The Unity Patronage Cult Sends Us a Message

Their blatant discouragement of activism and progress is unconscionable.

This morning someone sent me an email from some UFT retiree rep or other. I’m not going to post the email in entirely, as it’s pretty long. However, I’ve posted it here if you want to see the whole thing. For this post, I’ll simply quote it.

If you’re a regular reader, you know that retirees are fighting tooth and nail to retain Medicare. You also know that Medicare Advantage plans place you at the mercy of parasitical insurance companies like Aetna that approve or disapprove procedures your doctor deems necessary. Finally, you know that many doctors who accept Medicare do not accept Advantage plans.

You also know that we are in this situation because Michael Mulgrew initiated and made incredibly stupid deals with the city, giving Eric Adams billions from our health stabilization fund. For this, he got raises (on the years he got them at all) that either hovered close to or were way below inflation. You would not know this from reading the email. Evidently, UFT Unity employees are not required to be well-informed. Perhaps being so would put them at risk of having to get real jobs.

Several of you have written to me over the past holiday season and weeks and I have been otherwise engaged. Between family events and the hospice experience of a very dear friend, the emails didn’t get the attention that I should have provided. But I spent some time putting this together. And I hope that you find it engaging as we continue to wait for outcomes in courts beyond our control.

They are not, in fact, “beyond our control.” The fact is activist NYC retirees are precisely the ones who’ve brought Mulgrew and his cult to court. We can support them, and I just sent them a donation. You may do so too, and the link is right here. This will support the lawsuit retirees have brought to retain the care we’ve been promised all our careers. The NY State Supreme Court, in the last lawsuit, declared the change to Advantage would cause us irreparable harm, since Aetna admitted it would deny us care.

It’s only beyond our control if we sit and do nothing, as the writer wants us to do. UFT bosses and Unity members could support our efforts to retain our health care. Instead, they take the side of Eric Adams, our contractual adversary.

The UFT RTC Health Care Committee has been an effective vehicle of representation of the retiree membership during this process. While we have not been a party to whatever negotiations existed for our current health plans, we have provided our own leadership with many helpful suggestions, objections, and ideas to improve the benefits of the plans that have come forward. And those suggestions, objections, and edits have been taken seriously, addressed and in many instances implemented. I can’t stress enough how effectively and honorably the committee has served our members in the union’s fight to improve the benefits now being offered. Your work has had a meaningful impact.

I guess our work has had an impact. After all, we’ve taken them to court and kicked their asses 12 times, so far. However, that has nothing to do with the UFT RTC Health Care Committee. While it’s great that the guy who runs the committee thinks he’s done a great job, the fact is the only people who’ve kept us out of Aetna’s greedy little paws have been the NYC retirees. A further fact is that, if they really gave a crap what we thought, they would allow us to vote.

But – and there’s always a BUT - I continue to find the discussions and commentary swirling about health care plans to miss a very important point. None of us can afford to ignore the one piece that President Mulgrew constantly addresses and no one seems to take up…. business and economics.  Healthcare is a business. Your doctors, no matter how wonderful their bedside manners and their concern for you, are a business! The hospital that you regard so highly is a business! We live in a capitalist society and it’s all BUSINESS. They are not looking out for our personal and organizational economic interests, sometimes to the detriment of our health. The health care industry keeps raising their costs on everything in an effort to increase their profits. The seemingly only entity that I see standing in their way and holding them back in defense of our healthcare is our union. It’s a daily battle that we don’t see, and from what we are told, not a pretty one.

The writer is certainly correct that health care is a business. That, in fact, is a great reason why the majority of retirees oppose being dumped into an Advantage plan. After all, Aetna makes profits by denying us care. In fact, the only way to really avoid this business is to take it out of the hands of business. That’s why the UFT Delegate Assembly, supposedly the highest decision-making body of the union, has twice affirmed the NY Health Act, which would resolve all these issues for both retiree and in-service members.

However, “President Mulgrew” has unilaterally decided to defy the will of the Delegate Assembly. Evidently that’s fine with the writer of this email, whose job depends on kissing Mulgrew’s ass as softly and frequently as possible. Otherwise, he’d be dumped onto the scrap heap with Amy Arundell.

There are many misconceptions here, though. It is most decidedly not our union defending our health care. Our union is surrendering our health care without a fight, having given away most funding for in-service health care back to the city. Not only that, but they’re trying to take it out on retirees. Medicare, in fact, has nothing whatsoever to do with the stabilization fund. Still, they want to take from us to prop up the fund Mulgrew foolishly decimated.

A number of members of the committee have expressed adamant opposition to any Advantage plan. They send to me various articles, commentary, and personal objections to Advantage plans and want me to disseminate to the committee what they provide. The reason that people send me the articles is their contention of the inadequacy of Advantage plans. Yes, some Medicare Advantage plans are a ripoff, and we’re all aware there are some bad actors out there. I surmise their intent as well is to build support to kill any Advantage plan that the City wishes to implement. Previously I have regularly ignored such requests because the choice of plans is not in our committee’s purview. That belongs to the City and, by past practice and agreement, in consultation with the MLC.

This is the guy who just told us that his work had a meaningful impact. He’s now telling us we have no actual voice. Confusing talk for a leader, isn’t it? Let me tell you something—ALL Advantage plans are a rip off. All deprive Americans of care their doctors deem necessary. Aetna admitted they would do so in NY State Supreme Court, and that’s why we’re not using it right now.

If this writer had a spine, as opposed to a cozy patronage gig, he’d take action, as have the NYC Retirees.

We have to keep in mind that the premium free Advantage plan that has been proposed includes significant improvements and standards that this committee recommended and that makes it far different than the plans described as ripoffs!

Different, maybe. Better even, maybe. But still limited, as was ruled by the NY State Supreme Court. If we are union, we fight for something more than “premium free.” We fight for better care. We fight for lower prices. Medicare, as is, has small deductibles and no co-pays.

UFT has been increasing co-pays to ridiculous levels, and I see no end in sight. It’s great to have a “premium-free” health plan if you never get sick, but I had cancer, and I’m here to tell you that being sick gets expensive, even with GHI. Medicare with a Medigap plan, as we have now, is great coverage.

Unions ought to be in the business of making things better for members. The United Federation of Teachers should be jumping up and down demanding the city spend more on members. Instead, we gave a billion dollars to the city in 2014, and promised to save the frigging city 600 million a year, forever, in 2018.

Michael Mulgrew and the hacks in his patronage jobs are not working for teachers. They are not working for city retirees. They are battling to save money for Eric Adams. This money ought to be used to preserve and improve our health care.

Unions support members, not mayors. The message from UFT leaders is, “Sit down, shut up, and don’t question the wisdom of Mike Mulgrew.”

My message is this—Dump Mulgrew and every single hack who supports his destructive, blatantly anti-union policies.