Is Your Pension Really Safe?

I’ve been to many a meeting where Michael Mulgrew lectured us about how our pensions were safe. I’ve also heard that from his hand-picked Trustees. Along with Mulgrew, they have nice cushy gigs at 52 Broadway, doing Whatever They Do in that rarefied air. And it’s true. Our pensions are guaranteed by the NY State Constitution.

We receive them until we die, and if we so choose, we can pass them on to our loved ones. Of course, that means a big cut in pension, but it’s our choice. Hopefully, it’s an informed one. But not always.

Being cut off is one thing when you’ve overindulged the Wild Turkey at the Dew Drop Inn. It’s quite another when it’s the money you’re depending on to, you know, live.

I just attended a meeting with a group of paraprofessionals facing having their pensions cut in half. Not only that, but TRS is also demanding they repay half of their pensions for the last three years.

This is awful. These are not a bunch of stereotypical lazy people seeking a big payday. They’re mostly just struggling to get by. Some were disabled after being attacked by students. Others have had accidents on school grounds. And none, none at all, were getting rich on the pensions they were originally promised.

While our COLA is so small that many teachers may ignore it, losing it, or even a portion of it, could mean a lot to a retired para. However, you need not be a para to imagine what they’re going through.

Imagine repaying 50% of the last three years of your pension. Now imagine having to do it on the pension of a paraprofessional. This is nothing short of unconscionable

One of the paras told us she’d been to consultations with UFT Trustee/ TRS Chair Tom Brown, and former RTC Chapter Leader Tom Murphy. Both told her she could expect to receive two-thirds of her salary for accidental disability. Before, I thought TRS was solely responsible for this screw up. It now appears UFT bosses were out there giving the same dangerous and irresponsible advice.

I’m a strong believer in union. That said, I also believe people need to stand up and take responsibility for their actions.

When paras call UFT now, they’re told there’s nothing they can do. Imagine facing retirement, knowing you’d get one third of your salary. Were I chapter leader, seeing a member facing such a dire situation, I’d find out everything I could about potential leaves. But these members retired under false pretenses and received no such advice.

Furthermore, many of them have set beneficiaries, based on what they expected to earn. Some said if they’d known how little they were going to actually get, they’d have made different decisions. Your decision to set a beneficiary, as far as I know, is irrevocable.

Several said if they’d known, they’d have sought alternatives to retirement. Some said they could’ve done desk jobs. Perhaps they could’ve been school aides. Perhaps they could’ve been school secretaries and gotten a considerable salary bump in the process. But they were robbed of the chance to seek alternatives.

Here’s an interesting fact—In 2002, then-UFT President Randi Weingarten lobbied for and won the ability of teachers to retire at two-thirds salary for disability in line of duty. Why? Because it would be a hardship for said teachers to retire on one third of their salary.

Evidently, it’s not deemed a hardship for paraprofessionals, who make far less money than teachers, to retiree on one third of their salary. That is grossly inequitable, it needs to be remedied retroactively, and both Weingarten and Mulgrew need to get out there and work to correct this.

It appears, as hardships will vary from person to person, that this cannot be a class action. Some paras, for example, take jobs largely for the benefits, and may have spouses or families who make more money than they do. So if there were litigation, it would have to be on an individual basis.

Lawyers have advised us the chances of having their pensions restored are not great. At the very least, we should stop TRS from clawing back money it’s already paid. There’s no law requiring them to do this. Why should retired paraprofessionals have to pay for the blithering incompetence of TRS and UFT big shots?

Paraprofessionals, unlike teachers, are eligible for Worker’s Comp. However, Worker’s Comp carries an expiration date. Marianne Pizzitola told me that EMTs disabled in line of duty get three quarters pay. When Worker’s Comp expires, they show their retirement system the letter, and their retirement system makes up the difference. Why can’t TRS do that?

Sometimes, UFT Trustees get all worked up. There was a lot of back and forth about the re-amortization scheme that we opposed last year. After Katie Anskat and I wrote about it, Mulgrew sent the trusty Trustees all over the place to denounce us. They came to the Retired Teacher Chapter (RTC), the Delegate Assembly (DA) and Florida (FL), whining about those awful people who dared question their Unbridled Wisdom. RTC Chapter Leader Bennett Fischer joined them in Florida, and praised their presentation.

Our Substack pieces were projected on the screens as we were portrayed as reckless liars. Don’t listen to those bad people who worry about how things will be paid for! Mulgrew got up on his high horse and declared we must not question the trustees, ever. Never mind that they signed a loyalty oath to Unity Caucus and will be fired if they ever dare question the Word of Mulgrew.

Even worse, those losing them are retired paras, likely as not to be barely getting by already. If our Trustees have any shame, they will fight like hell for these retired paras, demanding that TRS do right by them.

Frankly, if they can’t do even that, all their showboating is just that. Time for them to get jobs that better suit them. I read somewhere there’s a dire shortage of bicycle seats.