The Elephant in the Room

MICHAEL MULGREW AND UNITY WANT YOU TO: A: BE STUCK IN AN INFERIOR ADVANTAGE PLAN, OR B: PAY EXTRA FOR THE PLAN YOU NOW HAVE.

Yesterday I went to the UFT RTC meeting. I was going to post notes and a report, but the meeting was overshadowed by an announcement. The NYC Retired Teachers lawsuit has moved ahead, and we have won the appeal by the city. We are keeping our Medicare, for now. Mulgrew muttered something about having no objection.

Thank you, Mr. Mulgrew, for tacitly acknowledging our right to battle for our lives. With all due respect, we’ll move on with or without your permission.

Let’s show them the elephant:

Michael Mulgrew and his Unity Caucus initiated the move to deprive us of the health care we’ve been promised all the decades we served New York City.

UFT Unity slings mud in this RTC election. They indulge in appeals to fear, guilt by association, and ad hominem attacks. They spout juvenile and preposterous accusations, but steadfastly avoid the actual issue. As our message resonates, as we defeat them in court over and over, they are TERRIFIED, and rightly so. It’s as simple as that. That’s why they toss around all this nonsense.

The other day, someone sent me a Unity email insinuating that Retiree Advocate candidates knew this was coming, and claimed they did not. I doubt that’s true, but even if it is, there’s that elephant they don’t want us looking at.

Speaking for myself, of course I know it’s coming. I’ve known for years. That’s why we contribute to NYC Retirees, as they battle our bosses in court. That’s why we, Retiree Advocate, work to inform our brothers and sisters. That’s why I write. Reminded by Unity, I managed to recall Mulgrew telling the DA that he found a way to prevent health care premiums at the DA. However, he most certainly did not say that it entailed dumping retirees into an Advantage scheme, OR making them pay to keep Medicare.

I’m a retired teacher. My pension is not too bad. But like everyone, I’ve got expenses. Having to pay even 400 a month for health care will not be easy. For UFT paraprofessionals, DC37 workers, and a whole lot of city employees trying to live on pensions, it will be absolutely impossible. And for the record, it is not the job of union leadership to increase our expenses. They should, in fact, be looking to diminish them.

Let’s show them the elephant again:

What Unity does NOT say—They are working to diminish our health care. Vote them out. Mail your ballot NOW.

In their flyer, included with the ballot, Mulgrew suggests, despite the fact that a court ruled their plan could cause irreparable harm, that the plan would have “features far superior to any current existing coverage.”

That statement is utterly lacking evidence, but the “far superior” is debatable, to say the least. Maybe the plan will have meals brought to your home. Maybe it will have a gym membership, or other Joe Namath-style bells and whistles. But if Aetna denies you the heart surgery your doctor says you need, these features won’t do you much good.

They won’t bring meals to the cemetery.

Here’s the elephant:

The meals and gym membership won’t mean much if we are deceased. Vote for Retiree Advocate and mail your ballot NOW.

How do we know the Advantage plan is inadequate? As a matter of fact, Unity itself sent several of its paid sycophants to testify that it was, in fact, not good enough for them.

Former UFT VPs Carmen Alvarez and John Soldini went to the City Council and said they needed “choice.” This was disingenuous. The “choice” they cited was actually the Unity imposition of a fee, about $5,000 a year per couple, to keep the health insurance we already had, free of charge. Alvarez and Soldini had highly compensated Unity gigs, and unlike those of us who really do the work, carry double pensions.

It’s blatantly inequitable to offer better options to those with higher incomes. Furthermore, it’s anti-union. Union means we are one. It does not mean that people who can afford higher payments get better health care. It’s disgraceful we have leadership so unfamiliar with the fundamental concept of union that they see things otherwise.

The elephant:

Unity is lying to us. They do it as a matter of course.

But that’s not all. They brought someone who had or survived cancer with them, to state she needed real Medicare. This suggests that, for someone with cancer, the Advantage scheme is inadequate. Here’s a news flash for our Unity bosses—unlike them, cancer does not discriminate. It can hit anyone. It hit me, and I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. Here’s another thing Unity doesn’t want anyone to look at:

If Advantage isn’t good for elite, privileged Unity Caucus members, it isn’t good enough for anyone.

As if that’s not enough, one of the people on the panel demanding “choice,” Barbara Waldon, stood up at last month’s RTC meeting and defended the Advantage plan, the very plan she testified was not good enough for her. Suddenly, it wasn’t that bad after all. She stated, “It is not one that has prior authorizations. “ That is not true, and the prior authorizations, in fact, are a huge reason why the plan has been ruled unacceptable by courts. You can see later, in the same video, where Waldron suggests she won’t have access to doctors and care she needs under the Aetna plan.

The elephant:

Unity supporters say anything at any time to support whatever is convenient for Unity. Lying is in their DNA.

It’s quite important that we be represented by people who have our interests at heart. Our health is precious. It’s unconscionable that Michael Mulgrew and his patronage cult have deemed to gamble it away to procure sub-inflation raises for rank and file.

Why does the Unity Patronage Cult think it’s appropriate for retirees to pay for rank and file raises? More importantly, why the hell can’t Mulgrew and his BFFs on the Municipal Labor Committee bother to procure cost of living increases? Why do they see fit to give away the store for, effectively, less pay for members? It’s that elephant again:

Unity leadership is self-serving, cynical, and disingenuous.

Your health is at stake, and so is your voice.

Vote for Retiree Advocate, and mail your ballot immediately.