UFT Retiree Election – What’s at Stake?

Did you vote? If not, dig up that ballot. Vote today. The count is in one week. June 14. If you mail your ballot today, it should get there in time. If you can’t find your ballot, it’s pretty tight. Call AAA at 800-529-5218 and ask for a replacement. If you are in NY, I’d advise you to hand-deliver the ballot.

And when you get your ballot, check off the box for “Retiree Advocate” on the first page – and mail it in.

So – United Federation of Teachers Retired Teachers Chapter. UFT RTC. Run by Unity Caucus for its entire history. And up to three years ago, Unity crushed the elections, 85% – 90% of the vote. But not any more. Retiree Advocate will win at least 30% of the vote. 40% is more likely. And over 50% is possible. I’ll run the numbers in an upcoming post.

Big issue? Medicare. Unity decided to move retirees out of Medicare, into a privatized Medicare Advantage. They didn’t tell retirees – who learned about this from another union (the Professional Staff Congress – the CUNY professors’ union). Retirees were pissed. They didn’t want privatized health care. And they didn’t appreciate being played for fools.

Over the last three years the UFT leadership, the Municipal Labor Committee (MLC), Mayor Adams and the Office of Labor Relations have been fighting to make the move. An ad hoc organization of retirees (the New York City Organization of Public Service Retirees) has been dueling them in court – and winning. For now, Medicare is safe. Each battle has shown Unity to be vulnerable – they lose. And retirees who might have once not bothered voting against them (because they were invincible? right? wrong!) might think otherwise. And each battle, each round of fights, has opened up more division between retirees and the UFT leadership and RTC leadership. And that division, plus the knowledge that Unity can be beaten, that will add up to Unity getting its smallest retiree vote ever; they might even lose.

But what would that mean? If Retiree Advocate won the leadership of the Retired Teachers Chapter, what difference would that make? Those are important questions, and deserve clear answers.

Officers and Delegates

Retiree Advocate would win all 10 officer slots. You probably know some of the names. Bennett Fischer would be Chapter Leader. Long-time New Action chair Michael Shulman would be a Vice Chair. Fiddler/Blogger/ESL Teacher Arthur Goldstein would be as well. Activist Gloria Brandman would be Secretary. I’d be Assistant Secretary. Other officers would be: Bobby Greenberg, Michele Rayvid, Sheila Zukowsky, Greg Di Stefano, and Ellen Fox.

The 15 Executive Board members would be: Fred Arcoleo • Joel Berger • Novelette Foote • Daniel Harkavy • Doug Haynes • Prudence Hill • Bruce Markens • Dacio Quintana • Denise Rickles • Roque Ristorucci • Norm Scott • Alan Stein • Marian Swerdlow • Doris Wallace • Mary Therese Whelan. (all Retiree Advocate, because of the winner-take-all format)

And there would be 300 new Delegates to the Delegate Assembly – all Retiree Advocate.

Meetings

One thing that would change right away – the format of RTC meetings. I am tired, I think we all are, of the chair frustrating people by not calling on them, by cutting short discussion, by berating fellow retirees. I remember him poorly controlling meetings, but I also remember meetings where he raised his voice at our members. Not ok. There needs to be adequate time for discussion. And there needs to be greater fairness in calling on people. And we will absolutely put items of importance to people on the agenda. It is outrageous that the Medicare Advantage plan was not shared with members until another union broke the story. Retiree Advocate will not hide important information from retirees, the way that Unity did. There’s a lot of “fluff” at RTC meetings. Soft topics. Fun topics. I always believe that they have a place – but they will no longer be used to “run out the clock” and prevent real discussion. We can talk about trips and classes AND political and financial issues.

The UFT Delegate Assembly would not change – but it would change. The RTC gets 300 delegates. Currently they are 100% Unity, and mostly vote as they are told. “Lock step” is how LeRoy Barr once described Unity voting to me. But with a Retiree Advocate victory, there would now be 300 independent-minded delegates. They would listen before they voted. No lock-step. Nothing automatic. 300 delegates is enough to swing some issues – the level of debate would improve – as each side would actually need to convince delegates. What a novel idea! I don’t know the way each vote would go. But you want an example? The resolution on improving dental care, which Unity killed. I don’t think that happens with 300 independent retirees at the DA…

Communication

This is tricky. Retiree Advocate would seek to improve communication. But we know that Unity, which still controls the apparatus, may try to prevent us. Let’s see.

Putting Retirees to Work

Some of this is easy. The political action we already do? We would want to do, and do it better. We would want to involve more retirees in it. We think there are many retirees who would like to be more involved.

The UFT used to have a program that put retirees into schools, to assist chapters and chapter leaders. We would want to restart something like that. We think there are many retirees who have knowledge and time to devote to helping in-service members

Medicare Advantage

Ironic, right? This is our biggest issue. Unity lies, and says it is our only issue (read our platform, here). But right now New York City is appealing the latest ruling against Medicare Advantage. The UFT is not even a party to that appeal. So what difference would the leadership of the Retired Teachers Chapter make?

• It would be significant if the leadership of the RTC opposed the CIty’s appeal (opposed Medicare Advantage, supported maintaining our current coverage). Perhaps we could formally intercede against the City? And if not, we could still speak out publicly
• It would be harder for Mulgrew and the UFT leadership to join the City’s appeal. Now, they might not try anyhow. But they might. And also, Mulgrew might not formally support the appeal – but his lawyer Alan Klinger was working with the City at the appeal – maybe we could stop that.

But could we put the brakes on? Nope. Would our victory change the landscape. Yup. And that would be a very good thing.