UFT DA and RTC Back to Back Meetings: The Stockholm Syndrome

Recent retiree: My first retiree meeting and I am appalled. 

Retiree delegate responds: Yes.  The only thing that could have made it worse would have been a Mulgrew visit and, I guess, a Tom Brown performance.  It made me want to cry.

Recently Retiree: Yes. It made me very sad. All that work to win a historic election and this is what they do with it. Arthur reports on DA and RTC

Retiree Michael Brocoum: I attended the RTC meeting at 52 Broadway. Bennett Fischer stated that The UFT is trying to deal with the copay issue. With all due respect that is laughable. Copays exist because of Mike Mulgrew. Mulgrew asked the City to institute copays to free up some money for active worker raises essentially pitting active workers against retirees. Additionally Bennet Fischer asked for people to man phone banks to support the UFT's (Mulgrew) pick for District 3 City Council. The union (Mulgrew) supports Carl Wilson. You can be sure that to get the UFT (Mulgrew) support he had to agree to not actively fight to protect retiree healthcare. I rose up to speak and asked attendees to vote for Layla-Law Gisiko who is supported by Marianne Pizzitola. We still have our traditional Medicare because of Marianne. Please vote for Layla-Law Gisiko and ignore any calls from the UFT phone banks.  Bennett Fischer was not pleased to hear my statement and criticized me for mentioning Mulgrew in this healthcare fight. Sad. 

Norm: Did you notice Bennett attacking Mike Brocoum for going after Mulgrew, labeling it as a personal attack -- the Unity crowd heckled Mike but no word from Bennett about them. What next, getting reprimanded for being critical of UFT policies? Could Bennett have objected to mentioning the "union Leadership that made the deal to force us into Medicare Advantage" or the "union leadership" that went to the city council to try to amend the law that guarantees health care coverage for all municipal employees and retirees and their dependents - to put retirees in a different category so they could force us into MA or make us pay for our Senior Care if we wanted to to stay in traditional Medicare?

Arthur Goldstein report of RTC Meeting: It was pretty remarkable to hear Bennett Fischer stop a speaker from saying that Michael Mulgrew imposed copays on us, deeming it a “personal attack.” That, in fact, is not a personal attack. It’s a statement that, as far as I know, is true. The copays were put in place to make his crappy Medicare Advantage plan look better. A personal attack would be saying your adversaries spout fairy tales. It would be saying some people can’t handle the facts. It would be saying your adversaries make everything a conspiracy, or that those who disagree with you are enemies of the union. Michael Mulgrew said all those things at a UFT Executive Board meeting I attended. 

Norm: Watching Bennett over the past year and a half, he bends over backwards to defend Unity and criticizes their critics - in public, while privately he will be critical. I can be the only one with my hand up and he will avoid calling on me because he's concerned I may go after Unity (which I will).  I've been Tom Murphyized by Bennett.  

Retiree Delegate after the meeting: I debated paying the $50 to join Retiree Advocate and decided not to. I paid what I thought were dues for years and found out I was not a member. I'm not giving them more money.

Friday, April 23, 2026 

 

Oy! Having spent 4 hours over 2 days at Albert Shanker Hall listening first to Mulgrew and then endless reports that chewed up most of the RTC meeting, I said thank goodness for the chips and oreo cookies. Above are some of the comments from retirees. I have a lot to say about both but not enough time to write it all down. So I will focus here on the DA.

 

Arthur covered both meetings remotely in depth. 

Unbelievable--April UFT Delegate Assembly: Michael Mulgrew and his Unity ducklings instruct us on just what we are and are not allowed to know.

Arthur Goldstein

Apr 22, 2026

At RTC Meeting, We Help Everyone But Ourselves: We've entirely dropped the ball.

Arthur Goldstein

Apr 23, 2026

Both meetings exposed the differences riling both retiree and active UFT members opposed to Unity Caucus. The ABC DA chat group during DAs is worth the price of admission (free). While I gnash my teeth at DAs, I don't expect very much from the Unity leadership. Or from the RA-RTC leadership and their dwindling core of delegates. One of the delegates I respect a lot resigned recently. People are saying "what's the point?" I'm thinking the same but go for the entertainment value.

 

Mulgrew will talk forever. A faux Unity unsigned reso will be placed on the new motion agenda. Most of the people called on will be full or part-time UFT staff. And even if a new motion from a non-Unity gets raised and even approved, it will get buried and put on the bottom of the agenda for the next month. Or year. Or decade.

 

There were a few big issues: 

The secret survey to tell the leadership what issues the members think are important that the leadership will ignore and won't reveal the outcome to the membership with the usual arguments that we must be secret - ignoring the successful open negotiation tactics of the Chicago and Los Angeles teacher unions which have won them better recent contracts than the UFT - much better. 

 

Arthur mocks the 500 member negotiating committee which is a PR stunt. At the end it will be a few people in the room -- I've urged oppo people to not sign the non-disclosure agreement and boycott but most don't agree with me. Members are hand chosen by leadership with a few token oppo voices who are sworn to secrecy so that they can't even consult with the people who elected them. 

 

Let me jump to Arthur's comments:

There was an amendment asking that we lowly members know the results of our survey asking what our priorities are. The first two people who spoke in opposition are full time Unity employees. The third is a part time Unity employee. I’m not sure about the fourth, but I’d bet dimes to dollars she's Unity too..... 

I was struck by how much Unity employee Stuart Kaplan sounded like Trump supporters do. Just this morning, I saw video of actor Dean Cain saying Trump was playing 5d chess, and Kaplan said we have to keep 5 steps ahead of the DOE. Given Unity’s abysmal record of selling out retirees, among other things, I’m not seeing five steps ahead.

In fact, if Kaplan is correct, Mulgrew should no longer bloviate for an hour at a time. He should hide in a bunker with whomever the other two men in a room happen to be. That might make it easier for him to keep on selling us contracts and health plans we aren’t allowed to read.

Mulgrew used his filibuster to lobby for TRS pension election candidate Tom Brown and claimed in an LOL moment that they are independent. We know David Kazansky was removed as pension rep 2 years ago for speaking his mind too much and then subsequently fired for being too friendly with Amy Arundell. Arthur commented:

Mulgrew speaks of the trustees as though they are deities. No, he claims, they make their own decisions, completely independently of what he may want. That’s very hard to believe. How can a trustee work as a UFT officer and be completely independent? Worse, how can a trustee sign an actual loyalty oath to Unity and be trusted to work in our interest even if it isn’t shared by King Mulgrew? Won’t they be purged, just like former trustee David Kazansky was, if they fail to please the king?

The other major issue came from the MORE people, who had two resos circulating  - one on supporting May Day, which did not get raised and the following from Kate McCreary from the Beacon School, where MORE has a base. As reported by Arthur:

Kate McCreary, Beacon HS—Resolution for next month. Stop sale of bombs and bulldozers to Israel. Since 10/7 provided 27 billion, Israel killed more than 72K, bodies pulled out of rubble every day. UFT supports for dem Senators who disapproved. Endorses them blocking bombs and bulldozers that make Palestinian state impossible. Bombs have destroyed countless schools, prevented children from learning, destroyed all the universities, destroyed homes, ability to get food and health care. 60% of people in our country believe in this. Our support can make a difference.

Well done, says Mulgrew.

Sean Rockowitz (UFT Staten Island borough rep) —Similar resolutions have divided membership, urges no vote.

online yes—509 n—370 room y 175 n 122 58%, placed on next month agenda

We probably will see some leadership attempts to modify it. Or else add it to the back of the agenda where it will die. If they put it up next time up front, that would be a sign of cataclysmic change in the union with its neo-con history. 

 

Now think about this reso passing for the next meeting despite Sean's signaling possible leadership opposition, while Mulgrew issued no signal. (LeRoy Barr had the rep of raising his glasses as a signal to the Unity faithful on how to vote.) Is this a sign of some divide in the leadership over the growing Democratic Party (and even some Republican) opposition to Israeli genocide? I doubt it. Remember the outrage and attacks on Amy Arundell just over a year ago over her relatively mild criticisms of Israel?  Just a few months later, the leadership was endorsing Mamdani. Now verging on BDS? There must be some Unity hacks gnashing their teeth.

"Well done", says Mulgrew. Remember the reaction when MORE was pushing BDS? How far behind are we before a BDS reso makes a serious move? Boy, it you want an example of how quickly politics can turn, here is an example. Not long ago I was ambivalent about BDS. No longer as one outrage after another piles up. (The triple tap targeting and murder of the female Lebanese journalist is one more chip in the Israeli support wall.)

 

UFT leadership tracks Dem Party central - Mulgrew was a Biden delegate. Randi was on Dem Central Committee - until she resigned, indicating her finger is in the air. Schumer is the perfect example of Dem party failure --- his Senate choices in Michigan and Maine are getting slaughtered. He doesn't oppose the war in Iran but wants to have a say. Talk about out of touch leadership.

Speaking of out of touch leadership: So, is UFT leadership moving away from corporate Dems  and to the left while a good portion of the membership trails? Or are they onto something?

 

Last year's election results looked like a repudiation of the left with the legacy caucuses of ARISE getting only14% of the vote. The ABC "everyone is welcome" 32% share was interesting given that Pres Candidate Arundell was a pro-Palestinian rights leftist. That vote came from left, right and center - anti-Mulgrew people who liked the ABC "all are welcome" mantra. 

The problem with the leftist legacy caucuses is that they don't run to win, but to make their point. The one time they won was the RTC 2024 chapter election when they eschewed ideology and worked with Marianne and the NYC Retirees, which was open open to left, right and center. 

 

It was clear last year they didn't have a chance and yet spent enormous resources and money in running a losing campaign that humiliated them. 

 

I don't see the legacy people learning their lesson as they will see a vote like this one on Israel as the UFT membership moving left when in actuality it is the leadership playing politics. We don't know where the membership stands -- on Israel there is a definite move by the whole country but what would a referendum in the UFT show?

 

The leadership of MORE always felt they could be hard left and the membership would morph and come to them as capitalism degraded. I always felt there is as much if not more of a chance people move right and not left if society degrades.

 

James Eterno always said Unity would never let the oppo to out social justice them and that still holds. There was some reluctance by a minority group in MORE to unite with the other legacy groups because it meant they had to compromise. The theory to stick to their ideology and wait for the membership to catch up. Union elections are not much of a factor to them - until they felt they could win, ignoring the victories in Chicago and LA - are their memberships THAT much different from the UFT? 

 

Or is it that we have Unity Caucus to control the members and those unions had no equivalent? I say the latter -- that the prime obstacle to changing the union is Unity and they must fall first and the oppo should focus their aim on them -- sure, go to Starbucks and every rally -- but don't neglect the prime directive. The RA/RTC crowd are thrilled to be running the chapter on every issue but healthcare. They seem to have bought the line that our victory last year convinced Mulgrew to give up on MedAdv. So what will they run on next year? Not enough rallies at Starbuks?

This describes the major difference between ABC and ARISE - eye on the prize.

 

The RA/RTC people who run the chapter - for now -- have tried to minimize Marianne's contributions and don't want to face the fact that her support for ABC tripled their retiree vote compared to them. They don't seem to want to run against Unity with her backing.
 

Bennett's attack on Brocoum - and me at times - for challenging Unity - and his general reluctance to stand up to them - makes people scratch their heads. Some think he is trying to curry favor with Unity so that they might be willing to support him in the chapter election. I don't think so. I think it is the Stockholm Syndrome. Once RTC moved into even a sliver or power they began to look at things from a leadership perspective.

 

It is worth examining the symptoms of Stockholm Syndrome.

Stockholm syndrome is a psychological response where hostages or abuse victims develop positive emotional bonds, sympathy, or dependency toward their captors. It is a coping mechanism for survival, occurring when victims identify with abusers 

 

Symptoms: Positive feelings toward abusers, sympathy for their agenda, and decreased fear/anger toward them, alongside mistrust of rescuers

.

Causes: The syndrome is rooted in fear, helplessness, and the need for survival during intense isolation or threatening situations. 

 

I see ABC as their rescuers and they have more antagonism and fear of ABC than they do of their Unity oppressors. The irony is that so many ABCers have left the Unity cult and are way more militant with a greater desire to win - not just make a point - than the legacy caucuses.

 

Watch RA and the RTC leadership in action and look for these syndrome signs. Bennett's criticism of Mike Brocoum, while ignoring the Unity jeers and boos when he went after Mulgrew, is perfect example of Stockholm Syndrome.

 

Since winning the election, Retiree Advocate has engaged in Unity-like behavior, to the point that I no longer felt comfortable in RA and after ten years I stopped attending meetings and will not join their new membership faux democracy caucus. (I will go into more details on how this is NOT democracy.)

 

You know when the uninformed complain about difference in the opposition to Unity within the retiree chapter, differences that will most likely prevent them from winning again, they attribute it to ego or personality and ignore the fact that there are policy differences. The differences between ABC and ARISE over the 2024 election were over policy, strategies and tactics. The fundamental capitulation to Unity is a major difference and any attempt to bring the dissonant factions together must address that point. 

 

Is it impossible to come together for an election either at the chapter level or the broader union? Yes. But only if there is an agreement to try to win like we had in the 2024 election but didn't in 2025. I'm no longer interested in wasting time on trying to send messages. As legendary football coach Al Davis used to say: Just win baby!

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Next time I blog I'll go into detail on the RTC meeting where leadership and presenters took up an hour and a half.

 

David vs Unity Goliath in TRS Election as Fear and Loathing Works as Unity Delivers 30K Petition Sigs for Tom Brown

I'm not coming to the DA today because I resigned as a delegate. I couldn't take all the unkindness anymore.... A (former) retiree delegate.

One day I'll get into how Retiree Advocate and the RTC leadership frittered away the potential power of electing 300 retiree delegates, many of whom don't bother attending. I'm too dumb to get the message and I'm racing to finish this before heading off to another scintillating Delegate Assembly, or Derogatory Assembly.

I’ve worked with David (Kazansky) for nine years, and it’s been an absolute pleasure. We have had the opportunity to attend many meetings, travel around the country, you always attending the defined benefit pension plans. David has always acted as a true fiduciary, always had the interest of our members, any time we debated anything, he would always say, how would this benefit our members? He’s taken care of a lot of specific issues with our members, helping members..... Tom Brown 

Wednesday, April 22, 2026

I graduated from the 8 month training program at Brooklyn Botanic

Garden Tour guide program last week and here is the treat of the season there - but with more to come as spring moves on. Maybe see you there one day.

The Teacher Retirement System (TRS) race is one of the more interesting I've seen in the UFT. Recent discussions about investing pension funds in city housing and other investments have raised the issue of exactly what role our pension reps play on the TRS. Do they share investment info or strategies with the membership and if not why not?

David vs Unity. Goliath

David Kazansky Gets 2500 sigs, Frank Panebianco, 1400. Needed was 1,000. Kazansky had been a pension rep for 9 years before he was moved out by Mulgrew and subsequently fired. He is currently teaching elementary school in the Bronx. 

He is running as an independent with the backing of ABC as the only group to back him officially while the legacy oppo groups sit on their hands. (though some individuals have been on the campaign). Better dead than red is an old anti-communist theme. A version has infected the old legacy UFT opposition: Better Unity than opposition that doesn't meet the purity test. That is the theme of most of the oppo, which has been embalmed in a left wing ideological tomb for decades.

Panebianco, also back to teaching after being a UFT staffer fired by Mulgrew in a reign of terror. It seems to have worked, as the Unity machine saw the threat David presented and went hog wild in getting 31k signatures for Tom Brown, who is also a UFT officer. Unity is feeling enough heat to have run a massive campaign for Brown.

Of course petition signatures don't necessarily translate into votes when the election is held in a few weeks. Having third candidate Panebianco in the race certainly makes David's chances very slim. Is Panebianco a Unity stalking horse to assure a Brown win? Did they help him get the 1400 signatures? Sources say probably not. 

I'm actually pretty impressed with the campaign David has run - his approach and his organizational abilities - 2.5k sigs is pretty impressive and also shows that the ABC network is still operating. Note that petitions can be challenged and last year Unity managed to knock the opposting candidate off the ballot and no election was held. I don't imagine Unity will challenge Panebianco's signatures this time and David has too many sigs for a challenge to work but they may try to go after the main threat anyway.

There are 3 teacher pension reps, all for a 3-year term, staggered so that every year one of them has to run - if there is an opponent. For decades Unity has controlled all these positions and in fact there was never an election because no one ran against them. For many years I and others have advocated for someone to run against the Unity candidate. A victory or even a serious dent in the Unity vote would break the monopoly of the TRS teacher reps who are as subservient to Mulgrew's wishes as the Trump cabinet is to his. 

There are strict rules around the election process and the petitioning. The DOE, not the UFT, runs the elections in the schools on a day in early May. Ironically, retirees play no role in the election. Supervisors and college teachers can vote, so it requires a broad network. Two years ago, an hoc group of UFT members organized a vigorous campaign for a candidate who volunteered to run and with a tiny organizing effort he got a third of the vote. But Unity did not do a lot in that campaign.  We did not necessarily expect to win that election, but to use it as a learning experience for a future run. Last year there was a challenge on some minor issue and the candidate was knocked off the ballot. So this year is the first time of a real potential election. (Expect another election next year.) 

The election is run in the schools in one day by the DOE and the last one two years ago was so terribly run there was a law suit. Don't expect this one to be run much better. One interesting aspect it the results show how each school voted -- how many votes each candidate gets so there is a lot of room for analysis. Expect the Unity machine to hold its in school people and district reps accountable for the votes.

On the surface it may look like a slam dunk for Unity and it probably is. Now it's down to GOTV and let's see how well the candidates do. Unity might get 80% or 60%. Remember the 54% in last year's election. This will be a test of the Unity machine's GOTV operation, which a year ago was not too effective -- which I think led to the firings and warnings and even some demotions. But I will say that the tactics being used may work for a short time but fear and loathing of such tactics will lead to rising resistance. 

I'm working on a future blog titled: Will Unity defectors become the face of the opposition in the UFT? My thesis is - and actually has been for 30 years  - that Unity can never be beaten until there are cracks that lead to breaks -- and instead of trying to heal these cracks, Mulgrew has cracked down and over the long run -- those cracks and crackdowns will turn into an earthquake.

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Afterburn: The Legacy Caucus sit on their hands

After initial reluctance, some key members of New Action supported the campaign two years ago, but MORE sat it out because their main concern is about BDS - dumping Israeli bonds. When I brought the issue to RA, one member refused to let them consider supporting the candidate over the potential BDS issue too. 

This year RA and MORE are again sitting it out, while there is some support from a few people in New Action. 

Ideology once again triumphs over winning, one reason the oppo in the UFT will always lose to Unity, which is already planning the 100th anniversary party of holding onto monopoly power in the UFT in 2062.

Menin to Mulgrew: Send Para Protesters to Mamdani Event, RTC Exec Bd Meeting Today

“Speaker Menin is asking for 20 people to be outside with Para Respect signs, so the mayor and others can see them as they enter,” read the email, which urged members to sign up to rally outside the venue for about two hours before Mamdani’s event started. The email, which indicated Menin put in the last-minute request to UFT President Michael Mulgrew, was sent to dozens of paraprofessionals and looped in two high-ranking union officials — Michael Sill, the secretary of the UFT and a top aide to Mulgrew, and Priscilla Castro, the chair of the UFT’s paraprofessional chapter — according to a person with knowledge of the message who was granted anonymity to discuss the private communication.... 

A spokesperson for the UFT said the rep who sent the message was misinformed and likely confused the Sunday protest for a larger pro-pay raise bill rally that’s supposed to take place in the coming weeks......Politico

Paras being used as pawns by Mulgrew 

Tuesday, April 14, 2026

The leaked email is another sign of internal dissatisfaction in the Unity cult. Last night at exec board Vacarro made sure she said they had a person on the stage supporting Mamdani at his 100 day event. Call it Counter balance, but they only had one person supporting Mamdani while trying to make it look like rank and file paras were outside protesting and not orchestrated by Menin and Mulgrew?

I heard this about Julie Menin before she became City Council President: She wants to be mayor and will stab anyone in the back to get there. She's also a millionaire. 

My guess is she is aiming to create a mess for Mamdani and set herself up for a mayoral run in 2029 in case he falters. And knowing the center anti-left politics of the Unity/UFT hierarchy, expect our union leaders to be complicit despite their backing Mamdani when it was clear he would win. They received a lot of pushback for the endorsement from the more conservative members.

Don't expect the love fest to last, Also note -- Menin and Mulgrew have a close relationship.

The issue here is the money the UFT is pushing for paras, a push that comes outside contract negotiations and would be non-pensionable.  

Mamdani does not support outside the contract arrangements, something I can agree with. What's to stop the next mayor from taking away these raises? I view class size laws the same way. If they were in the contract there would be no negotiations about delays. Make Fix Para Pay a permanent part of the contract. In the UFT election ABC made this point and was attacked by the Unity crowd which apparently is OK with outside the contract deals. 

Let's also point out that the push on the para raise came because the Fix Para Pay slate won the chapter election with 75% of the vote. Mulgrew was smart enough to come up with the push for more money to counter FPP, which was allied with ABC. I believe that Mulgrew move cost ABC para votes. And the Mulgrew reversal on forcing retirees into MedAdv probably cost ABC a batch of retiree votes.  

Norm 

Menin makes early trouble for Mamdani

The Council speaker has been increasingly critical of the mayor. It could be just the beginning.

An internal union email obtained by POLITICO indicates Menin asked the United Federation of Teachers to send around 20 people to the Knockdown Center in Queens to highlight proposed legislation — opposed by the mayor and backed by the union — that would give a pay hike to teaching aides known as paraprofessionals. Mamdani believes any pay hikes should go through the contract negotiation process.

“Speaker Menin is asking for 20 people to be outside with Para Respect signs, so the mayor and others can see them as they enter,” read the email, which urged members to sign up to rally outside the venue for about two hours before Mamdani’s event started.

The email, which indicated Menin put in the last-minute request to UFT President Michael Mulgrew, was sent to dozens of paraprofessionals and looped in two high-ranking union officials — Michael Sill, the secretary of the UFT and a top aide to Mulgrew, and Priscilla Castro, the chair of the UFT’s paraprofessional chapter — according to a person with knowledge of the message who was granted anonymity to discuss the private communication.

“Please when responding, rely [sic] all so that Michael and Pricilla [sic] will know of your reply,” the message specified.

Neither Menin nor the United Federation of Teachers denied the authenticity of the email. However, they said there were no discussions about protesting Mamdani’s 100-day speech and insisted the missive was a miscommunication.

“This is patently false. Neither the speaker nor anyone in our office had any communication with the UFT regarding this event, and we’ve had no knowledge of it,” Council spokesperson Henry Robins said in a statement.

A spokesperson for the UFT said the rep who sent the message was misinformed and likely confused the Sunday protest for a larger pro-pay raise bill rally that’s supposed to take place in the coming weeks.

“There was no conversation between Speaker Menin or her office with UFT President Mulgrew or the UFT about a protest,” spokesperson Alison Gendar said in a statement. “Any allegation of that is untrue.”

She went on to say the legislation has widespread support and that UFT members were at the Knockdown Center to support the mayor.

While helping to stage a protest would mark an especially contentious course of action, even taking on the mayor in more traditional ways carries risk for the speaker.

Before I go off to the UFT monthly retiree chapter executive board meeting, I have to point out that any UFT retiree can attend, either in person or by zoom. There are always some nice sandwiches. For some reason the RTC leadership doesn't like to share this information, so I will: 

RTC Executive Board

April 14, 2026, 1-3pm, Room 19H

AGENDA

1. CL Report – Bennett

2. RTC Healthcare Committee Report – Gloria or Mike

3. RTC Labor Solidarity Project Report – Bobby

4. Resolutions for consideration

• Pension fund re-amortization and/or pension obligation bond resolution (tentative)
• Buffer Zone resolution
• Affordable Housing resolution

4. RTC Delegation vacancies

5. New Business

Zoom link for remote attendance: https://uft.zoom.us/j/86926068409?pwd=nr82t0bGLVarA75OjQ5S2FNk4H6sZp.1

Topic: RTC Executive Board Meeting

Time: Apr 14, 2026 01:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Retired Teacher Chapter Exec Bd meets gets sad news, Analysis of Texas Dem Primary - Surprise - Real Progressive Won, Is Iran winning?

The Kazansky/Brown race for TRS heating up as hundreds attend an ABC info zoom -- report coming soon. 

 

Respect Means Retirement Security... David Kazansky Mar 7

Monday, March 9, 2026

 

I attended the March 3rd (my birthday) Retiree Teacher Exec Bd meeting on Tuesday after rushing back from a weekend jaunt to attend The Philadelphia Flower Show, the nation's oldest and largest horticultural event, held annually since 1829. Most people I know think that I'm nuts and after attending the meeting I agree with them. 

 

There was an election taking place and I wanted to be there to stand up for the candidate I favored in a 4 way race. (She didn't win.) The RTC constitution gives the EB the right to replace any elected position, though when we try to replace the dozen delegates (out of the 300 we elected), the UFT says we can't -- you know, because they say we can't. We were told by a former Unity delegate that when they ran the chapter and had vacancies, Tom Murphy just replaced them. They make rules up as they go along.

 

The lack of aggressiveness by the RTC leadership only emboldens bullying by the UFT/Unity leadership. I think it goes beyond that and detect some fear by the ideologues in RA of adding new delegates who might not be pure enough ideologically --- but that's only my guess. One RTC Exec Bd member pointed out that adding a new batch of delegates would invigorate our contingent at the DA which has been shrinking to the point of irrelevancy, perhaps the major failure of the RA hierarchy.

 

There was an opening on the RTC Executive Board due to the resignation recently of Daniel Harkavy due to an illness - cancer that seemed to escalate quickly. We found out on Tuesday that he died on February 20, a real shock to many of us who had enormous respect for Daniel for his sense of humor, smarts, and judicious non-partisan advice. I wanted to touch base with him after he resigned and am kicking myself for failing to do so. Daniel taught chemistry at Brooklyn Tech for 26 years. 

 

At the RTC EB meeting last Tuesday, Arthur Goldstein, who got to know Daniel, paid an impassioned tribute to Daniel and followed that up with this post.

RIP Daniel: Daniel Harkavy passes:  Arthur Goldstein- Mar 06, 2026

I'm not sure how Daniel came to be part of the RTC EB - I didn't know him before. He tried to steer a neutral course during the UFT election follies last year, signing petitions for both ABC and ARISE, and attempted to run with both slates but was made to choose by ARISE. He ran with ABC because he felt ABC had the better chance to win but remained cordial with everyone. 

 

When ABC had a petition signing in Bayside, where Daniel lived, he showed up and met Arthur and was introduced to one of our officer candidates who is also a chemistry teacher who graduated from Brooklyn Tech a year before Daniel began teaching there. He was thrilled to meet her. 

 

For someone I barely knew, his passing was especially upsetting because when he posted he was in the hospital I intended to touch base with him as a fellow cancer patient who went through some tough days over the 6 months of chemo. To have been stricken with a deadly cancer at such a relatively young age - he was 63 but count the time leading up to it - is so sad and makes me feel relatively lucky at having reached 81 recently and still be fairly mobile and active. 

 

I barely knew him but will miss him.

 

Daniel was open and respected for openly saying that if he felt ARISE had the better chance he would have run with them. The ABC crew respected him for that view and we felt that if he would have been allowed to run on the ARISE too, he would have gotten 46% of the vote, the highest total of any non-Unity person in history. 

 

I advocated running hundreds of people on both slates and might have actually sneaked a few people in. At some point the people who made that decision for ARISE need to be held accountable. Actually, the entire leadership of ARISE.

 

As to the election for his replacement, as I said, my favored candidate who also ran with the ABC slate did not win and lost to someone who had no connection to the movement we built among retirees over the past 5 years. A very nice guy, by the way. But a message was sent by the New Action/Retiree Advocate dominated RTC EB and the result is not a positive development for a united front in the 2027 RTC chapter election. Details next time.

 

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The Texas Primaries

I'm a political nerd and follow both mainstream and alt media.

 

On the broader political front,  I get some of the best political analysis at breaking points, an alt media outpost that includes the left and the right, with the great reporter Ryan Grim and Krystal Ball representing the left. But it's always good to see what the right is thinking, though this is not MAGA right. 

 

I've been getting about 10 messages a day from Talarico -- I want to send him some money, but then I will get 20 messages a day. 

 

Wednesday's discussion of the Talarico/Crockett primary was fascinating and for a deep dive I urge you to check it out: https://youtu.be/5ttTwSR60L0?si=ms2W31EGQwDyprjb 

 

Not knowing enough beforehand, I did not have a dog in the race, other than the sense that Talarico had a better chance to win than Crockett, whose performance-based political acts has never resonated with me. Some view her as squad-oriented but and someone said to me she was like AOC. Far from AOC or the squad, she is more cultural than economic left. And in fact it turns out according to the analysys below that Talarico made the better economic left case.

 

Mainstream media painted the race as the left (Crockett) vs the center (Talarico) and therefore a lesson for Dems to stay to the center. This analysis actually paints Talarico as a sort of left because he ran an anti-corporate Bernie type campaign, albeit with some religious twists while Crocket despite her performativeness actually avoided the wealthy vs the rest of us and was more of a Dem cultural

 

   

 

Republicans already spent more than $71 million to try to push Cornyn over the finish line, according to AdImpact, a media tracking firm. But all that money got him to only 42% in the primary against Paxton, who has been impeached, indicted, and rocked by multiple cheating scandals. 

• The New Yorker: In the Texas Primaries, a Good Night for James Talarico, and a Bad One for John Cornyn  

Cornyn, still the establishment conservative, raised roughly sixty-nine million dollars; Paxton just four million. In the final stages of the primary, the incumbent, still trailing in the polls, released a spot for the ages, which opened, “It’s voting time, so let’s cut through the bullshit. Crooked Ken Paxton cheated on his wife. She’s divorcing him on Biblical grounds.” Paxton’s camp deployed the candidate’s daughter in a last-minute response ad, and called Cornyn “a desperate shell of a man clinging to power.” But, on Tuesday night, neither candidate managed to get fifty per cent of the vote, which means they’ll face off again in a runoff, in May. In theory, Republican voters might have been ready to throw out the last vestiges of the pre-Trump party. But not for Ken Paxton. At least not yet.

Crockett’s challenge to Talarico had less to do with ideological difference than with style—a somewhat repetitive January debate between the two candidates kept returning not to policy but to the question of whether it was better to establish common ground with some conservatives in the hope of winning their votes (Talarico’s position) or simply to rally your side by making clear what you opposed (Crockett’s). Crockett seemed to see enemies everywhere, and closed her campaign lashing out at certain political consultants and reporters. The congresswoman’s team expelled Elaine Godfrey, who’d published a critical profile of the candidate in The Atlantic, from an event for being a “top-notch hater.” The resulting back-and-forth on social media, between the campaign and its liberal critics, consumed much of the race’s final days. 

Who's Winning the Iran War? A surprising view differs from mainstream media from the left and the right.

 

The left view - Ryan X Tim Dillon: https://youtu.be/3lTk2SOHeVM?si=TR1ZbwOmoACNLiI5

The right view from Saagar and Tucker on Iran winning - Saagar X Tucker: https://youtu.be/Dl78cDjOIRM?si=CTGDRVtSzXWTJYSJ

 

 

Retired Teacher Exec Bd Meeting and Upcoming DA - At least there are potato chips

Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2:50PM 

I've been remiss in trying to write about some of the meetings I attend - I finally did so the other day - UFT Exec Bd Update: Kazansky Announses for TRS, LeRoy says Goodbye, Sill Replaces Him, Tom Brown Endorsed for TRS - and will try to do so after the DA later today, for which I have to leave pretty soon. If you are coming to the DA show your love for Unity by wearing red. Maybe Mulgrew will call on you. 

 

Unity rushed through the Tom Brown TRS election endorsement Monday night and made sure to put it up first at today's DA.  I've contended for years that we make Unity defend every single position. They got away with the TRS elections free of charge for years and now we are making them defend it. I even wanted someone to put an opponent up against Mike Sill for Secretary to make them hold an election. Anyone up for Assistant Secretary?

 

At the RTC EB meeting Tuesday afternoon Brown's name came up over his embarasing performance at one of our meetings and his pity me performance over his initial support for a Kathy Hochul pension refinement plan and the subsequent backtracking. Brown did not make many friends at that meeting but retirees can't vote so it may have no effect. 

 

At the RTC EB meeting as usual there is some level of frustration over what I perceive to be a lack of militancy. Lots of complaints over Mulgrew's not calling on retirees who have passed numerous resos at their meetings yet are not allowed to present them at the DA. For instance, we have a dozen vacancies on the RCT delegates - we elected 300 in June 2024, this shutting out every Unity retiree. We now have a dozen vacancies (deaths, dementia, people who didn't expect to win) and people waiting to replace them but the Unity machine claims we don't have a right to replace them. By "we" I mean the RTC Exec Bd. Read this from the RTC constitution:

 

"A vacancy in the exec bd OR in an elective office -- the DA delegates are an elective office - shall be filled by the Exec Bd. And we have been filling vacancies on the EB and are in the process of holding an election on March 3 - my Bday -- for a vacancy with 4 candidates running. We held nominations yesterday. What bothers me is the apathy of the people on the board over the vacant delegates. We get a ruling we can't replace them and Bennett Fischer just seems to accept that ruling without pushing back - or if he pushes back it is never public. Like how about putting this in his newsletter to the 70k members or at the very least in his CL report at RTC meetings which are attended by about 1200 people in person and remote?

How about amending the constitution to protect democracy from Unity domination if they win next year's election? No sense of urgency. The focus is on the political battles outside the union. There is a front group of sorts called the Labor Solidarity Group and I support that work though I chose to engage in political activity with other groups. I think RTC needs to focus on the UFT. 

Then I hear some officers argue that a major goal of ours is to pressure the union and suggestions to bring in union officials to address the RTC and give them a forum makes me want to scream. I see our purpose is to organize to change the union leadership - (and the decisions to align with ARISE and split the retirees was a massive failure. I don't have the time to go into the details but will follow up.)

Unity has hijacked our meetings either from the floor with their former retiree delegates or by taking time and not giving up the mic. Unity hates Marianne with Leo Casey leading the insane charge but they are joined in backbiting by some in the leadership of RTC who seem to resent the fact she not only made it possible for us to win but also helped ABC win retiree votes over ARISE by a 3-1 margin. This lack of unity among retirees will almost guarantee Unity's election next year.

See: Are We Union? I hear both sides - Arthur GoldsteinThe RTC EB is dominated by New Action -- I'm guessing at least 6 or the 25 - maybe more. ABC has Arthur and me and a few neutrals. The upcoming election with 4 candidates will indicate whether the RTC leadership is interested in forming a united front for the chapter election. But either way, the Unity machine needs to be challenged and Bennett wants to play neutral. They clearly organize and all we do is react - and I react rather passionately by going after their throats and that seems to bother the "civility" crowd running RTC --- the old adage of bringing a feather to a knife fight.

I have other issues too over what has been a lack of transparency - almost more of a fear of our own delegates and supporters.

One bone of contention between the ABC crowd and the RTC leadership was over their initial support for the new healthcare plan with some of the leaders offering full-throated endorsement. It was the ABC people who pointed out danger signs and here Daniel Alicea at EONYC pointed out in this post today how part of the deal is giving our data to the United Health Monster. 

We Warned You: The MLC’s Quiet Push to Hand Over Our Prescription Data to United Healthcare

The City and MLC's push to save an extra $100m in "healthcare cost savings" includes sharing your welfare fund prescription data and history with Big Healthcare's United Healthcare/UMR

Educators of NYC

Feb 11, 2026

 

Inside UFT Update: Unity’s Grip Weakens as Members Are Left Behind - By Rebel Teacher

This anonymous missive dropped over the Ed Notes headquarters' transom. I don't agree with all of it but am too lazy to go into the details. I will comment in a future post. I did some light editing to smooth out some edges.

 

Unity’s Grip Weakens, Members Left Behind! 

By Rebel Teacher 

 

February 2, 2026

Leroy Barr Abruptly Out— 

  

Leroy Barr, long-time Staff Director and head of the Unity Caucus, suddenly announced his retirement at the last DA, saying it would be his last one. No warning. No fanfare. Just poof, gone. Even Mulgrew expressed some surprise at the time and place of the announcement. 

 

Behind the polished speeches, the Unity leadership machine has been showing cracks going back to the major Unity defections in last year's elections where Unity received 54% of the vote, the lowest in history. Mulgrew responded, like the authoritarian he is, with firings and threats.

Was he pushed or did he jump?

LeRoy Barr was considered a powerhouse in the UFT, one of the three men in the room along with Mulgrew and Mike Sill, with many considering Barr as a possible successor to Mulgrew. So his sudden retirement came as a shock given his relatively young age and high level position - and his salary. Speculation began soon after his announcement as to whether he was going willingly or was pushed. 

 

There have been leaks about internal conflict at the top levels of the UFT to the extent that even ex UFT president and current AFT President Randi Weingarten intervened, not on the side of Barr, thus leading to his leaving.

 

Purges are designed to use fear of going back to the classroom for full-time UFT employees and loss of income to part-timers as a method of control while attempting to manage the membership. If a certain age, retirement is an option.  

 

Membership interests ignored as Leadership get the perks and Members get the short end.

 

For everyday members, this is just another reminder that Unity’s leadership engages in internal power plays while the members suffer.

Meanwhile: The promised Para Pay is still a mess and Tier 6 reforms are stalled.  

LeRoy Barr has been a leader of a prominent African-American contingent in Unity, including officers Janella Hinds, Karen Alford and Leo Gordon, and the influential Anthony Harmon, among others. But with the subtraction of Barr, the real decision-makers in the UFT comes down to Mulgrew, Emily James, Mary Vaccaro, Mike Sill and non-UFT member and never a teacher, Ellie Engler, who seems to have won out in her battle with Barr. Racial dynamics tend not to be subtle. 

Members are right to ask who really runs this union, whose voices matter, and whether the broader national attack on DEI and racial equity is creeping into UFT decision-making. When leadership won’t answer these questions, distrust fills the vacuum.

Bennett, Fischer, and the Retiree Chapter

UFT Retiree Chapter Leader Bennett Fischer, and the Retiree Advocate caucus which took power in the last chapter election continue to struggle as leaders of the chapter. Instead of going to the members, being transparent, and using their position to expose Unity’s mismanagement, they close ranks and hope Mulgrew tosses them a few crumbs. Their decision to run in the UFT general election with the ARISE coalition, instead of being neutral, led to a split among retirees that has still not been healed. They’re supposed to build power for retirees—but instead, they seem to fear Mulgrew and Unity retaliation if they get too militant in challenging them. Instead of reminding retirees at every opportunity that the Unity retirees worked hard to move them out of Medicare and into Medicate Advantage, they play footsie with the leadership even when they are pushed around and instead of going public write strongly worded letters, ala Chuck Shumer and the Democratic Party.

The year and a half old retiree chapter leadership seems to be exhibiting the same pattern we see in Unity: secrecy, closed-door meetings, and a focus on protecting the RTC leadership from criticism, rather than fighting for those who elected them. Some RTC members are getting increasingly restive, while leadership scrambles to preserve its control with performative feel-good virtue signalling resolutions.

TRS Teachers Trustee Election: Time to Stand Up

 

Here’s where it gets interesting.

 

In last May's union-wide election, Unity won with 54 percent of the vote, their lowest total in history, not exactly a mandate. Just as we watch the outcomes of bi-elections, like the recent Democratic win in Texas in a district where Trump won by 17 points, a 34 point flip, we also have elections in the UFT that can be a sign of member sentiment. And don't forget the massive shift in the 2024 retiree chapter election where Unity dropped from 70 to 37%. But if the RA/RTC leadership doesn't get its act together, this margin won't hold and Unity threatens to regain control.

 

The UFT elects three members to the Teacher Retirement System to three year terms with a member being elected every year in early May, with the election being run in the schools by DOE, not UFT, rules. Unity has controlled all these positions for decades with no opposition. There has been only one election and that was two years ago. Last year Unity petition challenges managed to get the opposition candidate knocked off the ballot. This year promises to see a serious campaign and the outcome will be a serious sign of just how much Unity's grip has weakened. Look for announcements in the coming days.

Questions we should be asking:

Will A Better Contract run a candidate?

Will independent members finally push back against Unity’s control?

Will ABC, New Action, and MORE work together for the betterment of our union?

This isn’t just another vote—it’s a chance to say enough. Unity can’t keep running things behind closed doors while members get ignored.

Bottom Line

Unity leadership keeps purging, scheming, and protecting itself. Meanwhile, members lose out on pay, benefits, and even basic wins. The cracks are showing—and the upcoming trustee election could be a significant moment where members take back some control.

If leadership won’t represent members, maybe it’s time we elect people who will.

Unity Caucus Favors Co-Pays: NYC Educators Penalized for Retiring - Sign the Petition

Tell Michael Mulgrew and Unity to stop charging retirees premiums while claiming our health plan is premium free. Let’s send Unity a message to respect us. Let’s tell them we demand what other unions have. The UFT Welfare Fund is sitting on over a billion dollars. Let’s tell them how we’d like it used. Let’s tell them that the very worst time to impose premiums on us is when we retire. Let’s tell them if other unions can better support retirees, we can too. DC37 doesn’t charge members for prescription insurance when they retire. Firefighter and police unions don’t do it. Sanitation, and other unions don’t do it.... Arthur Goldstein

 Sign the petition. 1,575 have signed in 24 hours -  let's hit 5k.

Imagine a world where UFT would fight like the Nurses Union. Those nurses don’t play around. They are standing on business!! I love it....Anon. FB quote 

ABC's Leah Lin tells it all: Paying more in retirement just doesn't make sense.  

Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026

 

I just finished 3 months of physical therapy for my knee, twice a week, at $15 co-pay a pop -- that's $30X12 weeks = $330 for my "premium free" healthcare. Plus all the other doctors I go to --- It's probably close to $500 given visits for my cancer and diabetes (due to removal of over half my pancreas). Listen, I can handle it all financially at this point, but for many NYC retirees these co-pays are a real burden. I've even heard stories of people who expected to retire are forced to hold off. 

 

I'm proud of my colleagues at ABC are at least making a stink of this while other supposedly opposition groups are fundamentally silent. My sense is that the non-Unity leaders of the RTC, many of whom defended the new healthcare plan, seem reluctant to be openly critical.

 

Today is an RTC Executive Board meeting and I'm looking forward to some action beyond a lot of whining over Mulgrew not calling on them at the DA. I detect a hint of fear that if they are too publicly critical of  the Unity leadership and Mulgrew, who has elements of Trump-like vindictiveness, he may turn off the lights and heat to their offices at 52 Broadway. I'll bring candles.

 

Arthur Goldstein authored a summary cross posted on the https://stopchargingretirees.org/ site: Should NYC Educators be Penalized for Retiring? Do you want to pay at least $180 a month, forever, when you retire? If not, please sign and share our petition. Please sign our petition demanding UFT stop charging retirees, some of whom are already struggling to get by. Please tell your friends to sign and share widely.

 ------

Here's a message from on the new PPO Plan. I logged on and found that one of my diabetes meds is not on the forumulary as a 1MG but is as 2 MG. We were promised the new plan would not result in changes. 

 

York City Municipal Employees & Retirees

 

January 1st the new NYCE PPO plan was implemented for all active workers, and Pre-Medicare Retirees.   In a few weeks, we will roll out a survey to see if you are having any concerns that need to be addressed.  

January 1st also began the new Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) for those in the NYCE PPO plan, or those who are on the City Drug plan, the optional rider.  The new PBM is "Prime Therapeutics" - no longer Express Scripts.  They are the MANAGER...   Think of them like the middle man to your drug access.  A simple way to understand their job - they get you access to the drugs..   You have the drug manufacturers, the PBM and the Pharmacy.  

 

 

 

 

This was prepared by Bob Pfefferman as a briefing report prior to a meeting with newly elected City Council member Virginia Maloney. He invites questions and comments. 

 

Briefing paper, January 7, 2026, V3

 

The unions’ claim that they can negotiate for current retirees is specious for all of the following:

 

·      There is no such thing as a collective bargaining certificate for retirees.

 

·      Except for UFT retirees, we have no say in electing the union leadership. Even then UFT retiree votes are capped at a certain number.

 

·      To my knowledge, neither OLR or the MLC have cited a specific section of the Taylor Law that 1096 violates.  Any legal memo the city or the unions have is not public so no one can comment. Would you accept an unsupported allegation like this in a high school debate class?

 

The unions don’t mean this as a policy discussion. It is meant to intimidate any city council member that asks too many questions and threaten with a primary challenge.

 

·      When a union does negotiate, at least in my local, 371, AFSCME (DC 37), the members approve the collective bargaining demands. No such vote was held.

 

·      The results of any collective bargaining from an AFSCME entity holding a collective bargaining certificate must be approved by the membership. No such vote has been held.

 

·      Christopher Marte’s office has cited a US Supreme Court ruling Chemical Workers V Pittsburg Glass, 1971, in which it ruled that retiree benefits are not negotiated by a union

 

·      Marte also points out that in the past DC 37 and the UFT have supported city council legislation protecting retiree health care and never cited the Taylor Law. Because unions cannot bargain for retiree health care, the city council must pass legislation to change it.

 

Status of Lawsuits (Brentkowski case; I don’t know how to spell it)

 

·      Marianne’s group filed a lawsuit in September 2021 saying that the city cannot only offer one health insurance plan for retirees and must offer traditional Medicare and a wrap around. They cited 12 “causes of action” why the city could not do what they wanted.

 

·      The trial judge ruled “irreparable harm” and issued a TRO. He only ruled on one of the 12 causes of action. The city appealed and four years later, the Court of Appeals overturned the trial judge’s ruling and sent it back to the trial judge for ruling on the other 11.

 

·      Should the city and/or the unions (one entity for this purpose) be so reckless as to try this again, the trial judge would likely issue another TRO and the city and the unions will be wandering in a judicial morass for another two or three years with an uncertain outcome.

 

·      Retiree will not accept a Medical Advantage Plan as the only option for health insurance. We will fight this politically and legally. The city council has already seen what we can do. Do you really want to try it again?

 

The Comptroller’s Audit

 

·      The audit confirmed what retirees have been saying since 2021: that the fund was knowingly misused by the MLC and OLR and lacks transparency.

 

·      OLR tried to cover this up by submitting false annual certifications to the Comptroller’s Office, asserting in writing that the Fund is in compliance with Directive 27 requirements, that Fund balances are accurate, and that the Fund will be used for its stated purposes.

 

·      The audit also found that HISF lacks transparency and has inadequate governance and decision-making capacity. HISF does not maintain meeting agendas, materials distributed at meetings, or records of discussions held at meetings—such as recordings, minutes, or notes—and stated that it relies on HISF’s monthly reports which include only the Fund’s revenue, expenses, and cash balance.

 

·      Furthermore, while the $600 million would have improved HISF’s financial position somewhat, it was not sufficient, on its own, to keep HISF solvent

 

·      As detailed in Table XV in the audit, OLR and the MLC did not report significant HISF liabilities as required by Comptroller’s Directive 27 and GSAB Statement No. 54.

 

Garrido Speaks Untruths

 

·      In February of 2021, Henry Garrido reported to his delegates (I am one) that he was shocked, absolutely shocked, to discover that the HISF was bankrupt and retirees would have a new, improved health plan.

 

·      I spent almost two years plowing through federal legislation and virtually nothing he said checked out. The HISF did not suddenly go broke, and the new plan was only better in the warped minds of Garrido and Michael Mulgrew.

 

·      For example, they touted free gym membership but never reported on how many retirees not currently belonging to a gym would enroll. I believe that the number would have been miniscule and almost everyone who would enroll would drop out after a few months of basically not using it. And which gym? Not Equinox.

 

The Management Benefits Fund offers gym reimbursement but it is capped at $50 per month. Someone claiming such a benefit has to keep records and file a claim.

 

·      I then discovered that the new plan would be administered by a for-profit private insurance company accountable only to its shareholders. The newspapers over the past year or two have been bursting reporting on the fraud riddling these plans. In the 2006 amendments to the Medicare Act (best known for creating Medicare Part D), it was an experiment to see if private for-profit companies could deliver high quality health care and have cost-savings as well. It’s no secret that this experiment has failed.

 

·      Unanswered is why the union leadership was comfortable consigning retirees to a fraudulent system where the profits depended on denying care recommended by medical professionals.

 

·      Garrido got one thing right: the HISF was created to cover health insurance expenses for actives and retirees. I incorrectly thought it was created only for retiree health care.

 

·      I have an incurable but treatable neurological disease and I go three times a month for infusions. The price per infusion for the uninsured is $45K. Medicare pays about $7K. You can imagine the lack of enthusiasm that a private for-profit insurance company will have for such treatment.

 

Other reasons we need 1096:

 

·      The initial number cited by the city and the unions was $600M, however that was calculated. Henry Garrido reported to his delegates in the spring that because of DC budget actions that number was now $300M, however that was calculated.

 

·      Assuming that $300M has not vaporized further, we know from years of reports delivered to his delegates by Henry and from other sources that whatever number is being conjured by the MLC’s consultants, was going right back into the same slush fund bankrupted by the city and the unions.

 

The Thieves Have a Falling Out:

 

·      Now there is a falling out among the thieves over an alleged $4B, give or take $1B, in health care savings that the parties failed to generate in allegedly contractual commitments.

 

·      Henry Garrido has publicly and privately reported that he has in writing that the unions have been relieved of any commitment to save the $600M (or $300M. Or whatever number they are flying this week) by forcing retirees into a Medicare Advantage Plan. So the current $$$B squabble has absolutely nothing to do with retirees and we will not take the fall.

 

The Thieves Open The Backdoor

 

·      Frustrated by their unsuccessful attempt to steal health care directly from retirees, they have resorted to slapping $15 co-pays on every medical interaction after the deductibles are satisfied. This piles fees on top of one another so prevalent that retirees cannot afford them; you can’t tell where one stops and another starts.

 

·      The “lucky” ones have incomes so low that they are dual eligibles (Medicare and Medicaid) if you are callous enough to call being living in poverty “lucky.”

 

·      The rest of us have to pay deductibles that are not reimbursed, Rx drug co-pays that are not reimbursed, transportation, vision above what is reimbursed, dental above the cap, and front $2430.80 for 12 months’ premium before being reimbursed. This comes to about $5,000.

 

·      The 27% of city retirees who exist on pensions of $15K or less (even with a reasonable amount for social security added) simply can’t afford it. The 57% with pensions of $35K or less, with an appropriate amount for social security, aren’t doing so great either.

 

·      The contract for the wrap-around, currently GHI/Emblem Health Senior Care, will be re-bid this year. I an working on a table, not straightforward, showing how devastating the co-pays have become. I will forward when ready later this week.

 

·      I, personally, begin the year with 86 co-pays: 36 for the above mentioned infusions and 50 for weekly psychotherapy. That’s $1290 (minus the deductibles.) Now, I’m in physical therapy twice a week. This is a heavy hit. There is no indication that the unions will reduce the out-of-pocket in the bid document. I wonder who they think they represent: the taxpayers or their former members.

 

They have no shame:

 

·      DC 37 ought to be ashamed.  Most low-income retirees are their former members. They are stealing money from those who can least afford it to subsidize taxpayers. (If not for the co-pays, the premiums paid by the city likely would be higher.)

 

·      While DC 37 and other unions’ welfare funds provide an Rx benefit (with co-pays), many other retirees have to purchase city of New York Rx Part D with a 2026 monthly premium of $180 (some of which is reimbursed by the city or various union welfare funds). They also may face a Part D surcharge that is not reimbursed.

 

What can the city council do?

 

·      Enact 1096 which will end any discussion of a Medicare Advantage Plan or co-pays.

 

Bob

917-733-0925