Because winning the election in November is so important, it is time to ask Michael to use his strength/power/sway to stop NYC from continuing to appeal the 3 cases in Albany.
Then NYC retirees including UFT/RTC members can send $ to Democratic candidates including President Biden instead of sending $ to fight these lawsuits.
If he indeed got the message he should work with Retiree Advocate and the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees to stop MA and use that $ to save democracy.
Ha. The UFT will keep fighting against us, as they speak eloquently about doing the opposite at the national level. Keep supporting the City against us. It is life and death for retirees, but for MM and RW it's about keeping their half-million or more salaries, isn't it. I mean, who stomps on retirees, many of whom worked on the notorious pile in 2001?
Where was Randi Weingarten when the UFT tried to dump her members into a Medicare Advantage Plan?! If she wanted to she could have stopped it. She didn’t.
I agree. If she believes that Medicare should be protected on a national basis, she should
support the legislation in the City Council and New York legislature to protect Medicare for
UFT retirees.
Randi Weingarten is a Democratic power broker.The Democrats control the Governor and the New York State Legislature. The Democrats control the New York City Council and the Mayor.
Will the RTC ask her to publicly endorse the bills in the City Council and New York Legislature?
Arthur, thank you for your comprehensive review of the RTC Meeting. I have to say though, Randi, as several people have mentioned, speaks with a forked tongue when it comes to MA. She, like Mulgrew, and unfortunately President Biden, (insurance companies are strong lobbyists and his political contributors), have all supported MA. Yes, the President has put caps on how much insurance salespeople can make, but as we know, MA insurers rake in millions at their subscriber's expense. I know you and many others are on the PNHP website as well as other sites of the organizations fighting to keep original Medicare. Why isn’t Randi and the AFT? The only thing she said with which I agree is that Biden needs to be elected. I DO believe she had the power to stop Mulgrew, but she did not because she, like he, never believed Retiree Advocate would win. Now, all of a sudden, “we’re in this together.” Yes, we are all Union, but so is she. She needed to be leading the way in insuring that we kept Medicare. She was not! Actions DO speak louder than words. Let’s see what she actually does. Let’s see what Mulgrew does.
I agree with your perspective. I watched it on zoom and said to myself that it is in their self interest to “hear us.” This election was equivalent to placing a bullhorn next to their ears for them to finally hear us. Let us see if these leopards can change their spots. But we have to give them a chance, but with critical eyes.
I love your line about putting a bullhorn to their ears. Yes, we'll give them a chance. But we move ahead assuming they will do nothing. Should they surprise us otherwise, that would be great.
IMO what Weingarten's presence indicates is that she smarter than the hacks she employs to do her work. She realizes the victories in this election means the machine that rules the UFT/NYSUT/AFT faces a battle for its life. We shouldn't underestimate her. We also shouldn't believe a single thing she says. The Dems will be as good as we make them, and so far we haven't done anything much to have that happen.
I am not holding my breath waiting for our demands to be met, but I will come back to this for sure. And if they won't help us, we'll help ourselves. I agree with you about the Dems, but I am acutely aware the alternative is unacceptable.
They only "heard" us when it was impossible for them not to. That alone shows their true lack of honesty and integrity. How hard is it to understand retirees want their promised health care? Why did RW and MM, et. al., fight against its members? When will that be explained? Not at this meeting, for sure. No, it's Trump's fault somehow. No, it's bad negotiators like the above-mentioned. Would this have gone this way if A. Shanker were here? Hell no. These characters turned the union against itself, management against workers, young against old. Why would anyone believe RW that she is now going to turn around 180 degrees and fight for what she spent three years fighting against? She just wants to keep in control and this is what she has to say to achieve her personal goals, like MM.
Where was Randi Weingarten when the UFT tried to dump her members into a Medicare Advantage Plan?! If she wanted to she could have stopped it. She didn’t.
Arthur, I hope that you use your prior knowledge of Randi to evaluate her lyrical words. Randi knows what you want to hear and delivers. Worth asking if she is the slick master planner behind the Medicare Advantage plan. The empathetic, consoling and palliative facade masks the forked tongue sweet talking triangulator as anyone who has paid deep attention to her over the decades can attest to. She says all the right things and has no intention of doing any of it. She is a politician without elected office, a strategic position that gives her free rein to do what is solely in her interest and that of those she seeks to curry favor with. Look under the rug, check out the behind closed doors motivation for her and Mulgrew’s forum Empowering All Workers with the US Dept of Labor. The forum had nothing to do with worker empowerment but rather how to curb and privatize the gains of the middle class golden years. Do not give credence to a single thing that Weingarten says in public. It’s what is said in private, words that you will never have access to, that you need to pay attention to.
I made clear what I want to see. And as Norm says, we'll watch what they do, not what they say. I will certainly circle back to this, and sooner than later.
What does it mean "We heard you"? Clearly they heard our message 3 years ago and doggedly opposed senior citizens' healthcare the whole time. does it mean they now agree with us? She didn't say that. Does it mean they recognized how wrong they were? She didn't say that. All she really means is that she can no longer pretend we don't exist as she has done up to now because we kicked her collective ass. She admits defeat. She does not admit wrong-doing. At all. Why would anyone trust them now? Trust once lost never returns. MEDICARE, once lost, is never gotten again. As for democracy, we never had it in the Union due to the patronage operation and disinformation. It is high time for Randy and Michael to go. Yes, now WE have heard you.
Well, they have a chance to prove us wrong. They can make sure we pass our bills with the City Council and the State Legislature. Short of that, yes you're right. And I'm not holding my breath.
Because winning the election in November is so important, it is time to ask Michael to use his strength/power/sway to stop NYC from continuing to appeal the 3 cases in Albany.
Then NYC retirees including UFT/RTC members can send $ to Democratic candidates including President Biden instead of sending $ to fight these lawsuits.
If he indeed got the message he should work with Retiree Advocate and the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees to stop MA and use that $ to save democracy.
Cindy Teplitsky
Great thought!!!
Ha. The UFT will keep fighting against us, as they speak eloquently about doing the opposite at the national level. Keep supporting the City against us. It is life and death for retirees, but for MM and RW it's about keeping their half-million or more salaries, isn't it. I mean, who stomps on retirees, many of whom worked on the notorious pile in 2001?
If Mulgrew had listened at all he wouldn't have been astounded. I'm glad to see Tom Murphy leave. Maybe I'll actually go to a retiree meeting now.
Well, in fairness, it was Murphy who was astounded. Hope to meet you at our next meeting!
oops
Where was Randi Weingarten when the UFT tried to dump her members into a Medicare Advantage Plan?! If she wanted to she could have stopped it. She didn’t.
I don't know whether or not she could've done that. I know what she can do now. And that's what we have to watch.
I agree. If she believes that Medicare should be protected on a national basis, she should
support the legislation in the City Council and New York legislature to protect Medicare for
UFT retirees.
Randi Weingarten is a Democratic power broker.The Democrats control the Governor and the New York State Legislature. The Democrats control the New York City Council and the Mayor.
Will the RTC ask her to publicly endorse the bills in the City Council and New York Legislature?
I don't speak for the entire RTC, but I don't see why not.
Could you please raise this proposal to the new RTC leadership?
Done already. Bennett agrees. I'm also asking that it be part of our endorsement process.
Her loyalty to MM is far greater than her loyalty to the actual members of UFT.
Arthur, thank you for your comprehensive review of the RTC Meeting. I have to say though, Randi, as several people have mentioned, speaks with a forked tongue when it comes to MA. She, like Mulgrew, and unfortunately President Biden, (insurance companies are strong lobbyists and his political contributors), have all supported MA. Yes, the President has put caps on how much insurance salespeople can make, but as we know, MA insurers rake in millions at their subscriber's expense. I know you and many others are on the PNHP website as well as other sites of the organizations fighting to keep original Medicare. Why isn’t Randi and the AFT? The only thing she said with which I agree is that Biden needs to be elected. I DO believe she had the power to stop Mulgrew, but she did not because she, like he, never believed Retiree Advocate would win. Now, all of a sudden, “we’re in this together.” Yes, we are all Union, but so is she. She needed to be leading the way in insuring that we kept Medicare. She was not! Actions DO speak louder than words. Let’s see what she actually does. Let’s see what Mulgrew does.
Here's the thing--they now know what WE will do. And our actions will continue regardless of what they do.
Great piece and radio interview. It's really important we stop fighting against other union members.
Thanks for your kind words Floraine!
I agree with your perspective. I watched it on zoom and said to myself that it is in their self interest to “hear us.” This election was equivalent to placing a bullhorn next to their ears for them to finally hear us. Let us see if these leopards can change their spots. But we have to give them a chance, but with critical eyes.
I love your line about putting a bullhorn to their ears. Yes, we'll give them a chance. But we move ahead assuming they will do nothing. Should they surprise us otherwise, that would be great.
IMO what Weingarten's presence indicates is that she smarter than the hacks she employs to do her work. She realizes the victories in this election means the machine that rules the UFT/NYSUT/AFT faces a battle for its life. We shouldn't underestimate her. We also shouldn't believe a single thing she says. The Dems will be as good as we make them, and so far we haven't done anything much to have that happen.
I am not holding my breath waiting for our demands to be met, but I will come back to this for sure. And if they won't help us, we'll help ourselves. I agree with you about the Dems, but I am acutely aware the alternative is unacceptable.
They only "heard" us when it was impossible for them not to. That alone shows their true lack of honesty and integrity. How hard is it to understand retirees want their promised health care? Why did RW and MM, et. al., fight against its members? When will that be explained? Not at this meeting, for sure. No, it's Trump's fault somehow. No, it's bad negotiators like the above-mentioned. Would this have gone this way if A. Shanker were here? Hell no. These characters turned the union against itself, management against workers, young against old. Why would anyone believe RW that she is now going to turn around 180 degrees and fight for what she spent three years fighting against? She just wants to keep in control and this is what she has to say to achieve her personal goals, like MM.
Yup 👍🏻 in a nutshell
Well, I'm not a mind reader. But whatever they do, we're out here and ready to fight them every step of the way. And we will.
Where was Randi Weingarten when the UFT tried to dump her members into a Medicare Advantage Plan?! If she wanted to she could have stopped it. She didn’t.
Arthur, I hope that you use your prior knowledge of Randi to evaluate her lyrical words. Randi knows what you want to hear and delivers. Worth asking if she is the slick master planner behind the Medicare Advantage plan. The empathetic, consoling and palliative facade masks the forked tongue sweet talking triangulator as anyone who has paid deep attention to her over the decades can attest to. She says all the right things and has no intention of doing any of it. She is a politician without elected office, a strategic position that gives her free rein to do what is solely in her interest and that of those she seeks to curry favor with. Look under the rug, check out the behind closed doors motivation for her and Mulgrew’s forum Empowering All Workers with the US Dept of Labor. The forum had nothing to do with worker empowerment but rather how to curb and privatize the gains of the middle class golden years. Do not give credence to a single thing that Weingarten says in public. It’s what is said in private, words that you will never have access to, that you need to pay attention to.
I made clear what I want to see. And as Norm says, we'll watch what they do, not what they say. I will certainly circle back to this, and sooner than later.
Bravo. I think she is dangerous and crazy.
I was going to say if she were crazy, she wouldn't be dangerous. Then I thought about Trump.
What does it mean "We heard you"? Clearly they heard our message 3 years ago and doggedly opposed senior citizens' healthcare the whole time. does it mean they now agree with us? She didn't say that. Does it mean they recognized how wrong they were? She didn't say that. All she really means is that she can no longer pretend we don't exist as she has done up to now because we kicked her collective ass. She admits defeat. She does not admit wrong-doing. At all. Why would anyone trust them now? Trust once lost never returns. MEDICARE, once lost, is never gotten again. As for democracy, we never had it in the Union due to the patronage operation and disinformation. It is high time for Randy and Michael to go. Yes, now WE have heard you.
Well, they have a chance to prove us wrong. They can make sure we pass our bills with the City Council and the State Legislature. Short of that, yes you're right. And I'm not holding my breath.
They won't. I have an idea. We need to reach out to in-service elementary teachers. How come this has not happened historically?
Thank you so much for keeping us up-to-date, for your thorough notes, and for your analysis. Much appreciated. Just pledged a subscription
Thanks very much!