UFT Retired Teacher Chapter Meeting Takeaway: This is What Democracy Looks Like, Despite Unity Attacks on Those Who Have Saved Retirees Thousands of Dollars

What did we learn at the RTC meeting?

 

UNITY wants us to pay more for healthcare ....as they criticize lawsuits that's saved every retiree thousands of dollars so far. 

 

Oh, and they don't oppose co-pays, coming Jan. 1. Marianne's suit saved us from co-pays for over a year. Why does the Unity Caucus hate her? She is still fighting co-pays. See her latest update today here: https://youtu.be/FX6Vl5mKaRQ?si=30leWdjli7ma7vhb.

• Don't forget to register for a town hall: Urgent Call to Action: RSVP for the UFT Members October Assembly Tuesday, October 29, at 7PM

And don't forget to listen to Talk Out Of School:

What’s going on with the UFT Welfare Fund?- with Marianne Pizzitola and Ronnie Almonte

Here is the RA leaflet

After a slow start, the room was rocking with cheers and howls of approval at the appearance of Marianne Pizzitola. Going in, the room seemed divided roughly one third Unity, one third leaning our way and one third neutral. As Unity unveiled their attack dogs on Marianne, there was a palpable shift as people rose to applaud her responses and showed up in the 75% favorable votes on our reso calling for healthcare changes to go to a vote at the DA. 

Video montage of the RTC meeting: https://youtu.be/y_cDGILTlU0

Monday, October 28, 2024

Everyone seems to agree that the major reason Retiree Advocate won an overwhelming victory (63%) in the June chapter election, was due to the Medicare issue.

I agree. Some oppo pundits who I won't name think RA will be doomed to insignificance once the MeDAdv issue goes away. While it is possible the Unity majority will assert itself in the spring UFT election, there is another factor. Democracy.

Democracy is a dirty word in today's world. But if we drop the ball on that issue we will be just like Unity. We need to show UFT members that there is a difference from a Unity run machine. One of the best things about the RA coalition is we don't all agree and will contend with each other. No democratic centralism from the top for us. Well, maybe not from all of us as there are some strands on our side that would love to shut people like me up.

We will be doomed if we screw up running the RTC because there was outrage  at the lack of democracy in the imperious and arrogant manner Unity ran RTC meetings, which turned so many off. (We can only hope there is the same outrage directed at Unity over how the DA is run - DA Takeaways: All About Control as Mulgrew talked ...)

As I roamed the meeting, I pointed out to leading Unity retirees that they were given opportunities that we were denied by Tom Murphy for years. Some seemed to agree as Bennett bent over backwards. I even told them I miss them at the DA and if we had proportional representation, Unity would have gotten over 100 delegates out of the 300 we won. 

OK, I really don't miss them.

Led by chapter leader Bennett Fischer and the newly elected 25 member RTC Exec Bd which met before the meeting to solidify the agenda, we demonstrated how to organize and run a meeting with possibly 2k attendees even with Unity challenging guest speaker Marianne Pizzitola and lawyer Jake Gardener for NYC Retirees. 

Compare the RTC meeting with the DA and you can see what a change in leadership of the UFT can bring. So when Unity attacks us as bringing chaos, toss them reports (even from Unity slugs) on how well this meeting was planned and run. And btw - a big talking point for any group running against Unity in the next election - you won't go to a DA and have to listen to someone talk for an hour and a half. But keep expecting Unity to try to undermine RTC meetings.

Arthur, who was remote due to an illness, made the point in his comprehensive report, At First New RTC Meeting, We VOTE and PASS a Resolution:

A sea change from Unity-run meetings, where we had neither voice nor vote. A sea change from the tightly-controlled UFT DA as well. A sea change from Unity-run meetings, where we had neither voice nor vote. A sea change from the tightly-controlled UFT DA as well.

It’s a new day in our Retired Teacher Chapter. Our voices are no longer quashed. By a measure of three to one, we voted to take control of our health care. It may or may not come up for a vote in Mulgrew’s DA, but we’ve made our statement.

In a remarkable new hearing of both sides, Unity voices were allowed to speak in equal proportion to ours. From what I heard, they were out to delay so that we would not get to our resolution. They did not succeed.

Our voices are strong. We are strong. We are the first group of retirees to take a stand against Unity, and we won’t be the last. Bennett is clearly nervous and kind of needs to get his sea legs. That said, he led the meeting in an honorable and open fashion, giving more voice to the minority than was ever given to us, the majority, under Unity control.

One Unity person accused us of being uncivil. They are not accustomed to being outnumbered. Given their outlandish treatment of Marianne Pizzitola, I’d say they were being uncivil. Given Marianne’s rapid and assured response, I’d also say they wasted their time. Marianne is very smart, with an instant command of detail. She’d have made a great teacher.

I'll admit, as one of the planners of the agenda, I was concerned. I knew Unity would be there and put up resistance but I did not know just how strong they were. After all, they had been in charge for decades. 

I was heartened by their pathetic leaflet (right) which bragged about Mulgrew no longer supported Medicare and how he was the ONLY one in the MLC to pull out, while we all know he was the instrumental force in the MLC for MedAdv for years and browbeat smaller unions.

In case you can't see it, read these whoppers, with my comments in red:

"Despite the future of retiree healthcare still being fought in the courts [by the NYC Retirees who we have and will do everything we can to undermine, including asking questions at today's meeting challenging their integrity], the Unity Caucus and its UFT leadership's opposition to the city's Medicare Advantage plan remains firm [As firm as we were for the city's Medicare Advantage Plan for the past 3 years until we lost the RTC election]. We have and always will stand alongside our membership..." [LOL, LOL, LOL]

We saw at the meeting and in leaked documents just how they were "standing alongside the membership" with their attempts to harass and embarrass Marianne, even demanding she leave the room while we debated a motion. The day after the meeting I received confirmation that Unity had a plan of attack when an anonymous source sent me internal memos - see my comments in red. As you can see from the leaks, they have no boundaries. 

• Leaked: Unity Caucus strategies and questions for Oct 22 RTC Meeting from LeRoy Barr and Vinny Gaglione

Arthur went deeper on Saturday:  

 

A Unity Member Finds a Conscience And anonymously sends the caucus lesson plan to Norm Scott

 Unity attacked Norm Scott a few weeks ago, misrepresenting his position. Last week someone with a conscience emailed him their marching orders for the RTC meeting. Those wheels of karma just keep on turning. 

If we don’t show up and make our presence felt, we risk handing over control of the Retiree Chapter's operations to a group that doesn’t reflect our values.

Actually, you “risk handing over control” to a group that was elected by an overwhelming majority. Cede control to members? Cede control to elected representatives? 

You can’t argue those things with her without a battery of facts that take so long to recite that you lose the audience before you start. Stay away from arguing about the plan. We are not experts on it.

The “battery of facts” I keep hearing from Unity is a battery of lies. And Unity members, who have sold us into Aetna’s Medicare Advantage without allowing us to vote on it, are not experts on it. Still, they had no qualms about telling us how great it was, or even forcing us into it. Aetna admitted, in court, that it would deny care, yet Unity still tells us it would not.

My head hurt from smacking myself each time a Unity clone spoke at the RTC meeting with the most illogical, ridiculous comments and questions. The worst offender was one of the Unity stalwarts who testified at the infamous City Council hearing where a gang of 5 Unity people who had previously defended the MulgrewCare MedAdv plan begged the Council to change the admin code so they wouldn't be forced into that same MulgrewCare by preserving their option to opt out and pay $200 a month for the same Seniorcare we have been getting for free. Huh?

You can see the Unity policy - Beg for higher healthcare costs. 

To top if off, she had the nerve to ask Marianne why she opposed the admin code change, meaning she was upset over not being able to pay more, instead of thanking Marianne for saving everyone thousands of dollars over 3 years.

You can't make this stuff up. 

Even better was a Unity long-time on the payroll hack, now a retiree but I'd bet is still on the payroll, had the nerve to ask how much Marianne is making off the backs of retirees who have saved these thousands of dollar? The place broke into an uproar and when Marianne answered how she makes nothing, she got rousing cheers.

 

I got to speak for the motion to call for a vote at the DA for major changes to our healthcare and a gaggle of Unity lined up at the mic to speak against. Of course they don't want a vote, even at the DA they control. They were hoping to stall out the clock for the 3PM adjournment.The question was called because Mulgrew was waiting to give his report -- he was at schools all day -- yes, Unity is working hard to counter the wave.

 

 Halabi has the numbers on the vote:

the vote on zoom was 909 - 208 to call the question; in the hall it was 231 - 47 to call the question. And at 1140 - 255 (82%) the question was called. On the resolution the vote was 186 in favor and 91 against in the hall, and 881 in favor to 277 against on zoom, for a total of 1067 in favor and 368, and the motion carried with over 74% in favor.

So, here was a test of Unity strength and 75% against sends a strong signal that the waning of Unity support in the June election was not a one-off.

 

Oh, and the most important thing about the meeting? Our own Michele Ravid has been working with the UFT food people and made sure there was improved food. 

 

Yummy.

Afternurn

A Unityite called a point of order - should non-union members be in the room - Bennett agreed and asked Marianne to wait outside. Even when she went outside to the lobby a Unity hack harassed her and demanded she leave the building, but was interrupted by the numerous attendees who came out to express their gratitude to Marianne and even hand her donations, some in front of Mulgrew, which is funny since Unity tried to question her funding source, hinting that some nefarious right wing anti-union group was backing her. Sure, anti-union groups are so anxious to defend out healthcare.

Arthur hit Unity again today: 

History Is SO Darn Unforgiving, And it's a long, slow learning curve for poor UFT Unity

Leaked: Unity Caucus strategies and questions for Oct 22 RTC Meeting from LeRoy Barr and Vinny Gaglione

Thursday, Oct. 23, 2024

 

Oh my, the caucus that keeps giving. Expect this to be a regular feature at RTC meetings. Unity in the opposition is so gauche.

 

Note this point from LeRoy:

Those undecided or not closely aligned with any factions should hear our reasoning and concerns.

He was right that there was an unaligned faction that heard their reasoning (ha) and concerns and they totally lost the room. Keep em coming guys. I toss in a response in red every so often.

 

First up is LeRoy who I hear may have had a few glum moments at yesterday's meeting. I love LeRoy - seriously -- and would have tried to cheer him up. I was back of room with Mike Sills trying to keep his spirits up.

Dear Retiree Members,

This is a reminder about today's important Retiree Chapter meeting at 1 p.m. As it is a hybrid meeting, if you have not registered for in-person attendance by now, you will likely need to attend remotely.

This meeting will be critical in setting the tone for the rest of the year under Bennett and his administration. Unfortunately, bringing Marianne Pizzitola to this first meeting is a step in the wrong direction. We must ensure enough caucus members are present, especially on the floor, to represent a balanced perspective. Those undecided or not closely aligned with any factions should hear our reasoning and concerns.

If we don’t show up and make our presence felt, we risk handing over control of the Retiree Chapter's operations to a group that doesn’t reflect our values.

[Values: not running democratic meetings where even opposition gets equal time, not fighting to keep our heathcare free with no co-pays, etc.]

As Joe Sicilian said, "We might have lost the battle, but we will not lose this war."

We’re counting on the Unity Caucus to stand firm tomorrow. One important note: if Marianne starts spreading misinformation about healthcare, Medicare Advantage, or our dental plans, please call for a point of information and request input from Geoff Sorkin, who is most knowledgeable about our retiree welfare fund benefits and plans. [Question was asked and Sorkin declined to speak, referring people to see him privately - give him credit - he could read a room.]

We are excited to engage with you in person or virtually today.

In solidarity, 
LeRoy Barr
Unity Caucus Chair

And the always hilarious Vinny:

October 22, 2024 RETIRE CHAPTER MEETING

We UNITY chapter members are being asked to attend Retiree Chapter meetings whether in person or online as often as possible.

We are being asked to be active questioners to what is said and done during the meetings.

For those online, please don’t be afraid to write comments in the ZOOM CHAT during the meeting. I recall vividly the constant comments that Mulgrew is a liar, that Tom is a liar, etc. when Tom was chapter leader. Keep the chat box filled with comments throughout the meeting …. “He doesn’t know how to run a meeting”….“She’s lying”… “Let the audience speak” …. “Retiree Advocates are frauds” … or whatever drivel you can come up with.

As for those in attendance or online, here are some potential questions for today’s October 22 meeting. If in the audience, DON’T READ it from your phone…make it your own.

Vinny Gaglione

For Pizzatola:

I think we should be very cautious about how we engage Pizzatola in questions about the healthcare plan. The fact is that she knows more than most of us and is polished and practiced in taking material and reframing it to her points of view. The latest video of 10 minutes about Michael demonstrates how she does it. For example, the issue of prior authorizations, she takes the real contract and mentions 100+ citations of prior authorization – without ever addressing what those citations say. She mentions how during the court case AETNA agreed that there were going to be times that they rejected a doctor’s recommendations. You can’t argue those things with her without a battery of facts that take so long to recite that you lose the audience before you start. Stay away from arguing about the plan. We are not experts on it. [Holy cow Vinnie -- you guys have been defending a plan that you spent three years claiming was great - clearly you are not only not experts, you haven't reached the stage of amateur.]

Here are some questions that should be plainly asked. She may very well defer or divert with answers but that can be demonstrated later.

Are you a dues-paying union member to what city union and how many years have you been or were its member?

You harp on the UFT and its president often but he has withdrawn support for the AETNA plan. Has the president of your former union done likewise and what other unions have written letters withdrawing their union’ support for the AETNA plan? Why no mention of them? [Another deception - sure Mulgrew withdrew after defending it for three years, based on new data? No it was based on the massive RA election win. The other unions were badgered by Mulgrew to support the Aetna plan only to now see Mulgrew stab them in the back - and some of them opposed the plan all along but Mulgrew gets the lion share of the MLC vote.] 

Below are the attempt at gotcha for Marianne

Other than subscribers, are there any organizations that help fund your activities?

Were there any organizations that initially funded your activities?

How much money has your organization collected each year since its inception? 

Why don’t you publish your income and disbursements as the union is required to do? [Why doesn't the UFT Welfare Fund publish it's income and disbursements?]

Are you regarded as an employee or consultant of the organization and do you receive recompense as such?[How many of your Unity retired cohorts are in some kind of paid position with the UFT?]

How much of that money did you declare for your personal income/expenses each year?

How much does your organization spend on legal costs for the court cases? 

Do you have  a person or group serving as a health benefit consultant for your organization?  how much does it cost and who is paying for it?

For the lawyers:  and if Pizzatola interjects, be willing to say, I asked the lawyer, thank you.

I read a description that the Oct 17^thcase that is described as a win is merely a procedural decision and has nothing to do with the substance of the case. Why do you call it a win? Sounds like Trump describing postponements as wins.

Is the premise of the copays case that the City failed to include notice of the copays in their 2022 booklets describing the Senior Care plan?

The judge lifted his own injunction on the copays. In January they start. So what then is the purpose of the copays case? Stop all copays or just recoup the copays paid while the injunction was in effect? Or does the federal case let you get greedy and claim alleged damages?

Is the premise of your major case that the City is obliged to pay the total costs of all retiree healthcare? How does that jibe with Administrative Code 12-126 which says the city is obliged to pay the premium for the medigap plan?

Has anyone given any thought to the political wisdom of these lawsuits. Mayor Bloomberg withheld negotiating contracts with us for 7 years because the union refused to negotiate health care premiums for members. It sounds like some retirees believe that the city has to pay all their healthcare costs. That has never been the case. What happens when the next “Mayor Bloomberg” exploits citizen sentiment against us for grossly mischaracterizing what the city must do for us?

For Benett Fischer:

Why would you not spend the first chapter meeting introducing yourself and your Executive Board and talking about your plans for the chapter’s future? [ Plans for the chapter future? Make sure not to run RTC meetings like Unity did.]

Your invitation to Ms. Pizzatola leaves the direct impression that her public support for Retiree Advocates makes it seem you are beholden to her. She is not a UFT member. Her intrusion in our election and your accepting it was unethical.

There are several thousands of retirees who take advantage, no pun intended, of other health plans offered by the city. Some of them are Advantage Plans. Is it the intention of the chapter to remove these members from the plans that they prefer or remove the plans?

What plans do you have for any changes in the chapter’s activities and programs?

Please describe the process by which motion and other actions will be entertained at meeting.

 

Stop the Steal - of UFT "Official" Retiree Web Page - Striking Back at Unity Caucus War on Internal Critics

Oh Susan Pulice, Puleeeeze!

The admin of the RTC’s Facebook group, along with her Unity caucus accomplices, remain embroiled in scandal as they seek to take away our union resource in plain sight. Arthur Goldstein digs deeper into the hypocrisy of the union’s ruling 1% party over this attempted heist of our dues. Calls for potential crowdsourcing to take legal action mount as the union counsel and top leadership drag their feet seeking to negotiate for their partisan agenda....EONYC

....there is the UFT Official Facebook Group for the RTC. That is run by one Susan Pulice, a Unity member. The most recent number I can find suggests our dues pay her in excess of 38K per year, along with perhaps a UFT pension.... they say, they don’t own the site. It’s in the name of Susan Pulice. There are compelling reasons why RTC should take over the site. They’ve been laid out, in pretty graphic detail, over at The Wire.... You could argue that every single person who signed up on Official RTC Facebook site, myself included, expected it to be a UFT site. You could argue that they did not, in fact, sign up for “The Social Spot—A Unity Community for Retirees.” You could, in fact, argue, that by walking with 6300 subscribers, that a fraud had been committed on those who signed up. You could argue they have stolen our built-in base, and that Unity is fine with that.... You could argue that this site represented itself as a union-sanctioned site. You could argue that the union announced as much in New York Teacher. You could argue that Pulice, by asserting ownership, was actually robbing the union of a resource created in the name of the United Federation of Teachers. You could, in fact, argue that ownership of the site was meaningless, and that the only important factor was who administrated the site....

....Arthur Goldstein, The Wire, Sept. 28

Call the FB police on Pulice.

Unity attacks Retiree Advocate for "consorting" with Marianne Pizzitola while the Unity hacks consort with the indicted Mayor Adams and other corrupt union leaders in the MLC to steal our healthcare.... The Norm.

Unity has a lot of damn gall lecturing us about whom we may affiliate with. We are fighting to make things better for us, and for rank and file. If our so-called leaders won’t help us, we’ll help ourselves....Arthur

There is real danger in taking a conflict-averse stance and rely on back door negotiating alone without bringing organizing muscle behind those negotiations. Yes, negotiate, but with force... Norm

Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024

 

I write here as an individual, not in my capacity as a member of the Retiree Advocate Organizing committee, nor as a member of the newly elected RTC Executive Board and Delegate Assembly, since neither body has decided formally on how to deal with the stolen RTC FB page issue. 

 

I hear there are negotiations between some of the newly elected officers of RTC and UFT/Unity officials over a bunch of issues. Why we have to negotiate what rightfully should be ours indicates the Unity agenda - to obfuscate and obstruct. I don't oppose negotiations to win what we can but I also am not for hiding the crap they do, though some may fear by exposing them we make them more obstinate and put them more in attack mode. I say screw them -- we won the election by exposing them. Democracy doesn't flourish in darkness. 

 

Michael Mulgrew is selling you something you don't really need. Debunking Unity attack dog Ellie Engler

One of the Unity negotiators is the Unity attack dog Ellie Engler, a non-teacher who was known as one of Randi's gals. Mulgrew recently brought her back into the inner circle, along with Dave Hickey, to escalate the attacks. Engler is not very popular. See Marianne expose the UFT concierge fake advertising scam for HSS and MSK call service only: Debunking Ellie Engler UFT (not a teacher). Ellie sounds a bit like J.D. Vance. And I did see a cat in Marianne's video.

And what a joke the UFT service is. I called the MSK call center directly on June 7 and she made a surgeon and oncologist appointment on June 11. She took all my information for getting my records and sent me what I had to do online and when I saw the docs 4 days later they had everything in hand. My operation took place on June 26. Instead of going through a UFT middle person I did it directly.  Who would you trust? An MSK expert call center person or some UFT service? Amen. 

Unity hijacks the RTC Facebook Page

When I heard details about the supposedly "official" UFT retiree Facebook page, obviously pro-Unity, where the administrator in charge was being paid out of our dues to run it, being turned over to private hands and taking its 6k members with it, I LOL. I just love it when Unity does the usual dumb stuff. I predicted that their strategy was to go hard after critics only to have it fall on their faces.

 

Is Unity suppressing retiree vote, Today - Retired Chapter Meeting, Unity Exec Bd REJECTS Call to oppose Tier 6 Architect

Unity plays hardball and the oppo tries plays by marquess of queensberry rules. -- James Eterno

Point of order, Mr. Murphy. Where is the Motion period for today's meeting, as required by Roberts Rules? In fact there has been no motion periods at any meeting this year.

Tuesday, May 21, 2024

Oh, I'd love to make that motion today, but have been overruled by my colleagues and I'm a team player. But James' point about how the oppo tries to play nice is more pertinent than ever. And how about the Unity crowd claiming to oppose Tier 6 while endorsing an architect? Makes one want to be uncivil.

RA and Unity are in GOTV faze - contacting all UFT retirees to make sure they get their ballot and vote -- which requires actually going to a mail box. I will speculate on the outcome in a day or so. Unity is focused on getting out their vote while the main threat to them comes from those who usually don't vote. So why not make it harder for them?

 

Ok, I've got to catch the ferry to the city for the May retiree chapter teacher meeting where we can hear Tom Murphy and maybe Mulgrew and even today possibly Randi pontificate on every issue but healthcare. With the chapter election on, expect lots of gaslighting. I'd love to be positively uncivil.

 

I didn't make it to the UFT  Exec Bd last night to see the predicted outcome of our reso calling for the DA to vote on the Tier 6 champion, Micah Lasher endorsement, as I reported yesterday:

• Another Unity/UFT Sellout - Backs Micah Lasher, Bloomberg pro Tier 6, Charter School, Student First Acolyte - for State Assembly

Nick has the gory details in his report:

at the NYSUT assembly, every delegate we send is a member of Unity Caucus. There is no proportional representation, certainly no independents, and all positions are elected at large (high school members don’t even get to elect their reps, or I’d be at the RA too). In other words, Lasher, with his history of anti-UFT activities, only got an endorsement because every NYC teacher in the room was a member of Unity. Your average non-Unity teacher would not have voted yes to Lasher. Good luck fighting for Tier 6 if we’re sitting there deciding to send our COPE dollars to elect one of its architects. We must reform the endorsement process, as, again, I argue here.

• Why the UFT endorsed an architect of Tier 6 – UFT Executive Board Minutes 5/20/24

Nick points to the perils of winner take all, as is the retired chapter election. I wouldn't want our side to have total control either. But at least if we win, our 300 DA candidates have a variety of views and no caucus discipline. Since UFC got about one third of the total vote, in a proportional system we would have had over 200 NYSUT and AFT delegates, a better mix for the benefit of the UFT. But Unity doesn't care about the betterment of the UFT.

Unity actually had the nerve to claim Lasher has reformed and now supports public schools. Which is why the charter and Bloomberg crowd are pouring in money. Sometimes I smack my head when I hear Trumpies repeat FOX mantras. Unity is actually worse.

Is it time to be uncivil?

 

Unity has been attacking Retiree Advocate for being uncivil, which I find funny since I fight in the RA organizing group to be more uncivil and am in the minority. My colleagues seem to go out of the way to be civil, which is maddening to me. Like they worry about Unity heckling while I say fuck Unity. To me the Unity campaign to keep the oppo under control works, as my pals are convinced that making too much noise will cause us to lose votes. I say, the people objecting are Unity and we can be tame pussycats (which we are) and they won't vote for us. I think the oppo tails the anger of many in the rank and file who want to see more fire from the oppo. When New Action was on the UFT Ex Bd 25 years ago I was often disturbed at the way they responded - or didn't respond - to Unity attacks.

The late, great James Eterno, who when in New Action was the most aggressive, used to repeat endlessly -- Unity plays hardball and the oppo tries to play by marquess of queensberry rules.

 

I'm particularly pissed at the actions of the Unity controlled election committee which denied us other than 1 rep while they pack the meetings with 4 Unity. The latest is that at the June 14th vote count we will not be able to observe directly but through a barrier. Until recent elections we had full access. That is not observing. I also object to the delays - we pay AAA a fortune and they can't run more scanners, which break down constantly and delay the vote. In elections in years past we had faster results. I intend to make some noise at the count. I don't trust Unity and I don't trust the cozy relationship to the AAA. LeRoy Barr, the head of Unity Caucus, consults with them and claims he is representing the UFT, not Unity. Sure.

J'Accuse: Unity/AAA Delayed ballots suppress the vote

So we were told that ballots were to go out on May 10 but no one we know received their ballot until at least a week later and many haven't gotten it yet. Then when asked, AAA reported "on or about May 10." Really?

I asked a former colleague who is a snowbird and up in Boston now and he hasn't gotten his ballot and probably never will unless he contacts AAA and gets them to send to his summer home. I expect we will have loads of people who ask the AAA for replacements and they do la, di, da and it takes a week to get one and another week for it to get back to AAA? If I were on the election committee I'd demand they extend the deadline for ballots received to a few extra days to make up for the delayed mailing. 

 

But of course that will be rejected, as Unity is all about vote suppression. They are the Republican Party of the UFT.

Now we know by their actions, that Unity is nervous, as Jonathan chronicled: The UFT Retiree Election and “Unusual Activity”.

At today's meeting Retiree Advocate will be handing out our standard leaflet, but I am handing out a supplemental leaflet based on reporting by Wendell Potter damning Aetna/CVS and the impact on Mulgrewcare. Read the entire article here. I modified it for today's meeting.

 

Arthur has some thoughts on the retiree and TRS election (which I will update you on tomorrow.

• Make SURE to VOTE: Your vote strikes fear into the cold, dead heart of the UFT Unity Noise Machine

• Trying Times at the UFT Unity Patronage Mill. --By Arthur Goldstein -- The unofficial TRS election survey results are in; UFT to still file lawsuit against NYC DOE asking for re-run of the election

Educators of NYC comments on the Unity spin on Lasher last night:

Once again @UFTUnity has been loose with the facts. Yesterday, they voted down a UFT exec board resolution that would bring the @nysut endorsement of @MicahLasher to a more direct vote by @UFT delegates. (The UFT has endorsed him via proxy essentially thru a NYSUT vote.) One argument that Unity apparatchiks made is that he is ANTI-CHARTER schools, now. This simply isn’t true. His politically expedient change of tone is not a change of heart. While he no longer heads the charter school PAC, StudentsFirst NY, nothing in his career or his current positions as a candidate for state office in the last 8 years indicates this. While he has called for more *accountability of charters*, such as special education and other areas, you won’t find a SINGLE instance where he says he is against charter schools. Because he isn’t. Lest we forget during his most recent 3 year stint as director of policy for @GovKathyHochul, we see her administration called for lifting the state cap entirely last year and when rebuffed by the state legislature, Hochul worked out a deal to bring back 22 zombie charters statewide — 14 in NYC. Hochul is pro-charter. And you bet your bottom dollar — so is Lasher. The donor money he’s beginning to compile in his run for AD 69 is starting to have privateer Bloomberg fingerprints all over it, too. Lots of former Bloomberg administration folks, and most prominently, Emma Bloomberg and her husband, Jeremiah Kittredge, who used to run the maligned charter lobby operation, Families for Excellent Schools, before it was caught up in scandal. 

Source. https://politico.com/states/new-york/albany/story/2016/09/lasher-puts-distance-between-himself-and-charter-schools-105111

 

Retiree Advocate (RA) Shows Some Muscle at UFT Retiree Meeting: Mulgrew, Tier 6, Paras and Happy Retirees

UFT's Tom Brown kept declaring how happy UFT retirees are. I maintain it is Retiree Advocate retirees who are the happiest because we know we are figthing the machine that wants to change our healthcare and enjoying the battle. To me, the Unity crowd does not look all that happy. Maybe a bit depressed over the possibility RA can win the chapter election and their gigs at the UFT.

Check out the updated Retiree Advocate web site: https://www.retireeadvocate.org/

Saturday, April 20

 

Being ordered around by a 70 something and an 18 year old.

 

I'm taking a few minutes off from my wife ordering me around to prep for the 30 people coming for Passover on Monday night. The young cousins bring pot and that's the only time each year I take a few puffs. I start the seder stoned and then tune out. 

 

I'm also on 4 days of video duty (Thursday, Friday, Saturday night and Sunday matinee) at the Rockaway Theatre Company for these final weekend of the spectacular Urinetown 

which  saw for the 5th time last night - with two more to go.

 

I'm not a spectator for this weekend as I get to follow directions from an 18 year old college freshman film student who is one impressive young lady. I love learning from teenagers. And by the way, let me say that media has been trashing today's youngsters while the theater loving teens and young 20s I meet and work with are amazing. (Our stage manager is 21 and our sound guy about the same age.) My message to parents: Get your depressed child into a theater program.

 

Last Tuesday, the morning of the Retiree chapter meeting, I posited: Expect The Usual Fiasco, but I actually had fun - before and after the meeting. During, not so much. This post is about the before and after and a bit about during. I'll post the Mulgrew part later, but if you can't wait, here is Arthur's meeting report from remote.

 

A bit over 200 were there in person --- a usual crew of Unity loyalists who shun us when we try to hand them a leaflet, but it seems about half the people are not. There were over 4k on line. There was some noise when people pushed back against Mulgrew. It resonates with the online crowd to hear some pushback.  

 

Our Retiree Advocate crew showed up before the meeting to hand out our main leaflet - check it out here - along with RA buttons and did so with verve and enthusiasm. Bennett was called upon to ask Mulgrew a question and a few other voices were raised, but let me not get ahead of myself. I view these meetings as organizing efforts to grow the retiree oppo base and we inch forward.

 

 Many people put on our buttons and signed up for our emails. We always meet some new people at these meetings and we find very receptive people. 

 

We also handed out the notice we were having a meetup after the meeting at a local bar, where we ended up with almost 20 people. Only a little over 200 attended the in person, so that is not too shabby - and others told us they would have come but had some priors. Over the past year at the RCT meetings we have added people and lots were wearing our buttons. Some joined us at White Horse Tavern afterward for food and refreshments. Unfortunately I was due for a blood test for my newly discovered diabetes the next morning and had to avoid the beer.

 

Here's our chapter leader candidate Bennett Fischer saying a few words. I can't say enough about how capable Bennett is in almost any arena he takes on. I have enormous confidence in him -- but also our 10 officer and 15 chapter exec bd (I am the only one I have no confidence in) candidates. Plus the other 275 delegate assembly candidates who we are having a zoom with tomorrow night. If we win, it will be a new chapter in the history of the UFT.

 

The biggest Unity crew I've ever seen at an RA meeting also handed out a leaflet. I felt bad for them having to hand out a leaflet on how great a leader Tom Murphy is and they looked depressed doing so. 

 

Our organizing efforts have forced Unity to put out their own leaflet where found out for sure Tom Murphy is really running, and they actually had 5 people distributing, including former HSVP John Soldini and retired para rep Shelvy Young Abrams. But RA has about a dozen doing the work, a sign that if we win we will have an activist chapter driven by members.

 

Unity Caucus with Murphy leaflet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The leaflet was LOL at points -- word was out that there were some people contending to replace him but he threw a bit of a fit and Mulgrew supported him. It's the king who decided in monarchies. Murphy's 75K retiree consultant  NYSUT gig might be threatened.

 

 

 

 Arthur has a few words on the Murphy leaflet:

The notion that Murphy is an independent thinker is absurd on its face. Clearly, the Unity notion of serving the union means fawning over Michael Mulgrew and stroking his fragile ego. (In fairness, Murphy is quite good at that.)...Murphy is a “guardian of civility.” Let’s first address the fact that it’s not true at all. Murphy shows blatant contempt for opinions that vary from Michael Mulgrew’s. He refuses to let passionate members speak at meetings. Then he marvels that members shout at him. (Why do people raise their voices when Tom doesn’t allow them to speak? Go figure. It’s a great mystery.)

The Tom Murphy/ UFT Unity Campaign: Hubris, Insinuation, Misdirection and Lies

https://arthurgoldstein.substack.com/p/the-tom-murphy-uft-unity-campaign?

Murphy is running a platform of civility -- don't dare call out during our meetings and if you have a postage sized sign he will be uncivil. Remember this?

• Retired Teacher Chapter Leader Tom Murphy Calls for Decorum - After screaming at people for posting signs in back of UFT meeting hall and calling security

Paras on agenda

Retired Para Chapter chair Shelvy Young Abrams is being handed a big role in the Unity RTC unit -- to try to organize and mobilize the 7k para retirees into a force of resistance to the growing influence of Retiree Advocate and she has a chance since few retired paras have gravitated to the opposition. The whys are worth examining -- maybe at an ICE meeting.

Tier 6 -Suddenly (I'm Tier 1 - I say, Smirking)

Aside from the Mulgrew appearance, which I will address in the follow-up to this report, we heard from UFT Treasurer and TRS pension rep Tom Brown, always an entertaining speaker, listed decades of UFT/Unity achievements and continuously pointed out how UFT retirees are the happiest people in the world. I almost broke out into song:

 

Happy days are here again

The skies above are clear again

So let's sing a song of cheer again
Happy days are here again

 

Brown was followed by current Unity TRS candidate Christina McGrath - Unity has had to put out leaflets for her to counter our campaign for Ben Morgenroth. Before Ben was a candidate, he was pushing the UFT to do more to change Tier 6 --- and he has made Tier 6 reform a major part of his campaign. So of course Unity, which has done barely anything on Tier 6 for a dozen years, suddenly wakes up and McGrath was chosen to make a presentation on the changes they are asking for. 

 

RA's Bobby Greenberg asked a seemingly innocent question. I'll paraphrase:

It's nice to hear how many great things we've done over the decades. Congratulations. So if we've done so well, and everyone should be in Tier 1 but we'll take Tier 4. How did we go from Tier 1 to Tier 6? Or even Tier 4 to Tier 6? 

How uncivil of Bobby to dare bring up such a major failure of COPE and UFT Leadership which sat on its hands in 2012 when Tier 6 was foisted on us. Leadership realized that Ben and New Action had seized on the fact that 55% of UFT members are Tier 6 and that is a major campaign issue Unity is trying to get out from under. Ooopsie.

•   fumfering" --> "A Yiddish word meaning to "mumble", most often used to mean to be evasive; can also mean to putter aimlessly or to waste time."

I won't even waste your time with their lame response.

The Unity crowd was not only caught flat-footed in 2012 but actually told their people it wasn't all that bad. Now that 55% of UFT members are in Tier 6, and people like Ben Morgenroth are raising it time and again, they see the political danger, so they are putting on a campaign to make people believe they are fighting for them.

Daniel, in a brilliant feat of investigative reporting, lays waste to them with this post on The Wire. Here is a segment.

Mulgrew, and his Unity Political Machine, did nothing to STOP Tier 6.

They rolled over when it was proposed in 2011. And when finally enacted in 2012. Now, we are left to pick up the pieces. Struggling to glue back and fix the damage they allowed to happen.

Dan Alicea

 

... we are in the struggle of our lives to try to FIX Tier 6 because more than 10 years ago he did nothing to STOP TIER 6.

Lost in Mulgrew’s trademark verbal acrobatics and rhetoric about trying to FIX Tier 6, along with his snail’s pace, piecemeal lobbying campaign, is the fact that he dropped the ball. We’re here because he failed to organize us to use our collective union power to STOP the agenda to deplete our pension benefits. 

We were NOT caught off guard. Bloomberg and Cuomo telegraphed their Tier 6 intentions. It wasn’t a surprise. It was a long time coming. 

For the ten months before its passage in April of 2012, there were no organized UFT rallies. No large scale, coordinated lobbying campaign coming out of 52 Broadway. Not even a single UFT resolution was passed against it by the executive board or delegate assembly during the year before Tier 6 was enacted. Next to nothing in Mulgrew’s web communiques to members before — and only after the legislature passed the new pension reform.

There was no major UFT-centered action, mobilization or pushback whatsoever to STOP TIER 6 — which still threatens the financial futures of a generation of educators today and has led to a mass exodus within our profession. 

You’ll find little to nothing in the mainstream press archives containing any public remarks by Mulgrew against Tier 6 prior to its passage. No prominent mentions about it on our union website during this time. He skirted his fiduciary duties and let Dick Ianuzzi and Anthony Pallotta of NYSUT be the primary mouthpieces to speak out against the proposal while the UFT communicated little about a ‘Stop Tier 6’ fight. All while it posed an existential threat to our UFT union family. 

In fact, in early 2012, when Mulgrew shared his annual January testimony to Albany’s legislature about the proposed budget, Mulgrew only dedicated a small fraction of his time to say he only had “strong reservations” about the “idea that we need a new pension tier.“ 

Strong reservations about the idea? That’s it? 

That’s it. Mulgrew shrugged.

Unity insiders have confided, in hindsight, that they believed Mulgrew when he told them behind closed doors that the defined pension benefits were in jeopardy. They say there was a sense of inevitability about the looming draconian changes and so they maintained a business as usual posture.

Perhaps Mulgrew miscalculated that if Albany gave Bloomberg what he wanted, Bloomberg would finally negotiate contracts with the city’s unions once again? If so, the gamble failed miserably as Bloomberg left office while the city’s labor contracts, including ours, remained expired.

Even in more recent years, we’ve heard folks like UFT treasurer and TRS teacher-member Trustee, Tom Brown, continue to downplay the severity of the Tier 6 giveback, as evident in a 2022 executive board meeting where “Brown and other Unity-elected members made the argument that Tier 6 was essentially fine, better than what (the mostly non-unionized) rest of the country has, and that improvements are being made anyways.”

Brown went on to falsely claim that “Tier 6ers don’t have ‘less net compensation’ than Tier 4ers.”

After Tier 6 passed in April of 2012, Mulgrew, to his credit, refused to receive an award with Bloomberg and Cuomo at a SOMOS gala, shortly after. Something about the optics of attending a party and being really mad.

Daniel follows in the footsteps of the great James Eterno, who in March 2012 nailed the Unity leadership on Tier 6 with this post on ICE:

• James Eterno: TIER 6 A HUGE DEFEAT FOR THE NEXT GENERATION, March 2012 - from the ICE blog

 James pretty much said what Daniel says a dozen years later:

No spin from NYSUT or Leo Casey or President Mulgrew on the legislation to stick anyone hired in April or thereafter with a Tier VI pension...No spin from NYSUT or Leo Casey or President Mulgrew on the legislation to stick anyone hired in April or thereafter with a Tier VI pension...What about those COPE contributions?  We don't seem to have much influence with the legislature these days.

For those yet to be hired, the legislature and governor wiped away virtually all of the pension gains we made over the last thirty years.  A new teacher or new state employee will have to work until they are sixty three to receive a full pension which will only be 55% of final average salary according to what I read.  Final average salary has been increased from the average of the last five years of employment instead of three.

I remember when I started working and all of the people who were on Tier I told those of us who were on Tier IV how horrible our pension was.  Now we will have to face the Tier VI people and tell them they are in it for the real long haul if they want to make teaching a career. It is the same for other civil servants across New York State.

It struck me that in 2012 James talks about those who were about to be hired. Now over half are in Tier 6 and have been hired since then - think of the massive turnover in a dozen years.

I'll get to the follow-up on the Mulgrew part of the meeting, the following day's DA whee Unity rejected reform of the dental plan.

Great news for the next RTC meeting on May 21: Randi will be there. Oh, the joy!

Expect The Usual Fiasco- Today 1-3 - UFT Retiree chapter meeting followed by Retiree Advocate Meetup at Local Bar

 Another fun meeting today. I'll report on the fun day tonight but if you are around join us after the meeting at 3 at the bar White Horse Tavern for eats and drinks.

 Here's our handout which will be included when the ballot goes out  

 

 

Question period at yesterday’s

@UFT

exec bd meeting. Exec board member, Ronnie Almonte asks: Welfare fund – our investment was 200 million a few years ago, now 600 million, but benefits haven’t increased. I’ve had the same experience as the open mic speaker. Joe Usatch: I will investigate. Investigate? Translation of paid bureaucrat: You’re being SHUNNED!

7:24 AM · Apr 16, 2024

·

 

Today: Calling UFT Retirees - Join Retiree Advocate at chapter meeting at 1PM, followed by gathering at White Horse Tavern

Are we nearing the end of Tom Murphy's reign as chapter leader? Possible successor, former UFT VP Carmen Alvarez, will be a mainline speaker today - I will report later on the lousy bagels served at RTC meetings which beer I drank at the tavern.

The March meeting of the UFT Retiree chapter is today at one. I will be joining the RA crew in the back lobby of 52 at noon. Unity will try to exert maximum control of this meeting. We expect (hope) new people will be there to raise issues - if they allow it. Expect lots of filibustering to stall. One reason Murphy may be out is his bull in China shop approach. 

I wonder at how effective Carmen might be and whether Mulgrew trusts her to be able to handle it. There isn't a lot of talent at the top, especially among retirees in Unity. We heard rumors they had problems and may still be having problems getting people to agree to run as delegates, with some flatly turning down the opportunity. Some even may be running with RA. In contrast, we have been oversubscribed and don't have room for all the people who volunteered to run.

 Here is today's leaflet.