URGENT CALL TO ACTION FOR NYC RETIREES - CITY COUNCIL BILL TO CHANGE ADMIN CODE - Save these Dates: January 4, 9, 10, 19th

Updated Video Message Updated Video Message Dec. 31

 PLEASE WATCH!

 Dec. 31

OK GANG - It's Crunch time. The Adams/Mulgrew/MLC/OLR/DRACULA TEAM HAVE FOUND A FLUNKIE TO INTRO A BILL TO CHANGE THE ADMIN CODE ---  

Council Member Carmen DeLaRosa, Chair of Civil Service & Labor and Speaker Adrienne Adams will bring the MLC Admin Code amendment to the floor on Wednesday January 4th. Tentative hearings on Jan. 9, 10 and Vote on Jan. 19.

We are hearing rumors from city council people that the UFT is threatening those who vote not to change the code with loss of UFT endorsements - pretty funny when Unity at a recent exec bd meeting argued that no one issue should be used to deny a politician an endorsement.

Mulgrew can win but still lose

If Mulgrew wins this he still loses support from segments of the retiree chapter, where there will be a chapter election in the spring of 2024.  Retiree Advocate received 30% of the vote in 2021, up from about 15% in 2018. If the vote gets to 40% anti-Unity, that becomes a threat to Mulgrew in the general election in 2025.

 

Here is an update from Jan. 2

 

#protect12dash126
 
This is your assignment.
 
First, it has been confirmed that the Chair of the Civil Service & Labor Committee Carmen DeLaRosa will be bringing the bill drafted by the MLC and OLR to the floor on Wednesday, January 4th at Noon.
 
It is suggested we go to the hearing they scheduled on January 9th and the final vote on January 19th. (SEE BELOW).
We will put out more information regarding these dates and how YOU can testify.
 
Lastly, because this is going to her committee, you will need to call & email them daily. The list is below.
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List of City Council Members on the Civil Service and Labor to be called:
(CALL BOTH NUMBERS)

28 Speaker Adrienne E. Adams Legislative Office: 212-788-6850 District Office: 718-206-2068

10 Hon. Carmen De La Rosa Legislative Office: 212-788-7053 District Office: 917-521-2616

3 Hon. Erik Bottcher District Office: 212-564-7757

5 Hon. Julie Menin Legislative Office: 212-788-6865

11 Hon. Eric Dinowitz Legislative Office: (212) 788-7080 District Office: (718) 549-7300

15 Hon. Oswald Feliz Legislative Office:212-788-6966 District Office: 718-842-8100

21 Hon. Francisco P. Moya 212-788-6862 District Office: 718-651-1917

22 Hon. Tiffany Cabán Legislative Office: 212-788-6963 District Office: 718-274-4500

37 Hon. Sandy Nurse Legislative Office: 212-788-7284 District Office: 718-642-8664

40 Hon. Rita Joseph Legislative Office: 212-788-7352 District Office:718-287-8762

49 Hon. Kamillah Hanks Legislative Office: 212-788-6972 District Office: 718-556-7370
 
EMAIL THE CIVIL SERVICE & LABOR COMMITTEE:
 
Copy/Paste these email addresses into your email:
 
aeadams@council.nyc.gov
SpeakerAdams@council.nyc.gov
CDeLaRosa@council.nyc.gov
ebottcher@council.nyc.gov
JMenin@council.nyc.gov
edinowitz@council.nyc.gov
ofeliz@council.nyc.gov
fmoya@council.nyc.gov
tcaban@council.nyc.gov
SNurse@council.nyc.gov
RJoseph@council.nyc.gov
KHanks@council.nyc.gov
 
The File for the List of CM is here if you want to save it: https://mcusercontent.com/.../b8e.../Civil_Service_labor.pdf
 
 
SUBJECT: PROTECTING Admin Code 12-126 PROTECTS RETIREES
 

Dear CM________,
The City Council is being threatened that if they don’t amend the statute to force retirees into the Medicare Advantage, the Mayor will do that on his own. Amending the statute does the same thing! Why should the City Council amend the law if the Mayor will do this anyway? Why do his dirty work? Let the Mayor take the political hit for hurting retirees and remove City Council Members from the ire of retirees and constituents in their next election. If the Mayor does this act, the Retirees will be able to challenge and win this in court where we have been successful because the City has violated the law and this is his way around it. If the City Council amends this Administrative Code, they will affirmatively be hurting retirees and preventing us from winning this in Court. Don’t prevent us from winning again in court. We served our time as employees and have a right to enjoy our time as retirees with proper care that we earned and paid for.
 
Don’t buy the Big Lie. Don’t amend the Code, protect it like every City Council before you has against a greedy Mayor. Protect 12-126. Scheinman has no jurisdiction over the City Council nor the Retirees.
 
We request that you do NOT support the bill being introduced on January 9th by Civil Service and Labor Chair DeLaRosa.
 
Thank you for protecting us from financial peril and losing our healthcare.
 
Name _________________, Retiree or Employee
Agency, years of service, year retired

 
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Target Dates
January 4th @ 12pm City Hall: Bill to be introduced
January 9th @ 10am City Hall: Civil Service and Labor Committee Meeting **JOIN US AT THIS HEARING!!!
January 19th @ 1:30pm City Hall: Stated Meeting and Vote on the Bill **JOIN US AT THE VOTE
 
If you are on Twitter and Instagram, please comment and share our messages.
We also created an OPEN FaceBook Page https://www.facebook.com/NYCRetirees

 

 

 Here's the latest video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpI_hzn7eX0

 RRRRRR

 

 

 

Here is one of Marianne's video from a few days ago:

 

https://youtu.be/x01lJwQ8c08

Hello Everyone!  
 

It appears the MLC has been working overtime like the Grinch.    
This is a call to arms.

Please reserve on your calendar the FOLLOWING dates: January 4, 9, 10, 19th. YOU MAY BE ASKED TO CONVENE AT CITY HALL ON EVERY ONE OF THOSE DATES. We will update you next week.

PLEASE WATCH THE VIDEO IN THIS EMAIL.

It explains that Council Member Carmen DeLaRosa, Chair of Civil Service & Labor and Speaker Adrienne Adams will bring the MLC Admin Code amendment to the floor on Wednesday January 4th.  YOU MUST ACT NOW and tell them NOT to amend the Administrative code and remind them the Scheinman paper they all think is arbitration is NOT.   It was paid propaganda and his OPINION,  and it is NOT legally binding.   EMAIL EVERY COUNCIL MEMBER, a sample script is below!

This is the list of Council Members. Click to open!  Make sure you send emails to CM Carmen DeLa Rosa and Speaker Adrienne Adams when you email all the others!

If you are on Twitter or Instagram find us and share our message. @NYCRETIREES
Next week we will advise you the next steps. SHARE THIS MESSAGE!

Yours in TRUE Solidarity, 
The NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees

PS:   In addition to our private FaceBook Group, we created a PUBLIC Page so you can share our messages! https://www.facebook.com/NYCRetirees 


If you need a sample script when emailing or calling the Council.

We have been advised that Civil Service and Labor Chair Carmen DeLaRosa and Speaker Adrienne Adams will be bringing the MLC Administrative Code Modification to the City Council floor on Wednesday January 4th at NOON. YOU HAVE HOMEWORK EMAIL City COUNCIL, especially CM DeLaRosa and Speaker Adrienne Adams (the Full list is here: https://mcusercontent.com/036ef3a3db4831f1dc593990d/files/df85df38-69ff-72b6-9621-fe82156dc2d4/Council_Member_List.pdf ) 

 

A sample Email: Hi! My name is_____________ and I am a retiree/ (if you are active/in-service say that!). We want you to know the Scheinman report is NOT a “ruling”, it’s an opinion and IS NOT BINDING! It’s paid propaganda and they’re hoping the city council falls for it… it is not a decision, it is not a ruling, it is not an award!! The retirees have identified at least $300 million in savings. OMB knows about some of these savings options, and has NOT implemented them NOR informed the city council… and OMB is unaware of others! Which is worse? HOW CAN THE MAYOR OR THE COUNCIL MAKE A DECISION IF THEY ARE NOT BEING PROPERLY INFORMED BY OMB? DO NOT MAKE ANY CHANGE TO THE AMINISTRATIVE CODE! Please reach out to the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees for real facts! The MLC doesn't want you to know they sold off ALL of our healthcare for raises! Yes, that includes you! Please remember this as we go into the New Year. Happy New Year! AND DO NOT AMEND THE ADMINISTRATIVE CODE 12-126!

Signed, YOUR NAME AND YEAR/AGENCY YOU RETIRED or Where you work

 

 

 

Your friends, and retirees in SOLIDARITY...

The NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees
 

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 Donations are Needed!  It is fall, copays, inflation, etc, but we need to keep donations coming in to fund our October litigation!

 

TO DONATE TO THE LEGAL FUND

Donation Instructions to Support Our Class Action Suit Against the City To Protect Our Retiree Healthcare:

We worked decades for our benefits! Let’s make sure the City and the MLC don’t take them away!

A suggested $25 Donation* will help start the fight to keep our current benefits. Give more if you can, and/or often!  If you cannot meet the minimum suggested donation, we appreciate whatever you can give towards this fight for our benefits.  We also added the option to make your donation recurring (monthly) as was requested. 

The fundraiser group is incorporated as a Non-Profit. ALL proceeds go to fund the organization and its legal challenge. Volunteer retirees are running this effort.  Our 501C3 is pending.

TO DONATE, HERE ARE 4 SIMPLE WAYS!

1.Zelle using email NYCOrgofpublicserviceretirees@gmail.com

2. Make your check out to:
NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees PO Box 941
Venice, FL 34284 (our treasurer lives in FL)

3. Or click on this Paypal link:
https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=Q4VWJEYVJ9HTW&Z3&fbclid=IwAR0pEOc51x9xhc-CBb8vqAIkX97Bgg1Z02f1r9gQh9S3dOsVmAdob5jBbw8

4.  We Now Accept Donations via VENMO

VENMO is a Phone App or can be used on a PC or Tablet
You can download and install the Phone App from the Android Play Store or Apple App Store. There may be fees involved using this method.

Our ID is: @NYCRetirees

If you are on this list, it is because you subscribed to hear what we are doing as an organization that represents all NYC Municipal workers in protecting their Health benefits in retirement.   Currently, we have a FACEBOOK page located here:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/888622578669131

If you are not on FACEBOOK, we will be updating you here. And Check our website for FAQ www.nycretirees.org

Thank you for signing up for our newsletter and pass this to a friend to sign up too!

 

Rally Wednesday Oct. 12 Protest Changes in NYC Admin Code as NYC Firefighters Union Push New York City Council to Stop Messing with Retirees’ Healthcare

We are asking everyone who cherishes the healthcare benefits they earned to come to City Hall and let the City Council hear and see you!   Urge them NOT TO CHANGE Administrative Code 12-126 and protect us from those urging changes to a law that has protected us since 1967. We then will head down the block to UFT HQ and tell Michael Mulgrew of the UFT to keep his hands off our benefits and stop selling them for his own wages!  ....

The NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees

Here is the RALLY INFO FLYER    AND THE ISSUE FACT SHEET

 

This is a joint rally with CROC- Cross Union Organizing Committee, along with Retiree Advocate, groups that have been leading the way in the battle.

 

The Court stated that the City could not force retirees into paying an extra $191 per month if they wanted to opt out of an inferior privatized Medicare Advantage Plan they were being forced into. Since the victory was based on the NYC Administrative Code, the city is now doing an end run by trying to get the Council to change the law!

 

And our own UFT leadership is leading the way by working with the city to mess with our health plans. 

 

 

The more unions that push back the better.

 

Bravest Push New York City Council to Stop Messing with Retirees’ Healthcare

https://www.work-bites.com/view-all/bravest-push-new-york-city-council-to-stop-messing-with-retirees-healthcare

Oct 9

“We have a lot of retirees that are calling that are confused as to why there is a need for a law change. They are against any of these changes.” — UFA President Andy Ansbro. Photo courtesy of FDNY

By Bob Hennelly

A split within the Municipal Labor Committee over the future of the healthcare coverage for New York City’s 250,000 municipal retirees is playing out behind the scenes at the City Council over a controversial MLC proposal to change the city’s Administrative Code 12-126 that requires the City Council’s  approval. 

The MLC is the umbrella organization for scores of unions that represent over 300,000 municipal workers. The change, which would alter the existing language covering healthcare for retirees, is also supported by the city’s Office of Labor Relations and the Adams administration.

The controversy is an outgrowth of last year’s successful retiree revolt against then-Mayor Bill de Blasio and the Municipal Labor Committee’s proposal to shift retirees to a privatized Medicare Advantage program in hopes of realizing some savings.

City Hall and the MLC said the plan, branded as Retiree Health Alliance, which was going to be run by Anthem and Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield, would produce $600 million in savings with no degradation in coverage. Retired civil servants and the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees  countered the change threatened retirees’ continuity of care, would cost more and would cover less.

Tens of thousands of city retirees opted out. One key issue was a requirement that city retirees who opted out of the new offering would have to pay a $191 monthly premium for their old plan. Subsequently,  the two health insurance companies fronting the controversial plan withdrew. 

The New York City Organization of Public Service Retirees successfully challenged  the city in court bringing the implementation of the plan to a standstill at the start of the Adam’s administration. That litigation continues. 

In his decision, Judge Lyle Frank, ruled that thanks to the city’s Administrative Code 12-126, on the books since the 1960s, the city was obliged to continue providing retirees with their healthcare without charging them a premium.

Marianne Pizzitola is a retired FDNY EMT and was a member of DC 37’s Local 2507. Pizzitola is also the president of the New York City Organization of Public Service Retirees. In a Sept. 24 op-ed in the Daily News she praised the city’s existing administrative code that guaranteed “the city would pay for a choice of health insurance plans—up to a defined dollar cap. For 55 years, every teacher, firefighter, police officer, nurse and others who served the city knew  they would have access to a health insurance plan that met their families’ needs.”

Last month, the MLC voted to ask the City Council to alter the Administrative Code 12-126 as requested by the city’s Office of Labor Relations to clear the way for the implementation of a Medicare Advantage program.

The vote was not unanimous. 

Though the MLC’s largest unions like District Council 37, the United Federation of Teachers, Teamsters Local 831 (Uniformed Sanitation-men’s Association) support the change, several unions opposed it, including the Uniformed Fire Officers Association and the Uniformed Firefighters Association. 

In a Sept. 9 letter to his members, James Davis, president of the Professional Staff Congress explained why his union opposed the change.

“The proposed change eliminates the HIP-HMO rate as the single standard for determining the City’s obligation to pay for health insurance for city employees, retirees and their dependents,” explained Davis. “Under current law, the city is required to ‘pay the entire cost of health insurance coverage for city employees, city retirees, and their dependents, not to exceed one hundred percent of the full cost of HIP-HMO…’ (NYC Administrative Code, section 12-1260.)

Harry Nespoli, chair of the MLC and the president of Teamsters Local 831 did not return a call seeking comment. 

Retirees who oppose the shift to a Medicare Advantage plan point to a recent study by the Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General  that found the plans run by for profit providers showed that the “plans  sometimes denied or delayed patients’ access to medically necessary services, even though the requests met Medicare coverage rules.”

“We have a lot of retirees that are calling that are confused as to why there is a need for a law change. They are against any of these changes,” UFA President Andy Ansbro said during a phone interview.  “They want to keep their healthcare plan the way it is and they have reached out to us demanding that we get in front of this and we have explained to them that we have been a no vote on this change and at this point it is in the City Council’s hands and if they wish to make their voice heard they have to call their City Council member and speak to them and we ask that they speak with them respectfully but just get your point across you don’t believe this law should, be changed.”

 Ansbro continued. “The down side is we don’t know what the long term consequences are. We understand the short term consequences if they feel they will be able to make their Medicare Advantage Plan legal but if the courts rule that what you are trying to do is illegal, trying to change the law is not the way to go about it. You should go back to the drawing board and come up with a plan that’s actually legal.”

“The UFOA voted no in the MLC Steering committee and again voted NO in the general membership meeting,” wrote FDNY Lieut. James McCarthy in a text. “The fight against the change in the administrative code continues on the the City Council. Our active and retired members will also be expressing their opposition to the City Council.”

“The changes proposed would allow New York City, with the approval of the majority of the MLC, to create different classes of employees in reference to health insurance,” warned a UFOA blast email to all of its members and retirees. “This change would then allow New York City to give different health insurance plans to each class. The proposal will also remove HIP HMO as the benchmark for establishing the rate that the city must pay to maintain premium free healthcare for all active and retired members. This seismic change in language MUST BE STOPPED!”

The UFOA continued. “How did we get here…. Over a year ago NYC rolled out the option of Medicare Advantage and described it as a mirror of the current Senior Care Plan. The reality was our members' benefits and access to healthcare would be diminished. Multiple lawsuits were filed, and the rollout of Medicare Advantage was delayed by the judge’s ruling. The City has appealed, and the case will be heard in October. As a result of this pending decision, the city has chosen to change the Administrative Code.”

State Senator Gustavo Rivera, chair of the Senate Health Committee, is a one of the lead sponsors of the New York Health Act which calls for establishing a single payer healthcare system that would decouple healthcare coverage from employment.

“We are at a moment where we have to take all the realities that are around us and think about how we actually solve the problems that are before us,” Rivera said. “Committing ourselves by doubling down on a system that has insurance companies at its core is exactly the wrong direction to go in. But this is exactly what’s happening with the city shifting retirees' benefits for the sake of ‘saving money’—when what you are really doing is taking away the benefits that were negotiated  for the folks that are retirees. What I am telling these retirees and everybody else, is that healthcare is a right and we should act like it.”