Waiting for a Savior

It's nice to think someone will come along and solve all our problems.

It’s on us to change our union. Just as people ask, “Why didn’t Mulgrew do this or that?” I now see people asking, “Why didn’t Bennett Fischer, or Retired Teacher Chapter leadership do this or that?” Sometimes people ask why I didn’t do this or that, and surely they’re correct. Probably, I did neither.

I’ll respond, but I’m afraid I’ll have to start at the beginning.

Last year, I agreed to run with Retiree Advocate to take control of the Retired Teacher Chapter. I did this because I’d been to a whole lot of RTC meetings, and I was astonished at how totally out of touch its leaders were. The first meeting kind of blew my mind. It ended early as a result of an absurd pretext, and there was not even a question period.

At a later meeting, I recall Tom Murphy saying he would allow one question about Medicare Advantage. I knew that, for a whole lot of people at the meeting, like me, that was the prime concern, likely the only concern. I didn’t much care how much Murphy revered Michael Mulgrew. I didn’t view us as “Michael’s Army” either. I thought Mulgrew, in principle at least, worked for us.

Of course, there was a whole lot of evidence that he worked for Mayor Adams instead of us. He and his caucus initiated a whole lot of health cuts that benefited us not at all. He sold retirees out to gain a compensation increase for in-service members, fully aware that retirees would gain nothing from this increase. To my mind, that’s not representing us. It’s the opposite—selling us out. And for nothing.

Mulgrew didn’t merely sell us out. He sold out pre-Medicare retirees and in-service employees as well, agreeing on a new health plan that would cost Eric Adams 10% less, a plan that looks pretty awful. He later withdrew support, claiming Adams wanted to impose premiums, but the fact is Mulgrew and his Unity Caucus specifically agreed to said premiums.

I’m not the kind of person who sits around and hopes for the best. That’s why you’re reading this. I’ve got nothing but respect for my brothers and sisters in Retiree Advocate. We defeated Unity in the retiree election, and the paraprofessionals voted against them as well. Despite all those cushy union gigs, they’re still reeling from these unexpected defeats.

Sure, deposed RTC leader Tom Murphy is likely as not still on the UFT payroll, for Whatever It Is he does, but that’s on Mulgrew. Sure, the people you voted in, with the exception of Bennett, have no actual union positions. That’s on Mulgrew too, and I now consider writing this column my official job.

As I said, I’ve been getting comments and emails lately asking what I’m going to do to change things, what Bennett Fischer is going to do to change things, and what Retiree Advocate is going to do to change things. Those are fair questions. I’ll tell you what we can and cannot do.

We now have control over the Retired Teacher Chapter. As such, you will see a marked difference in RTC meetings. There will be real discussion. We will not shrink from discussions about Medicare Advantage, and we will not repress conversation about how we save our current plan. We will not pretend that NYC Retirees don’t exist.

We are acutely aware that Marianne Pizzitola and the NYC Retirees have brought the city to court and prevailed at least nine times. We are acutely aware that without them, all Medicare-eligible retirees would be in an inferior Advantage plan, and that our medical decisions would be made not only by our doctors, but also by Aetna’s bottom line. We can and will invite Marianne to address us directly and answer our questions.

We will discuss the New York Health Act, its pros and cons, and what improvements need to be made to make it work for out of state members, and all of us. . We’d be more than happy to allow an expert to debate UFT President Michael Mulgrew. (Of course, we know Mulgrew, and we shall sit while we wait for him to accept.)

Beyond that, there is much in UFT we do not control. First and foremost is money. I went to several meetings at 52 this year, and I learned that RTC does not even have a budget. Instead, we’re to ask Dear Leader Mulgrew whenever we need money. They granted Bennett a salary, reluctantly, and I know he does indeed work for us.

That said, there’s a long pattern of Unity sabotaging opposition members. I recall Melissa Williams had a hard time with Unity members censoring her emails, and they made it very difficult to do her job. When she stepped down in frustration, they publicly ridiculed her. When Migda Rodriguez kept her second job in order to survive, they ridiculed her for not going to their meetings. After I slammed them relentlessly for this flagrant abuse, they finally gave her a position, just like they do for those who sign the Unity loyalty oath. (We in RA won’t be signing that, job or no job.)

Here’s my point—Unity controls the purse strings. Unity controls the media. Unity controls the email. I will write something for the next NY Teacher about where we stand in terms of lawsuits. I fully expect them to a. reject it completely, or b. edit it so it retains little or no meaning. I’m good with that, and if it happens, I’ll just place it here.

Unity controls NY Teacher, and places things in our section without our cooperation. They fooled us and prevented us from carrying signs that represent us. They won’t fool us twice. I would happily donate money to print signs next year, and I’ll be glad to support any other causes Unity won’t.

Will you join me? If we organize protests over at 52, will you come out and support us? Will you come to RTC meetings and tell Union Boss Mulgrew exactly how you feel about what’s going on? Will you encourage our in-service brothers and sisters to vote out the Patronage Cult that thinks their jobs are more important than our health and welfare?

It was you who voted in Retiree Advocate, and for that I thank you. It will be you who votes in new leadership that represents us rather than endless patronage. I will do all I can. Bennett and RA will do all they can. But it is you who has the power to make real change. We are halfway there.

There’s no guy on a white horse coming to untie us from the railroad tracks. We’re gonna have to do that ourselves. This isn’t church, and there is no single savior of our union.

We are the saviors, and we’ll save our union with our actions.

And with our votes.