Mulgrew Says UFT Withdraws Support for Medicare Advantage

Given his electoral losses, he has little alternative. But keep your eye on what he does.

I just got interesting news from the UFT. It appears that Mulgrew is withdrawing his support for the NYC Medicare Advantage program. He says the UFT is doing this, which is interesting. As usual, there’s no vote, no consultation, no nothing. Just Michael Mulgrew exercising his imperial power.

There’s also no move to support our bills in the city council or state legislature. Getting them passed would mean a lot more than hearing Mulgrew reverse his position.

I hear there is an emergency Municipal Labor Committee meeting tomorrow, so all the bosses can try to cover their butts for their disastrous anti-union action. We’ll see how that shakes out.

From what I understand, Mulgrew’s blaming the city for his change in position. They’ve been dragging it out and such, he says. However, while he’s stepping back from this program for the moment, Mulgrew has not actually said he opposes Medicare Advantage altogether. He indicates willingness to negotiate further with the city.

This is not a done deal, no matter what he or his BFFs in the MLC say.

Of course, it is not the city dragging its heels that’s caused this situation. MA has been halted because of multiple lawsuits, and they are far from over. Whatever Mulgrew says, we have to watch what happens.

We cannot, will not forget that it was Michael Mulgrew who initiated this. We will not forget that his Unity Caucus supported him every step of the way. We will not forget our voices being shut out from our own union meetings. We cannot forget the ridiculous UFT Facebook group that discusses vacations and does not allow members to discuss their feelings on being sold out.

We will not forget that, when we stood up for our health care, we were answered with personal insults, guilt by association and red-baiting. We cannot forget that Mulgrew lied, over and over, to sell this, and we cannot forget that he is now going to paint himself as a hero.

We will not forget Unity’s abysmal treatment of opposition voices, the paraprofessionals and OT/PT chapters.

Mulgrew is not a hero. Mulgrew has chosen to work against us rather than with us. He cannot be trusted, his caucus cannot be trusted, and we will hold their feet to the fire as needed.

Next week we will learn whether or not Mulgrew intends to deal with us in good faith. We will give him every opportunity.

However, we will continue to follow the words of Norm Scott—we will watch what they do, not what they say. Our activism has brought us here, and we cannot give that up. We need to be driving our own destiny. I don’t know about you, but I would not trust Mulgrew to drive my bicycle, even if I added training wheels.

Watch what they do. I will keep you posted as events unfold.