Written and edited by Norm Scott:
EDUCATE! ORGANIZE!! MOBILIZE!!!
Three pillars of The Resistance – providing information on current ed issues, organizing activities around fighting for public education in NYC and beyond and exposing the motives behind the education deformers. We link up with bands of resisters. Nothing will change unless WE ALL GET INVOLVED IN THE STRUGGLE!
What: Serious concerns over recent privatization changes to retiree healthcare along with deficits in health and safety pandemic protocols have galvanized both retirees and in-service UFT Members to rally together outside the UFT’s Shanker Hall to support a resolution ON HEALTH CARE PLAN CHANGES – CURRENT AND FUTURE to be presented inside the first Delegate Assembly of the year..
Parents, students, and community organizations supportive of the resolution will also attend.
When: October 13, 2021, rain or shine
Time: 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Where: 52 Broadway, Manhattan
Who: We are retirees and in-service members of the UFT along with other retirees from NYC's municipal labor unions and parent organizations. We oppose the City's efforts to patch budget deficits on the backs of its current and past employees by cutting healthcare, when multiple avenues exist for the City to create more equitable solutions. The present and coming changes are sure to jeopardize the health and welfare of vulnerable retirees and working members alike.
To be distributed at the DA ----note the logos -- almost all active groups in the UFT are backing this and contributed.
Digital copy can be accessed here: bit.ly/handsoffhealthcare
October 2021 Delegate Assembly
RESOLUTION ON HEALTH CARE PLAN CHANGES – CURRENT AND FUTURE
WHEREAS the UFT stands in resistance to the privatization of Public Education and Public Healthcare,
and
WHEREAS the Municipal Labor Committee (MLC) negotiates healthcare benefits for the employees of
all NYC municipal unions with the NYC Office of Labor Relations (OLR), and
WHEREAS the UFT controls the largest percentage of weighted voting within the MLC, and
WHEREAS UFT, and other NYC retirees on Medicare only
discovered in mid-May that the MLC had negotiated
fundamental changes to the administration of their
Medicare benefits, and
WHEREAS the next cost-saving agreement between MLC
and OLR is coming up as Fiscal Year 2022 approaches, and
WHEREAS at recent town halls and Retired Teacher
Chapter meetings, Michael Mulgrew has spoken about
upcoming changes to the healthcare benefits for in-service
UFT members; changes that may result from the next
MLC-OLR cost-saving agreement, and
WHEREAS negotiation of that agreement has still not been
publicized, therefore be it
RESOLVED, that UFT leadership notify and inform all affected UFT members of exactly what cost-saving
targets are being discussed by MLC and OLR, and be it further
RESOLVED, that UFT leadership notify and inform affected UFT members of exactly what healthcare
benefit changes may result from those cost-savings, and be it further
RESOLVED, that unlike the recent experience of NYC retirees, UFT representatives to the MLC will not
support a plan affecting healthcare changes without at least 6 months of debate among affected UFT
members, and be it further.
RESOLVED, that UFT representatives to the MLC will not support a plan affecting healthcare changes
without a vote of UFT membership.
Digital copy can be accessed here: bit.ly/handsoffhealthcare October 2021 Delegate Assembly
1 QUESTIONS FOR MULGREW, UFT LEADERSHIP, THE MAYOR AND CITY
DEFEND OUR HEALTHCARE
DEFEND OUR HEALTH AND SAFETY
Mulgrew mentioned at the last town hall that health care will be on
the table in negotiations for the 2022 contract. Will there be more
information given to active members about health care
negotiations than the secretive and rushed conversion to private
Medicare Advantage experienced by our retirees this year?
[ tinyurl.com/uftsellsout ]
What other options did you discuss rather than cutting city
healthcare costs on the backs of retirees? Isn't it a conflict of
interest to have Gregory Floyd, who sits on the board of
Emblemhealth, cast his vote in MLC for EmblemHealth/Empire to
get the contract for the MA plan?
President Mulgrew, in May, 2015, the Delegate Assembly passed a
Resolution in support of the New York Health Act to establish
single-payer health insurance in the state. Then, in April 2021, the
UFT paid for a political ad opposing the NYHA. What gives you the
right to defy resolutions passed by the UFT's highest
decision-making body? What makes you feel you can spend our
COPE dollars in defiance of positions adopted by the Delegate
Assembly? Do you feel you are immune from accountability to
support resolutions passed by the membership of this union?
[ tinyurl.com/nyhauft ]
Why, President Mulgrew, do you continue to ignore, through
words and deeds, the May 2007 resolution passed by the UFT
Retired Teachers Chapter, Stop the privatization of Medicare? Do
resolutions passed by membership have no meaning for you?
[ tinyurl.com/uftstop ]
Based on our long-standing stance on stopping the privatization of
Medicare and our commitment to providing quality, affordable
healthcare to our members, should not the UFT unequivocally
reject the idea of any healthcare savings that will produce higher
premiums for healthcare, fewer healthcare choices, higher
copayments or any other kind of diminishment of health benefits
for active or retired UFT members?
Given that the raises in the last two contracts were tied to monies
in the MLC’s Health Care Stabilization fund , and now we see
recent changes in retiree healthcare, how will this impact the
healthcare coverage and salaries of active members as we
approach the next season of contract bargaining?
[ tinyurl.com/fundraises ]
Given the city’s unions claim that the change to Medicare
Advantage results in 600 million dollars in healthcare cost savings
for the city, how do you plan to save a similar amount of money in
healthcare savings in the next round of contract talks with active
working members? Are there any proposed changes being secretly
discussed presently?
Can you guarantee that the Medicare Advantage plan will not lead
to the privately managed system potentially engaging in
pre-approval gatekeeping that might limit access to life-saving care
and procedures, or will not lead to limited access to specific
hospital networks? Will you guarantee this will not happen to
active workers in any future changes?
The Mayor recently loosened quarantining rules so unvaccinated
students will not be quarantined. Why did UFT leadership seemingly
cave to the city and allow them to base decisions on convenience
instead of safety, especially with breakthrough cases and the highly
transmissible Delta variant?
Only 10% of consenting, unvaccinated students are being tested
weekly for COVID. LA schools are testing every teacher and student
every week. Why aren’t we openly pressuring the city to adopt more
rigorous testing to keep us safer? Why is school staff being denied
access to COVID testing in schools?
Over 4,000 classrooms only have ventilation through a cracked
window and De Blasio’s boondoggle NON-HEPA air purifiers. What
are we doing to protect those teachers and students with adequate
ventilation? Infrastructure is crumbling around us.
Over the summer, the DOE increased classroom capacities to allow
only 20 sq ft per student - this does not accommodate students at 3
ft distancing . Why did we let them get away with that? Why have we
not fought harder on reducing class size given this pandemic and
unprecedented funding window?
What measures and steps are we taking to address continued
exposure to the virus and members who are suffering from or may
suffer from the lasting, and even life threatening, effects of LONG
COVID?
What are we doing to better address the full time school nurse
shortage crisis in our schools? Why isn’t there any public outcry for
the lack of full time school nurses who provide daily skilled nursing
services to students with conditions like diabetes and District 75
medically fragile students? Agency nurses are not adequately
trained or supervised by their agencies. They also have no direct
access to the student’s medical records.
Why are we not fighting for a more wide ranging remote option for
the medically fragile, unvaccinated and vulnerable families when
many receive significantly less home instruction under the Medically
Necessary Instruction program? With well over 150k students
possibly staying home because of grave safety concerns should we
not reach them where they are until the pandemic is over? Would
this not relieve overcrowding and staffing shortages along with social
distancing concerns?
Why are we not offering our cities’ families and staff increased
access to the safest masks available like N95s and KN95s?
Why have we not opened more schools as vaccination hubs in our
communities with the lowest vaccination rates and sought for an
aggressive campaign to promote education to address vaccine
hesitancy? Will we support mandated student vaccinations? Why or
why not?
Many are reporting significant delays by the Situation Room and
contract tracing in notifying parents and educators about positive
cases? Why are we not fighting for this to be rectified?
1Today, 10/13/2021, delegates and chapter leaders stand in solidarity with our retiree and in-service family, parents and allies rallying
outside of Shanker Hall. We must BE BETTER AND DO BETTER for our members and school communities.
EdNotes - BREAKING - 3:15PM, Oct. 7 -- Notice
to Attend DA Sent out during school day as UFT Leadership Packs
Upcoming Delegate Assembly with Unity Caucus Members --- IMAGINE -- Actual working chapter leaders and
delegates were sent a notice - purposefully when they were in the
classroom, thus giving the vast Unity Caucus network, many not in
classrooms an advantage in registering - and all seats were filled
almost immediately -- thus shutting out the many newly elected (spring 2021) chapter
leaders and delegates --- one of the stories was that MORE elected 100
of them and few of them will be able to get into the DA next Wednesday
-- but we (Retiree Advocate) will be outside and will urge every ch and del shut out to
join us outside shouting -- let us in.... - UFT Closes Doors to DA -- UFT Update: Ant...
Coming Wednesday (Oct. 13), ICE-UFT will be joining with multiple other opposition groups for a Healthcare-Health and Safety rally at
the UFT's first Delegate Assembly of this school year. Delegates,
Chapter Leaders, rank and file active UFTers, retirees and others will
all be there. I have never seen this kind of excited pulling together
among opposition groups in the UFT.... James Eterno at ICEUFT blog
Monday, October 11, 2021 - Good morning - happy day off (I barely noticed).
It's in the DNA of the UFT leadership over 60 years of Unity Caucus existence to hold on to power at all costs. This didn't play well with some.
How is this at all reasonable? A teachers union that
locks teachers out of its meetings because they're...teaching? Space is
certainly an
issue, but if there are caps on attendees who want to be there, then
this is de facto suppression of full delegate participation. ... A delegate
Chapter leaders and delegates are elected to FULLY REPRESENT their respective
chapters endowed with FULL POWER TO LEGISLATE. This is yet another
example of seeking to make the DA a rubber stamp for a @UFT leadership
that doesn’t consult the rank and file. We must be & do better..... Delegate
Over decades, that has been the major thing they have been good at -- managing the membership. When it comes to the DOE or big progressive ideas or aligning with progressive politicians, the UFT leadership has been mush -- think Schumer compared to Mitch -- they have the same mentality -- it's not in their DNA to fight back, other than to fight back against dissident members of the UFT. That's where they show some level of militancy.
At some point, that single-minded focus on control, especially a leadership totally out of touch with the members, begins to fail. The attempt to pack the upcoming DA with Unity Caucus members while retirees rally outside over the Medicare issue (Rallies, Lawsuit Updates - Retirees go to court ), joined by newly united opposition protesting the way the leadership has handled safety in the schools, may seem like a minor failure, but it is indicative of an increasingly isolated leadership, even within the confines of Unity Caucus and middle management at the district rep level.
Of even greater concern to the UFT leadership was this posting by Daniel Alicea, of Educators of NYC, promoting the rally outside the Oct. 13 DA:
Note the logos at the bottom -- just about every group involved in the UFT other than Unity is listed -- possibly with more to come -- and of course independent non-affiliated who are always heavily recruited by Unity, especially the newly elected chapter leaders, of which there are many, might be tempted. That MORE can claim 100 CL and Del is significant.
Plus the delegates and Ch Ldrs connected to the other groups would be the first real threat to Unity control of the DA since the early 60s. Making sure to keep as many activists out of the in-person DA is right in the wheel alley of the UFT/Unity leadership.
If these groups can actually deliver getting their people to show up that would
put icing on the cake and present a real long-time threat to Unity
control of the DA -- just imagine if they have to drag out all their
people every month -- why they'd have to offer them a post-DA dinner as a
bribe.
Was it a glitch?
I was told after posting the breaking story of an attempt to pack the DA (rivaling FDR's attempt to pack the court) by someone with inside info that I was wrong - it was just a glitch and reversed a few hours later.
I maintain it wasn't a glitch (I had info that for the Sept 22 CL meeting, some Unity people were sort of told to make sure to be there in person) but intentional.
By 5PM, the meeting that was supposed to be socially distanced - the excuse to limit in person attendance -- had been opened up.
The reversal to open up the space inside the DA was incited by the outrage of chapter leaders and delegates calling and tweeting at union officials. By 5PM the so-called artificial "safety distance rules" set up for the DA - and for the Sept. 22 chapter leader meeting -- where Retiree Advocate/UFT Caucus people were also outside in force.
Let's follow the bouncing ball.
Since the registration [for Oct. 13 Delegate ASSEMBLY] email was sent during the work day, I opened it and registered less than 15 minutes after dismissing my kids. Virtual available only. No other option. Locked out of the full democratic
process. Thanks for such a warm welcome to the DA, @UFT! ....Classroom teacher, newly elected delegate
The UFT executive board recently voted to allow a hybrid delegate assembly. While I support giving this option to members, I received an email to register for the DA at about 1:50. When I tried to register in person it said it’s at capacity… Classroom teacher, chapter leader
Response of Brian Gibbons, UFT social media head:
From reports, Brian Gibbons has not been a classroom teacher.
I do find it ironic that the UFT leadership seems fine with sending
its members into crowded non-socially distance schools while using the
safety issue to restrict attendance and limit democracy at union events.
For instance, all Ex Bd meetings are supposed to be open to all members
but right now you must be vaxed to attend (interesting that the unvaxed
members the UFT is supporting in court would not be allowed in). All
retiree meetings this year will be remote - there is one Oct. 13 from
1-3PM -- interesting how that meeting was moved from the usual Tuesday to
just before the DA which starts at 4 -- the leadership knew we were
planning to rally.
I'm proud of the work Retiree Advocate/UFT has done over the past year -- we are a group of people from various caucuses and have worked very well together - a model of sorts. I wrote this in April, 2021 -- The United Front: Retiree Advocate/UFT brings friends and former opponents together for Retiree Chapter election.
In some ways the actual issues pale compared to the fact that all groups are talking to each other at various levels - privately and in more official ways from what I hear. Working together for the Oct. 13 DA -- the first DA for many who had been elected last spring --- might turn into actually bringing a long-time dream of mine to fruition -- a united slate in this spring's UFT elections.
Wishful thinking? I'm torn because I don't look forward to getting involved in another UFT election but if wishes come through I will be there.
I'm reposting this from before as this news came in --
BREAKING - 3:15PM -- This just came in -- as we predicted earlier --
Notice to Attend DA Sent out during school day as UFT Leadership Packs Upcoming Delegate Assembly with Unity Caucus Members as way to shut down Chapter Leaders --- IMAGINE -- Actual working chapter leaders and delegates were sent a notice - purposefully when they were in the classroom, thus givng the vast Unity Caucus network who are not in classrooms an advantage in registering - and all seats were filled almost immediately -- thus shutting out the many newly elected chapter leaders and delegates --- one of the stories was that MORE elected 100 of them and none of them will be able to get into the DA next Wednesday -- but we will be outside and will urge every ch and del shut out to join us outside shouting -- let us in.
Thursday, October 7, 2021 - 10 AM
An interesting event is developing inside the UFT among critical voices. All formal groups and caucuses seem to be working jointly on supporting the cause of retirees fighting the UFT leadership's attempt to force people out of Medicare and into a privately controlled system. They have tied the retiree issue to the current unsafe schools UFTers are facing and are going to urge delegates to support a series of initiatives.
My guess is the leadership will attempt to pack the DA with Unity stalwarts.I suggest they offer a post DA dinner for Unity -- or a raffle to get them to shlep to the DA when they can just stay home and do remote. I and others will be there, glad to meet them with open arms.
The event will be a test of sorts for the ability of the opposition to actually organize effective actions -- and if they are successful and this leads to more cooperation leading into the spring UFT elections.
Is the leadership sweating? Last night Educators of NYC's Daniel Alicea led a fabulous workshop of teachers and parents exposing the unsafe conditions in the school being covered up by the DOE with the assistance of the UFT.
Mulgrew, feeling the heat from a few directions - some anti-vax people who seem to love him for supporting them and helping keep schools unsafe - but they will whine about everything, came out with a rare attack on de Blasio.
Watch the leadership pack the DA with Unity pulling some tricks -- like sending out messages to Unity to get ahead of the line.
Coming next Wednesday, ICE-UFT will be joining with multiple other opposition groups for a Healthcare-Health and Safety rally at
the UFT's first Delegate Assembly of this school year. Delegates,
Chapter Leaders, rank and file active UFTers, retirees and others will
all be there. I have never seen this kind of excited pulling together
among opposition groups in the UFT.
UFTers have finally had enough.
Well, we'll see if UFTers have had enough. I have to see it to believe it.
ICEUFT and Educators of NYC spoke out about conditions in the NYC schools.
Do No Harm
-
if the damage outweighs the good sometimes we might pass on that treatment.
Likewise, a wiser mayor would have passed on the mandate, in this way,
But I do get the point - it's a race to the bottom for which is more incompetent - the UFT or DOE.
Shine a light and flush out the cockroaches
ICEUFT and Educators of NYC at 7:00 tonight will be on Zoom to speak out about conditions in the NYC schools. I'll bet Unity is sending spies so they can know what is actually going on in the schools -- they are so out of touch they are like the CIA in Afghanistan - [C.I.A. Admits to Losing Informants - The New York Times].
Over 100 registered. Stories will be shared. Anonymity guaranteed -- we
will have readers of stories that have been sent in along with live
readings.
I love those UFTers complaining about vax mandates.
Did they ever sit through a mandated faculty conference or a boring PD?
They are worse than sticking needles into your eye.
Give me ten vaccines to dull the pain.
But the hard line taken by de Blasio seems to be working - to some extent. I personally know of at least one unvaxxed supervisor who got the shot before the deadline. I don't think schools will be as unsafe as the unions are trying to make them seem. Shame on the UFT for using that bullshit but supporting the idea that unvaxxed should go into schools and make them unsafe.
Friday night a loud cheer went up in certain internet circles with this headline:
She spent last year HAMMERING teachers who chose to teach
remotely because they, we, had underlying health conditions! She claimed
we abandoned out students and SHE now decides to change her tune and
abandons her students? She's so full of shit. Inserting
something into her body that does not fall into line with her religious
faith? What faith? She's fucking Jewish. There is nowhere in the
Talmud, the Torah, or anywhere where it says that vaccines are
forbidden. Orthodox rabbis consider vaccinations a moral obligation.
I'm on a private twitter feed with about 40 teachers who seem to echo Peter's anger and frustration with those who don't want to get the vax. I feel they had the right but not to go into a school.
A comment on Peter's blog: "I just watched her on CNN. She is the biggest, fakest, blowhard of all
time. She uses the word, "Dedicated". She ain't dedicated to shit. She
is a poser teacher and everybody knows it. The DOE will be way better
off without her."
This seems to represent the sentiments of the majority of teachers -- increasing frustration and anger at the unvaxxed. People are sick of lockdowns, masks, etc and it is clear that if everyone got vaxxed we'd be close to being free.
MU- not a cow
Now I was at some of my doctors the other day and there is a feeling that in NYC at least we had so many cases and so many people vaxxed, we're getting into herd immunity territory - for adults. So the wild card are the kids - the unvaxxed kids -- Delta is looking for places to land and it won't be runway at Kennedy -- it may be your under 12 year old. As Dr. Osterholm keeps saying --- the virus is looking for wood to burn and here in NYC those are kids -- and schools are a danger point. So far we haven't seen too many wild outbreaks but Osterholm seesm to think we will see it happen within the next few weeks -- but if it doesn't we will be fairly hone free --- except for MU -- yes MU - a varian that seems to break through vaccines -- and my doc told me the Brazilian delegation to the UN last week brought us a gift of MU -- he said half the delegation was infected -- and his office is not far from the UN. Oy! But so far Delta seems to be kicking MU's ass -- but as some one said -- there are a lot of letter left in the Greek alphabet.
If non-vaxxed were in schools, imagine the sound of MUs.
James Eterno is not as caustic as Peter but has this report:
This headline expresses the increasing anger and generally pissed off feelings toward the unvaxxed. Especially those who threatened to pull their dues from the UFT -- and the leadership actually caved into them and backed the lawsuit.
on behalf of the rest of us, the ones who miss concerts,
restaurants and other people’s faces, the ones who are sick and tired of
living in pandemic times, here’s a word of response to those quitters:
Goodbye. And here’s two more: Good riddance.
I hadn't thought about what we have all been giving up and hoping we can end this soon and go back to normal. Guess who has been standing in the way of all of us?
Yet they whine about forced mandates. We have a million forced mandates every day --- if you don't want to stop at red lights, give up your right to drive. What I find funny is that just by taking the job of a teacher, you are facing enormous controls -- you can't say shit in the classroom without it appearing on the internet and facing 3020a charges.
You know there's a mandate that you have to stay in the classroom and teach even if you don't want to.
You're not an excellent teacher if you are willing to risk the health of your students --- We heard the line that the system was going to lose excellent educators -- not so excellent if willing to risk their students' health.
Their final plea was let them be remote -- I'm sure the vaxxed teachers going into schools would have been thrilled.
There is a lot of mocking of the leadership for supporting the extreme minority that is willing to go into schools --while the UFT itself will only allow 200 to meet for a DA and CL meeting in a room that holds 865 --- no 3 ft distance for UFT leaders. Monday night they held an Ex Bd meeting where proof of vax was required. Those meetings are supposed to be open to all UFT members. But they wouldb't allow the anti-vaxers they support to pass through those doors.
Where there may have been some level of sympathy for those who fear the vaccine, there is none for those proclaiming their libertarian right to refuse a vax. I've seen comments from the overwhelming majority of vaxed UFTers saying "good riddance - we don't want to work with people so willing to risk our and the children's health."
Fall on the sword. I do not disagree with the libertarian view totally about not wanting to be forced but don't force me to be in the same space as you. If I weren't willing to get vaxed I would still try to be very cautious around others --- and I'd take a leave of absence. These are schools, not isolated offices.
If you are so against getting vaxed take a leave - you still keep your health care -- and I saw some angry comments from women with children who were pissed they are getting health care while they had to go back to work so soon.
Bill Maher who has vax issues pointed out he took one for the team.
So there are more and more angry if less vocal publicly UFTers. This will last way past the pandemic --- they may be treated like strikebreaking scabs in the future -- how dare they endanger our health?
One of the latest arguments from the unvaxed is that the system will lose so many excellent educators -- they are not excellent if they are so willing to put their students at risk.
They will debate this and hold multiple positions, but never a forum on something like union democracy or class size solutions... A NYC teacher
She and Leo Casey said the same thing about Bill
Gates – saying it’s always good to discuss and bring people to the
table. I agree with that. But not give them a public forum to transmit their toxic ideas! That’s completely different.... Parent activist
Randi working with the Open Schools Movement people - and a guy who said teachers dying was the acceptable cost of opening schools. The message to him should be FUCK OFF! But she is saying FUCK OFF to teachers risking their health in overcrowded schools.
She wants dialogue with our enemies but ignores the progressive voices in her own union. 90% vaxed but she and Mulgrew cater to the resisters. There's an entire resistance movement in the UFT but too progressive for Randi and crew --- she may be the Kyrsten Sinema of our union. I put her closer to Joe Manchin than Bernie Sanders.
...on Friday, some 100 retirees had a die-in press conference
at City Hall where they dressed as the Grim Reaper and mimicked choking
to death in protest of the plan. Sarah Shapiro, a retired teacher with the Cross Union Retirees
Organizing Committee, said they are being thrown “under the bus after
decades of service to this city. We are in the midst of a pandemic. We have frail and sickly retirees who are in the middle of cancer treatments,” she said..... NY Post
Question of the day - or year - or decade:
Why does the UFT leadership oppose Single payer, medicare for all plans and promote privatized MedAdv plans with its profits, high salaries and lower level of service?
Norm's commentary:
There is a bunch of news around the joint union/city attempt to move 225k retirees out of Medicare and into a privatized version known as Medicare Advantage. A law suit by retirees and a law suit by the losing bidder, Aetna - both reported on below my commentary.
There is an option to opt out and remain in traditional Medicare, which an increasing number of people are taking but at a cost -- it will cost me and my wife around $4500 a year for the same thing we've been getting for free. An extortion plot hatched by our union leaders. The more you know about Medicare Advantage, the more you want to vomit.
Our vote total went up to 30% in the retiree chapter election in April when many retirees had not yet heard of the change. With a general UFT election coming this March-May and the retiree vote crucial for Unity Caucus control of the UFT, another 10 point slippage might put the election in play for the first time. (Already retirees are asking to be added to the oppositon slate.) Add this to the general unhappiness with the UFT by working members over school safety and their support for the minority of unvaxed teachers, this election can be interesting.
I reported on recent events, some organized by a cross union group that included Retiree Advocates --- We had a great Die-in on Friday near City Hall with hundreds of people --- people in hospital gowns were "examined" by doctors - some of them real docs - and rejected, upon which they "died" on a mat while the grim reaper stood over them. (There were also concurrent Taxi and Climate protests in the same area- a perfect day for protests.)
We were out in force at the Sept. 22 UFT chapter leader meeting, which ironically was limited to 200 people in Shanker Hall which seats 850 -- ironically because the UFT seems OK with sending its members into crowded schools with little social distancing. Monday night there was an Ex bd meeting in person where everyone had to show proof of vax. I'm wondering if the UFT has a must vax order for its own employees.
The Aetna lawsuit has a better chance of halting things before Jan. 1 than the members vote -- I didn't join as a plaintive but wish them luck. Aetna is pissed because they lost out and are claiming the people who won out are incompetent at managing these type of plans. I join Retiree Advocate in opposing all private insurance and wanting a medicare for all, single payer system. Yes, it's socialized medicine -- but Medicare has basically proved that it works. Below the break are details of the lawsuits:
We
don't feel safe in our community anymore. We love our school and know
it can be better. We want a safer school and we do not want additional
COVID outbreaks.
.. Clara Barton HS staff members
UFT claims not allowing unvaxed into schools makes them unsafe while seemingly OK with letting them in and threatening COVID spread? WTF
Staffs are going to war with each other over masking and vaccines. Talk about a threat to the union. Where is the UFT? I have an idea -- threaten to stop paying dues and watch how fast you get a meeting and a response.
The UFT leadership is so focused on the minority unvaxxed, they are losing sight of the real threat to the union, with the overwhelming majority vaxed and masked and getting more and more pissed off. Religious exemptions? Don't dare try using Jewish as an excuse. The other real threat is future refusals to get vaxxed for anything and wild measles and other outbreaks to come. We are going back to the dark ages and the UFT is paving the way.
I'm hearing this from other schools -- There is a Zoom on Wednesday at 7PM for people to tell their stories, anonymously if they want.
Such stories are rolling in and ignored by the UFT leaders which is focusing its attention on due process for the unvaxed. Do the vaxed get due process for their health conditions?
We
are a group of constituents from the Clara Barton HS community in
Brooklyn. We have sent the following to our principal but we have not
seen any substantial change in our community. We have staff calling out
and rumors are flying it's for undisclosed COVID cases. Students are in
quarantine. There was a nasty fight this past week and nothing is being
done to control students from unmasking in the halls. We do not feel
safe at all. Please help us! We have contacted the press.
Anonymous
Dear Dr. Forman:
We
are a group of staff from the CBHS community who are really concerned.
We have brought concerns to the UFT reps to take to consultation. But we
feel that nobody is doing anything.
While you hide in your office we have observed the following in Barton:
1. Teachers and paras not wearing masks around children during class time.
2. Deans and aides not masking in the Deans' Office.
3. Students smoking weed communally during class time in Stairwell E And F.
4. Large groups of faculty in the auditorium meeting without social distancing on Sept 9
5. Classrooms with no open windows or purifiers.
6. Staff and students who have said: "COVID is a lie produced by the media and masking/vaccines don't work."
7. No social distancing or ventilation in the cafeteria
8. Faculty unmasking in meetings
We
don't feel safe in our community anymore. We love our school and know
it can be better. We want a safer school and we do not want additional
COVID outbreaks.
If our
needs are not addressed promptly the media and the City will be
notified. We do not want negative attention to our community. We just
want a safer work environment and a safer learning environment for the
kids.
Who: We
are the Cross-Union Retiree Organizing Committee (CROC) composed of
retirees from NYC's municipal labor unions. We oppose the City's move to
save money by endangering the healthcare coverage of vulnerable
seniors.
I'm heading back into the city for this well-thought out event that includes reps from many municipal unions. I'm not the grim reaper and I'm not laying down because I won't get up so I am handing out leaflets. COME ON DOWN!!!
Media Advisory: Municipal Worker Retirees Plan Protest To Halt Healthcare Changes
What: NYC municipal union retirees will stage a "Die-In"
at City Hall Park to protest the life-threatening danger faced by
250,000 retirees as the City prepares to switch their traditional
Medicare coverage to a privately managed Medicare Advantage plan
beginning Jan. 1, 2022. At a mock "Medicare DisAdvantage Clinic"
overseen by the Grim Reaper, participants will enact the potentially
fatal consequences of restricting healthcare for seniors.
The protest comes on the heels of a lawsuit filed by Aetna charging the City and its Office of Labor Relations of bid-rigging in awarding the health coverage contract.
When: Friday, September 24, 2021, rain or shine
Time: 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p. m.
Where: The Broadway side of City Hall Park (between Murray & Park Sts.)
Who: We
are the Cross-Union Retiree Organizing Committee (CROC) composed of
retirees from NYC's municipal labor unions. We oppose the City's move to
save money by endangering the healthcare coverage of vulnerable
seniors.
Time: Participants arrive at 3:15pm
for a rehearsal. The action takes place from 4:00pm-5:00pm.
Where: on Broadway next to City Hall Park between Murray Street and
Park Place
The point
of the “Die-In” is to publicize the inadequacies of the NYC Medicare Advantage
switch-over by Mayor de Blasio and to pressure the new mayor to scrap the plan.
There will be a Medicare Dis-Advantage health clinic on the
Broadway side of City Hall between Murray Street and Park Place. Some participants
will play sick patients waiting in two patient feeder lines to be examined by
other participants dressed up as doctors and nurses. These mock doctors and
nurses will theatrically examine three or four patients for 30 seconds. Then
the patients will be determined ineligible for treatment. To communicate this,
the doctors and nurse will hold up “No Authorization” signs. Patients will then
walk over to the death mat and die in whatever way they like for 30 seconds
while a drum rolls and the Grim Reaper approaches. Patients can get back in
line to be examined and die multiple times. Protesters with signs will stand on
the sidelines. We cannot block the sidewalk! A picket march down Broadway and
through City Hall Park will take place once there is a large enough crowd of
protesters. We are hopeful that a few politicians will attend, and if they do,
we will pause the action for a few minutes in order for them to speak. We
expect some press to be there too.
Chapter Leader Meeting on Wednesday Sept 22 at 3:30pm
We'll
be outside the first CL Meeting at the UFT at 52 Broadway starting at
3:30 to let our working educator brothers and sisters know what happened
to our health care and to warn them that negative changes are also in
store for them. Help us greet them with smiles and informational fliers.
Street Theatre Die-In on Friday Sept 24 at 4 pm
NYC municipal retirees present A
Street Theatre “Die-In”onBroadway
in front of City Hall Park between
Murray
&
Park
Sts. to publicize
the life-threatening danger faced by 250,000 retirees as the City
prepares to switch their traditional Medicare coverage to a privately
managed Medicare Advantage plan on Jan 1, 2022.
Produced
by: CROC
(Cross-Union Retiree Organizing Committee
We still need "actors" for this event. No experience necessary. Please send an email to : retireequestions@gmail.com if you are interested
“There’s definitely some fishiness going on. This contract doesn’t
make any sense,” said Marianne Pizzitola, president of the FDNY’s EMS
Retirees Association and a rep for the New York City Organization of
Public Service Retirees, whose groups are affected by the contract.
Pizzitola said retirees were “kept in the dark” on the deliberations
and raised the appearance of a conflict with Teamsters’ head Floyd
sitting on the board of the winning bidder.
“How is that not fishy?” she said.
This may be a biggie -- let's be clear -- we don't want Aetna either. No Med-Disadvantage plans -- but if this screws the pooch -- go at it.
New York’s largest private Medicare administrator is suing the Big
Apple and its local union leaders for allegedly awarding a $34 billion
“tainted” contract to an unqualified rival bidder.
Insurance giant Aetna’s bombshell lawsuit against New York City and
the Municipal Labor Committee alleges that the bidding process was fixed
to favor Alliance, a consortium that includes Emblem Health and
Anthem/Blue Cross Blue Shield, to operate the Medicare Advantage Plus
program, which administers health benefits to 250,000 retired city
workers.
“OLR [the city’s Office of Labor Relations] has selected an
inexperienced and unqualified bidder through a procurement process that
violated New York Procurement law, lacked transparency, and violated
principles of public trust and fairness for a procurement that could
last up to a minimum of five or as many as eleven years and generate $34
billion dollars in claims revenue,” Aetna alleges in its suit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court earlier this month.
Aetna and Alliance were the two finalists that city officials and
union leaders considered for the whopping contract, which is anticipated
to save the Big Apple about $3 billion over five years, or roughly $600
million a year.
Aetna is asking the court to nix the contract, which takes effect Jan. 1.
Retired city workers are eligible for Medicare, the federally run
program that provides health insurance for people who reach 65 — but
their union contract also calls for the Big Apple to pick up the cost of
their monthly premiums for Medicare Part B, which covers outpatient
care as well as other supplemental services not covered by Medicare.
Gregory
Floyd, president of Teamsters Local 237, is associated with Alliance
partner Emblem Health, who was awarded the city’s Medicare program
contract over Aetna.
Aetna is arguing that it has more experience than Alliance in
handling such matters. And even city officials have acknowledged that
Aetna, the nation’s third largest health-insurance provider, was clearly
the more experienced bidder in running Medicare Advantage programs
across the country.
One of the criteria in the proposal was that bidders had to have provided service to a client with at least 50,000 subscribers.
Aetna currently runs New Jersey’s Medicare Advantage program for
196,577 retirees, the United Auto Workers Retiree Medical Benefits Trust
with 140,305 members, the Ohio State Teachers Retirement System with
96,106), the Pennsylvania Employees Benefit Trust Fund with 75,369
members) and Verizon with 73,176 members, according to the lawsuit.
Aetna alleges that Alliance failed to meet even this “low bar.”
Alliance has noted that one of its partners, Indiana-based Anthem,
ran the Medicare Advantage program for the Colorado Public Employees
Retirement system with 50,000 members. But Aetna claims that Anthem’s
contract only covered 43,000 retirees, which should disqualify the
Alliance bid for the city work.
Other concerns raised in the lawsuit involved:
Costs: Aetna claimed its prescription-drug plan was at least $30
less expensive per worker monthly than Alliance’s plan and offered free
prescriptions for certain generic medications. It also said its plan
premium was $366 lower per year for every worker than the advertised
Alliance rate.
Breach of confidentiality: The insurer said a
city evaluator wrongly disclosed some of its cost proposals at a meeting
with union members, which “tainted” the selection process by alerting
rival Alliance to its figures.
Arbitrator/familiarity: The city
and labor unions turned to a state arbitrator to help resolve an impasse
over the selection of a winning bidder — a decision that was not
mentioned as part of the procurement process.
During the early evaluation process, city officials
favored Aetna because of its experience running Medicare Advantage
programs, the suit says. But union leaders preferred the Alliance
because partners GHI/Emblem Healthand Blue Cross had more of a history providing medical benefits to city workers, according to the papers.
The parties asked arbitrator Martin Scheinman —
who recently ruled that religious exemptions can be granted from COVID
vaccine requirements for public-school teachers — to be brought in to
issue a recommendation on which final bidder the city and the unions
should choose. At the time, Scheinman chaired a city panel to find
health-care savings.
Scheinman chose Alliance, arguing that its “familiarity” with
providing benefits to the city workforce trumped Aetna’s superior
experience in running Medicare programs, the documents say.
Sanitation Department workers collect garbage near 675 Central Avenue in Brooklyn on March 10, 2021.
James Keivom
His voice helped tip the award to the Alliance, the suit says.
But Aetna argues in the court documents that “the Solicitation and
applicable procurement law did not provide for this action … and
Arbitrator Scheinman’s recommendation was based on a new criterion
mentioned nowhere in the procurement documents.”
Aetna also claims that Alliance reps were afforded the opportunity to discuss matters with Scheinman, while its people weren’t.
Aetna received the highest scores during the early phases of the evaluation process, the suit says.
Other sources familiar with the negotiations said it appeared that
Alliance had an inside track because of its connections to labor
leaders. Teamsters Local 237 President Gregory Floyd, for example, sits on the board of Alliance partner Emblem Health.
Some advocates for retirees joined Aetna in questioning the granting of the contract.
First
responders arrive at a construction site in Hudson Street to Vandam
Street in Manhattan after a man fell 20 feet into a shaft on September
14, 2021.
William Farrington
“There’s definitely some fishiness going on. This contract doesn’t
make any sense,” said Marianne Pizzitola, president of the FDNY’s EMS
Retirees Association and a rep for the New York City Organization of
Public Service Retirees, whose groups are affected by the contract.
Pizzitola said retirees were “kept in the dark” on the deliberations
and raised the appearance of a conflict with Teamsters’ head Floyd
sitting on the board of the winning bidder.
“How is that not fishy?” she said.
Nicholas Paolucci, a rep with the city Law Department, told The Post
in an e-mail, “The City is committed to selecting providers that are in
the best interest of the City and it’s retirees. We’ll review the case.”
Meanwhile, union leaders in the Municipal Labor Council dismissed Aetna’s lawsuit as the desperate gambit of a sore loser.
“We got it done. It was fair and right to the point. I haven’t heard
anything wrong with that particular contract, the way it was done.
Everything was done to the T,” said Harry Nespoli, chairman of the
Municipal Labor Council and president of the Sanitation workers’ union.
“To me it sounds like sour grapes. Aetna had their shot at it. It
does save money for the city of New York. What’s wrong with that? I
thought it was a spectacular deal. I still think it is,” he said.
Teamsters Local 237 President Floyd said his role sitting on the
governing board of bidder Emblem Health didn’t pose a conflict. He voted
to award to Emblem/Anthem-Blue Cross.
“It’s only a conflict if I was the only union leader voting or if I
had the most influential vote. It wasn’t the case. I had one vote — that
was it,” Floyd said.
“This a stupid lawsuit. Aenta put in a bid, and they lost the bid. They’re a sore loser.”
Harry
Nespoli, president of the Sanitation workers’ union, argues insurance
company Aetna is acting “like sour grapes,” with their city lawsuit.
William Farrington
Noting that Aetna is one of the country’s largest private health-insurance companies, Floyd said, “How greedy can you get?”
Floyd said contracts expire and that there will be opportunities for
future business — but he added that Aetna is burning its bridges.
“I have a long memory,” Floyd said.
He said Aetna currently administers prescription-drug benefits to his
members, who work as security officers in schools, homeless shelters
and NYCHA complexes.
In that case, Aetna replaced HIP/Emblem Health because the union
didn’t like the latter’s performance, and Aetna is doing a “good job,”
the Teamsters boss said.
