Unity Pays Valuable Lip Service to Paraprofessionals (unless they're retired)

I’m now told there are now 180 retired paraprofessionals who’ve had their pensions cut in half. This is the result of a TRS error. I wrote about one of them back in June. Imagine being disabled by accident, being told you were eligible for so much in pension, and accepting the terms. Now imagine, 15 years later, you’re told that not only is your pension being halved, but you also need to return half of what you’ve been paid for the last 15 years.

This is unconscionable, but evidently somehow legal. I’m not used to stories like this. There used to be features on the TV news, where some reporter would be On Your Side. The reporter would go and shame the contractor who demolished the East Wing of your home, leaving it a shambles. They’d get the work finished, or get a refund, or do something. TRS, though, seems not to be liable for its staggeringly hurtful incompetence.

Since this happened, months ago, Mulgrew and Unity have said not one word about it. These union members are facing abject penury, and all we get from UFT bosses is crickets. Some of my friends have organized to try to help, and we’ll do all we can. It would be just great if Unity would use some of their influence and money to help.

This, of course, stands in stark contrast to the action on the so-called para respect bill. Mulgrew is all over this, and there was a piece in the Times about it yesterday. (I’ve removed the paywall for you.) Mulgrew, evidently, is ready to go to war with Mayor Mamdani over this. I’m not at all confident he’ll win.

Mulgrew’s Very Smart People have a long history of misinterpreting regulations. That’s why their efforts to dump retirees into Medicare Advantage failed. That’s why they failed, at first, in imposing co-pays on Medicare-eligible retirees. That’s why they failed to impose a monthly surcharge for those of us on Medicare.

Paras should certainly hope Mulgrew prevails. However, depending on UFT leadership to help UFT members is not the most reliable strategy these days. After having spent years battling their efforts to demean my health insurance, they’re not my first go-to.

Mulgrew’s free to preach about how paras need respect. If he really believed it, with a whole lot of retired paraprofessionals in dire straits, he’d be on a media blitz, not only for the ever-evolving bill. He’d also be slamming TRS for its miserable treatment of these low-pensioned union members. This should be treated as the emergency it is.

Still, most of the time Mulgrew and Unity BFFs sit in their cozy offices and do Whatever They Do, sending the same old dozen staffers to feign activism at this event or that. Para bill? Send out the usual suspects. Scores of paras facing financial ruin? Nah. Thus far, they haven’t even asked us to wear blue on Thursday. That’s their general ask for union activism.

As for real activism, it’s rarer and rarer as time goes by. UFT bosses, for the last few decades, seem to fret more over city money than member money.

In fact, if I were a city mayor, looking for savings, I’d run straight to Unity. They’re more than happy to help refinance pensions, or sell retirees out in exchange for substandard contracts. This sort of dumber-than-dirt thinking is precisely why working UFT members can’t keep up with the cost of living.

It’s great to see Unity jumping up and down demanding more money for the paraprofessionals they pointedly ignored in the last round of bargaining. I hope paras get the single year of 10K in four payments the most recent bill calls for. Still, those of us following closely know it was a small group of paras known as Fix Para Pay who forced their hand. Until they beat Unity three to one, paras weren’t even an afterthought.

All Unity cares about is maintaining their cushy gigs and monopoly on union control. Mulgrew’s happy talk, last year, was an empty promise they could use 10K for a vacation. Now that the campaign stunt is done with, the trip’s done too. So is the promise of repeated payments. But at least it’s something, maybe, if it ever happens. Lord knows paras need the money. Of course it would have been preferable to give them the raise the city budgeted for. But before being humiliated in a para election, Unity had other ideas.

Judging from the Times piece, along with Mulgrew’s now-desperate tone, this bill is headed for the courts. Regardless of the outcome, outrageously wealthy Council Speaker Julie Menin will get to pretend she’s a champion of the working class and challenge Mamdani on that basis. I doubt she’ll succeed. Say what you will about him, but Mamdani is a master politician. He managed to decisively defeat Andrew Cuomo and the veritable Masters of the Universe who backed him.

It’s remarkable that Mulgrew still claims our bill, 1096, violates the Taylor Law. We’re retired and the Taylor Law doesn’t apply to us. He’s gonna have to go to court and claim rank and file paras are somehow exempt from it. Regardless, should this bill survive legal challenges, working paras will have just a little more money this year than last. Things could be a little better for them.

The Unity Caucus has more or less declared war on retirees. After they lost the Retired Teacher Chapter, one of their faithful, loyalty oath signing, handpicked and highly compensated District Representatives saw fit to send a bunch of ageist, stereotypical memes to chapter leaders. Rather than discipline the guy, they applauded him. Worse, they actively lobby against 1096, which we’ve overwhelmingly supported.

Why should retired paraprofessionals expect Unity to care about them? They’re just as old as the rest of us. I can only suppose they are, therefore, a laugh riot, just like retired teachers. We’re Methuselah, The Golden Girls, Grumpy Old Men, puttering around wondering where the light switch is. We’re sorely in need of their guidance. Only they understand it’s better for us to pay excessive, rapidly rising pharmacy premiums, have SHIP doubled, and pay unlimited co-pays. It’s good for us and if we don’t agree, we’re conspiracy theorists.

Again, Unity is unfit to lead, and especially unfit to lead retirees. It’s on us to protect ourselves. Our best ally in this, tragically and disgracefully, is not our union. It’s the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees. We need to align with them, fight for ourselves, and do what we can to bring the plight of these retired paras to the forefront.