - The Real Enemy Within I went
to the DA Wednesday with a leaflet I wrote under the Ed Notes banner
with the headline above wh...
-
There is no joy in Mudville. Mighty Unity has
struck out. Unofficial totals rough numbers: RA 17,000+, Unity 10,000+
What exactly did RA wi...
UFT Retirees Unseat the Incumbent and Founding Caucus
New York, June 17, 2024 - The NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees congratulates
the Retiree Advocate Caucus of the UFT! Retired Labor is standing up
locally and nationally against privatizing Medicare and reducing
benefits for current retirees that they earned while working. This was a
historic election.
The
Retiree Advocate has been attacked by the UFT Unity Caucus for being
'uncivil' but what can be more uncivil than clawing back Medicare
benefits from seniors and the disabled? In the words of Charles Cogen
the first UFT union president in 1959, Defending himself and teacher militancy, he said in a 1959 interview, ''Students
will have more respect for teachers who stand up and fight for their
rights.'' (NY Times 1998) Retired teachers are standing up for their
rights!
Continuous
privatization of the Federal Public Health Benefit of Medicare by Labor
will have a national impact on the government being able to provide
Medicare because these companies overcharge the government as has been
identified not only by the Department of Justice, the Health and Human
Services Office of the Inspector General, and by Centers for Medicare
itself. This scheme is happening from NY to Fresno, California.
Retirees nationwide are trying to fight back and sadly many cannot
afford to litigate like we did.
Ill-advised
union leaders who no longer represent retirees, like the UFT under the
leadership of Michael Mulgrew, are forcing retirees into Medicare
Advantage (MA) to secure raises for inservice workers. MA plans are
saddled with prior authorization which wrongly delays and denies care,
has a narrow network of providers, and which many doctors and hospitals
do not accept is criminal.
The
NYC Healthcare program was founded in choice and the UFT historically
passed resolutions to protect Medicare from privatization. No union
should ever reduce a benefit, never mind the healthcare of a retired
unionist, and surely never privatize a Federal Public Health Benefit.
Aetna,
the latest vendor of the City's choice of MA provider announced in
their last quarterly shareholder meeting that they are below profit
margins and promised to concentrate on "margins over members" to recover the 3-4% loss in revenue. No union should be forcing their retirees off Traditional Medicare.
Marianne Pizzitola, President states,
"It is a new day in the UFT, and this sends a message directly to
leadership that they are not protecting retirees or keeping their
promises made to them when they were in the union before retiring. The
NYS Appeals Court in Bentkowski v City of NY, affirmed that retirees
were made a promise they would have Medicare in retirement and it would
be to their detriment if it were taken away. Labor helped pass the
Medicare Act in 1965 and should never have put it in the hands of
for-profit insurers like Aetna. If retiree's former unions are not
going to protect them, then their City and State legislatures should.
It is the right thing to do or who would want to give their lives to
public service when the promise of a benefit that lured them into
employment can be taken away in retirement?"
###
Media Contact
Marianne Pizzitola
631-793-9715
Retired NYC teachers toss out union prez’s crew in furor over Medicare coverage
https://nypost.com/2024/06/16/us-news/nyc-teacher-retirees-toss-out-union-crew-over-medicare-coverage/
Retired city educators furious over proposed changes to their health care have toppled a union slate allied with powerful United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew.
The Mulgrew-linked United Caucus’ Retiree chapter sent a notice to
its supporters Saturday saying unofficial results showed it lost the
recent election to the dissident faction Retiree Advocate.
The loss of control of the UFT’s Retired Teachers Chapter by
Mulgrew’s camp means the renegade faction will now be overseeing about
300 union seats carrying crucial voting and administration powers while
repping tens of thousands of retired teachers and other educators such
as guidance counselors and paraprofessionals.
Tampering with retirees’ health coverage was “a big mistake,” a union source said.
“This was cuckoo. Why were we messing with retirees’ health care? It’s
like a bomb has been dropped on the UFT,” the source said.
Bennett Fischer, the
new Retiree Chapter leader, said in a statement, “Wow. It’s a new day in
the UFT Retired Teachers Chapter and a new day in the UFT. A good day. A
very good day.
“For three years now, retirees have been fighting for our lives:
Fighting for the health benefits that we earned; fighting against the
privatization of our healthcare; fighting for the traditional Medicare
and Supplemental insurance that we were promised. And, fighting for the
health and wellbeing of our future UFT colleagues-in-retirement,” he
said.
The upheaval comes on the heels of opposition to Mulgrew and city
union leaders representing other municipal workers agreeing to shift
retirees from their traditional Medicare coverage to Aetna-run Medicare
Advantage to generate cost savings for New York City.
Critics claim the shift of 250,000 city retirees to Medicare Advantage supplemental coverage could leave them with higher costs and fewer benefits.
Fischer’s Retiree Advocate faction won 63% to 37% to Mulgrew’s Unity
Caucus slate — 17,226 votes to 10,114, according to unofficial results.
Tom Murphy was knocked out as the longtime Retirees Chapter leader.
Even UFT sources allied with Mulgrew said the results are a disaster
and spell potential trouble when the top seats for president and other
union offices are up for election next year.
Mulgrew has been the UFT president since 2009.
Unlike other unions, thousands of retirees are allowed to vote in UFT elections.
Retirees have used the courts to block implementation of the planned
switch to Medicare Advantage, though the city has appealed.
UFT insurgents credited Marianne Pizzitola,
a retired FDNY emergency medical specialist and current president of
the Organization of Public Service Retirees, Inc., with rallying
citywide worker opposition to the Medicare Advantage shift.
The issue is a political hot potato for Mayor Eric Adams, who is for re-election next year.
The move to switch over to Medicare Advantage was first proposed by former Mayor Bill de Blasio —
and was designed to allow the city to tap into an estimated $600
million in federal subsidies available to Medicare Advantage plans,
potentially lowering New York City’s costs to provide healthcare for its
retired public workers.
While Adams advanced the program with changes that were approved by
the Municipal Labor Committee — comprised of union leaders coalitions
representing workers and retirees including the UFT’s Mulgrew — the move
faced bitter criticism from retirees and New York City Democratic
Socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who called the program a “cash cow” for private insurers.
“This is a tale of a massive shift in voting sentiment amongst
retirees,” UFT activist Norm Scott said of the election results. “Can
the same shift occur in the general election next year?”
Arthur Goldstein, vice-chair-elect of the retiree chapter, said, “We
have taken our United Federation of Teachers from the clutches of those
who thought Eric Adams’ budget and/or Aetna’s profits were more
important than our health.
“We have broken the bonds placed upon us by ostensible leaders, union bosses to whom our health was not even an afterthought.”
A UFT rep said, “Final results will be certified Tuesday. We wish to
congratulate all those who won and thank all those who have served.”
There were other union elections for chapter leaders, delegates and
paraprofessional representatives for each of the city’s public schools.
The Mulgrew-led Unity Caucus fared much better in those contests.
Unity Caucus - The Real Enemy Within I went to the DA Wednesday with a leaflet I wrote under the Ed Notes banner with the headline above wh...
There is no joy in Mudville. Mighty Unity has struck out. Unofficial totals rough numbers: RA 17,000+, Unity 10,000+ What exactly did RA wi...
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