Sterling (Roberson) intentionally never read or mentioned the resolves in this proposed resolution … INTENTIONALLY. Hundreds of delegates on the phone voted on a resolution they never read, had access to or were fully informed about. This is very much Unity’s modus operandi — to co-opt policies that the rank and file is clamoring for in order to WATER IT DOWN. Examples: 1. They were FOR Medicare Advantage before the lawsuits by NYC Retirees made it untenable for their attempts to privatize the traditional Medicare plan. 2. They saw that members wanted to be able to ratify agreements with changes to their healthcare … so they added a healthcare committee to maintain control and only supported the DA making these decisions.
Arthur Goldstein: Q--Why Does Unity Think We’ll Fall for Temu 1008? A--Because they take us for doddering imbeciles.
I wanted to get this fake turn to support 1008 by Mulgrew and the clear signal that Sterling will be running for CL of the RTC on the table before I delve into the RTC maelstrom.
*****Fix Retiree Benefits is organizing a delegate slate for the RTC election but is still open to working in a coalition for one slate.
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Also - I have been removed from moderating the RA listserve where criticism of RA will be censored. It is no longer reliable.
Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026
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| A candidate for RTC Chapter Leader |
There were actually 5 meetings over two weeks and maybe some progress towards a united slate, but the train leaving the station is picking up steam. There's too much to report in this one post, so there will be a follow-up. (My head is spinning. I wish I could write as fast as Arthur - I used to but aging brain cells, you know.)
Since last week over 60 people have registered to run for delegate with Fix Retiree Benefits. CLICK HERE to run for delegate with Fix Retiree Benefits. The goal is 300.
Some background on one-slate progress
A group of RA dues-paying members were unhappy when RA Organizers presented a proposal for the creation of a 13 member election committee that gave FRB 3 out of 13 slots at a raucous Sept. 22 RA general membership meeting attended by around 40 members. The general feeling was that the 10-3 proposal would seriously damage the prospects for one slate.
Also of concern was the manner in which the meeting was conducted, with charges of lack of democracy when demands to put it to a vote were ignored, as one RA dues-paying attendee pointed out:
You cannot seriously think that creating a 13 member committee, composed of 10 RA representatives and only 3 from Fix Retiree Benefits, chosen by RA, is a fair and legitimate proposal for creating a joint slate! ... it appears to be a proposal created with the intention of having it rejected by FRB.... Many, perhaps most, of those who attended the RA membership meeting on Sept 22 were opposed to the way this committee was formed and were denied a vote on it. A democratic process on our side might have resulted in a better outcome.
The RA 15 member Organizing committee (steering) went ahead anyway and notified three men associated with FRB on Sept. 27 (FRB core members are majority women), inviting them to a meeting on Sept. 28. The next day Bennett Fischer offered to let FRB choose the three. This was the first official contact with the FRB since last May. The official FRB response, while leaving open the one-slate possibility, was:
The RA Organizers (their 15-member steering) proposal fundamentally recreated the concept of a an election committee that would run the election and vet candidates and the 3 FRB people would lose every vote when there was no agreement. We learned from our experience with ABC that there is a more dynamic way to run an election than we've seen from the legacy caucuses. A rigid structure would harm the ability to win. If there is an agreement to run one slate, I believe the RA and FRB crowds should be free to run their own versions of the campaign. But that's my personal opinion, not yet that of FRB.
The response of key dues-paying members of RA to the proposal led many of them to reach out directly to some of us connected to FRB at the Sept. 29th RTC Exec Bd and the Oct. 1 NY Health Act, which I discussed in Has the Train Left the Station for a United Retired Teacher Chapter Slate to Beat Unity?
The train was pulling out but there was still hope to hop on if the dissident RA members could pressure the leadership of RA into an equitable agreement. The pushback on working with Marianne Pizzitola was still intense and we even heard that one member of the RA Org had said if we dropped her they could agree to a 50-50 split. Protests that she was a key figure in our win two years ago were deflected with: but this is another election and we're incumbents and much better known in the retiree chapter. I don't agree, but that's for another time.
A mixed group met up after the Oct. 1 NYHA event.
An ad hoc meeting after the Oct. 1 NYHA meeting was open and frank and offered some hope and followed by a larger meeting after the RTC general meeting on Oct. 13, offering even more hope. We aimed at another meeting after the RTC meeting on Oct. 13.
The Oct. 13th meeting - Part 2 coming soon. (It is written but if I included it here you would be reading a tome. Actually, this alone is a tome.)
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