Why We Need Fix Retiree Benefits

Two years ago, Retiree Advocate (RA) ran on a platform of standing up for our health care. I ran with them. We had a flyer that stressed that, and it appealed to members tired of being sold out by our ostensible leaders. That’s how we won the election two years ago. We were the only choice if we wanted to battle Unity’s ageist scheme to dump us into an inferior Medicare Advantage plan.

I’d thought I was part of RA, having run with them and hyped them relentlessly, but it turned out I was not. That said, I have few to no qualms with most of what RA does. Personally, I’m good with initiatives to support labor. I’m good with taking action against union-busting corporations. As a leader, I’m good with it if that’s what membership supports.

RA concerns me in what they do not do. For one thing, they largely failed to include those of us who ran with them. In fact, they didn’t bother to meet with elected delegates for two full years. That’s not how you build. There is a good reason why last year, ABC pulled 9,000 retiree votes while RA, with ARISE, sunk way down to 3,000. As far as I can tell, they’ve done nothing to address the underlying cause.

RA does not reach out to or coordinate with the only organization that’s protected us—the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees. This is an egregious error. We are not going to protect ourselves in Unity’s wholly rigged Delegate Assembly (DA), and efforts to do so are a waste of our time.

We have twice passed resolutions at the DA, and both have blown up in our faces as Unity played us—and by “us,” I mean RA. Like the overwhelming majority of us who ran with or voted for RA, I had neither voice nor vote in negotiating resolutions with Unity. What we won is a fake health committee that rubber stamps whatever Mulgrew says, and a wholly ineffective resolution that opposed pension re-amortization for one moment in time, only to have it come back and bite us the next year.

Unity will say or do anything to take our eyes off fighting for our health care. They hate our activism. They abused Marianne Pizzitola when she came to speak with us. Their poet laureate, as far as I know the only Unity writer who doesn’t rely on AI, wrote a dozen columns using outlandishly twisted logic to personally attack Marianne. Her unspeakable crime, of course, is being effective where Unity is not.

Unity deplores our activism. Some openly participate in ageist ridicule, and when called on it, Unity celebrates them. You can’t make this stuff up. The stereotype-embracing Unity Caucus is unfit to lead, and particularly unfit to lead retirees. Mulgrew scoffs at our criticism, and portrays us as veritable cartoon characters.

As for RA, one prominent member has publicly announced he does not support 1096. That’s a fundamental stand against why we were elected. Another announced to the RTC Executive Board that health care was no longer the issue. Despite that, I’ve been reaching out to find an amicable way we could work together for over a year. What I’ve gotten in return is a whole lot of hurry up and wait.

We can do better. If you’re a leader, you must be responsive to membership. You have to get out there and learn what people are thinking. You can’t just sit in a circle of like-minded souls and heap praise upon one another.

As chapter leader of a large, overcrowded school, I grew a lot. I learned, up close and personal, that many members did not share my personal beliefs. I knew it was my job to rep all members, no matter their titles, and no matter how I felt about them personally. I learned that administration has huge advantages in their dealings with us, and how important it was to nail them whenever they made technical errors in disciplinary letters or actions.

As a union member, I’ve learned that UFT leadership is not always my ally. I’ve learned to forge friendships with members of the press, and I’ve learned how to get myself published when my message substantially differed from theirs. I’ve learned that I can’t depend on UFT to get the word out, and I’ve learned to get it out myself, however I need to do it.

I also learned, very quickly, to make sure I had the support of staff before taking a stand. You have to pick your battles. Once, administration wanted to take a rest room/ work area away from UFT women on the first floor. It stirred an almost instant revolt. I was taken by surprise, because they’d repurposed a few men’s rooms and aside from minor bellyaching, nothing happened.

Messing with women turned out to be a bad idea indeed. I filed a grievance that carried over 200 signatures. To accommodate us, the principal scheduled a grievance hearing in the auditorium. I sent photos of the accompanying room, pretty much redesigned by the women as a no-nonsense work space, to Sue Edelman, then at the NY Post. She was all set to cover it when the principal folded and altogether dropped the evil plan.

This was a big deal in our building. It was made known to me in no uncertain terms, and it was my job to act on it. Similarly, the Retired Teacher Chapter (RTC) made it known, when we were elected, that health care was an absolute priority, not to be neglected. I fully expected an RTC that would demonstrate for 1096 en masse. I was disappointed. Despite a popular resolution, RA’s RTC board did little to support it, and repeatedly blocked me when I tried to make things happen.

That’s not to say there weren’t improvements. The first year I started attending meetings, I was really gobstruck by the outlandishness of Unity’s “leadership.” I’d attended many highly choreographed DA meetings, and admittedly went in with very low expectations.

However, during a moment of crisis, facing Medicare Advantage instead of what we were promised, I found it amazing that no one bothered to poll us and ask what we wanted or needed. In fact, there were no votes on anything whatsoever. Much of the time, no one was allowed even to ask questions about health care. It was beyond absurd.

I ran against Unity with RA and won the position of Vice Chair (whatever that is). RA improved things by allowing voting. We were able to pass resolutions. We learned, though, that Unity bosses did not care what we resolved. They went along their merry way and openly lobbied against our decisions.

I like RA better than I like Unity. However, almost immediately after the election, I learned I was not part of it. I had no voice in it. Ten or twelve of them would meet and make decisions on behalf of the 300 who ran with us. A few months back, they offered to sell us voting rights for fifty bucks a head, if only we followed whatever their conditions were.

After having been excluded for two years, I was not jumping up and down for the chance to join this exclusive group, most of whom are still on their steering committee, or whatever they call it. Nor was I going to part with that fifty bucks, which I had earmarked to buy a bag of frozen scallops at Costco.

I’m ready to work with people who will stand up to Mulgrew, and not make wishy-washy compromises. I want to represent our collective interests. I don’t want to be sold out in order to help Unity negotiate yet another substandard collective bargaining agreement.

As you’re reading this, I hope you’ll join us. We all know why we beat Unity last time. Let’s go in there and make the changes we demanded. We’re halfway there already.