Progress on Early Retirement Incentive
Yesterday, in Albany, Andrew Cuomo signed the budget bill containing the incentive. Now it is up to the NYC Mayor and the City Council and the municipal unions to work something out.
A few points, before I share the UFT email I received today:
- It is up to the mayor, city council, and unions to work things out – including which titles are covered. I think the bill says “non-uniformed.” No one is included until/unless there is a deal, and there is no guarantee a particular group will be included (if there is a deal at all)
- The UFT, if there is a deal, will send out a lot of specific information. There are many, many questions, and until there is a deal in hand and a pension fact sheet (or better, specialist) in front of you, they will remain questions.
- Yes, there may be other unions involved.
One very specific point – I have read the relevant section of the bill – I don’t see any provision that wavies the penalty for retiring before 55. I’m not a pension specialist, and better information will come out… but I think 53 comes with a penalty, whether or not there is an incentive. Certainly you should wait for definitive information to come out, but….
And a curious point about the UFT email. Look who they do not mention – New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo. The UFT’s Unity leadership has a track record of not criticizing Cuomo. Last April he took away our Spring Break (5 days), and Mulgrew sent out an email saying this was a Good and Thoughtful Decision. (And then de Blasio took away Passover and Good Friday (2 days) and Mulgrew went ballistic.) So why does Mulgrew mention de Blasio, the City Council, and the State Legislature, but skip over randy Andy? If you have a guess, I’d be curious to hear it.
Here’s the UFT email (I lost the formatting in the cut and paste. WordPress has a new editor, and I don’t know it yet)
| Jonathan, we are one step closer to an early retirement incentive. The state Legislature included an early retirement incentive in the final budget, which the governor signed on Monday. It puts us one step closer to securing the benefit before the summer. But there is still one more hurdle: reaching an agreement with the mayor and the City Council. We hope we can reach an agreement that provides this well-deserved opportunity for many of our members. We will work hard to negotiate these crucial details as quickly as possible.Please be patient. We will share the details with you as soon as we reach an agreement with City Hall. |
 The UFT convinces state legislature to include early retirement incentive in state budget The UFT negotiates program details with mayor and city councilMembers will be notified with details and invited to attend information sessions |
| While You Wait The UFT website and your retirement system’s website are packed with helpful information about retirement. Once an agreement is reached, we will provide you with all the information you need to make an informed decision. UFT Retirement Toolkit. TRS Website . BERS Website |
JD2718 
Does this incentive also include Assistant Principals and Principals?
Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone
Since there is no deal yet, not titles are included as of today. When a deal is done, if one is done, many titles may be included. Teachers may be included. Principals may be included.
At this point, it is possible, but we do not actually know what they will agree to.
My guess? If there is a deal that includes teachers, it will include principals. But that is just my guess.
Thanks Jonathan!
Thank you very much for all that you are doing to keep your readers on this thread well informed. You are doing a great job!!
You asked, “So why does Mulgrew mention de Blasio, the City Council, and the State Legislature, but skip over randy Andy? If you have a guess, I’d be curious to hear it.”
Cuomo is toxic these days, no influence to be had in that corner at the moment, and, of course, not up for re-election ’til next year… lots of time to feel which way the wind is blowing
is health and hospitals in this picture?