You Say You Want a Resolution...

WE said we wanted ACTION. Furthermore, Mulgrew's AFT resolution does NOT address our concerns.

Today, Michael Mulgrew will introduce a resolution to the AFT Convention. You know, that’s the place where AFT pretends Tom Murphy is the RTC chapter leader, until we catch them, and then gives him a job. Murphy should rep us there, evidently, since membership here opposes him overwhelmingly.

Mulgrew’s resolution is written below in its entirety. I presume that he was selected to present it so as to give the impression he is concerned about us. Once again, I can only suppose leadership thinks we’re off playing shuffleboard and dominoes, and are too hopelessly enfeebled to take a critical look at anything they say or do.

This resolution, which I was sent yesterday, is notable more for what it does NOT contain than what it does. I will quote from it.

RESOLVED, that the AFT and our affiliates will call for improving-not diminishing-our healthcare safety net, including protecting and improving Medicare;

That sounds good, doesn’t it? Protecting and improving Medicare is great, right? Perhaps Michael Mulgrew is now Dudley Do-Right, untying us from some figurative railroad track. But what does it NOT say?

It does NOT say we will oppose Medicare Advantage. That’s important, because Michael Mulgrew has been telling us, for three years now, that he has the bestest MA plan in the whole world, that it can’t be beat, and that everyone loves it. The only problem, of course, is that no disinterested party believes it. That’s why the NY State Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled it would do irreparable harm to retirees.

This is interesting also because, way back in 2007, the UFT Retired Teacher Chapter passed a resolution opposing the privatization of Medicare. This was sent to the DA, where it passed as well. That means when Michael Mulgrew unilaterally tried to dump us into a Medicare Advantage plan, he was acting against the will of the union.

Here’s another interesting piece from the resolution:

RESOLVED, that the AFT and our affiliates will call for improving-not diminishing-our healthcare safety net, including protecting and improving Medicare; and RESOLVED, that the AFT will support political candidates dedicated to preserving high-quality and affordable benefits for workers and families;

We should certainly support such political candidates. And guess what? Michael Mulgrew is not one of them. Based on his support, for years, of a demonstrably inferior health plan, he is disqualified.

Not only that, but Mulgrew’s original plan was to charge about $5,000 a year per couple to retain real Medicare and a supplement. This would have been unaffordable for a great many retirees. Specifically, UFT paraprofessionals would have been shut out, not to mention the overwhelming majority of DC37 workers. I have a pretty good pension, and it would’ve hurt me too.

That’s yet another reason, according to this resolution, to oppose Mulgrew. Furthermore, since his entire Unity Caucus supported all this, we need to oppose them too. And if Michael Mulgrew follows in Tom Murphy’s footsteps, and secures some cool AFT gig, we need to oppose whoever replaces him on the ballot. Not one member of Unity Caucus has seen fit to uphold the will of the union, let alone speak up for us.

AFT has passed similar resolutions. There’s one here, supporting ACA, Medicare and Social Security. There’s one here, supporting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. And guess what? We still have a UFT President who chose to ignore the will of the DA and dump everyone into a Medicare Advantage plan. We still have to go to battle ourselves, working with NYC Retirees against our unions.

Before I continue, you know what’s interesting? I’ve been a retiree for one year now and we have never had a motion period, and we have never been permitted to vote on anything whatsoever. That is the work of Michael Mulgrew and Tom Murphy. They didn’t deem us significant enough to have any voice at all.

If Michael Mulgrew wanted to help us, he’d do exactly what I asked in the letter I wrote him.

1. Write amicus briefs for all cases in which NYC Retirees are fighting for us.

2. Support our legislation in City Council.

3. Make a significant donation to NYC Retirees in the name of the UFT.

4. Make sure our state legislation passes, and is no longer obstructed by “union opposition.”

Anything less is unacceptable. Of course we support national legislation that protects us, but this is not enough, and it’s a long-term project regardless. We need relief right here, right now.

Thus far Micheal Mulgrew has done nothing but talk. And for all the good intentions contained here, that’s all they are. The wording is too nebulous for my taste, and given the previous resolutions, smacks of same old, same old.

That’s not what we want. That’s not what we need. And we’ve shown you we’re willing to vote you out if that’s what it takes. As far as I can see, your attempts to persuade us otherwise indicate only that you grossly underestimate our intelligence and resolve.

Do better, Mulgrew, or go ask Aunt Randi for a non-elected sinecure over at AFT.

Thanks to JB and Daniel Alicea

Special Order of Business 
PROTECTING SENIORS
WHEREAS, the health, well-being and economic security for seniors is critical, and Social Security and Medicare are the core safety net; and
WHEREAS that core safety net should never be diminished nor impaired as seniors built this country, and have the right to the assurance that in their retirement years they will be protected; and
WHEREAS, a national healthcare crisis is affecting all workers and Americans' pay more than twice as much as other developed countries on total healthcare spending and prescription drugs; and
WHEREAS, a lack of control over healthcare costs translates to an overwhelming economic burden for individuals and families; and
WHEREAS, the 2025 Presidential Transition Project, a blueprint for the first 180 days of a new administration, wrongly equates Medicare as a source of national debt and calls for the repeal of the Inflation Reduction Act, including the Medicare drug price negotiation, which would stop billions of taxpayer dollars being saved annually and would therefore increase the national debt; and
WHEREAS, in the aftermath of the Supreme Court decision overruling Chevron, government agencies like the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, could lack discretion to regulate hospital participation in Medicare and reimbursements leading to diminished quality of care, wasteful spending, and higher costs for seniors; and
WHEREAS Social Security for seniors translates into economic stability; and undermining it through privatization and raising the retirement age will cause a spike in elder poverty; and
WHEREAS, currently the Government Pension Offset (GPO), in various instances, reduces earned Social Security survivors' benefits for spouses, widows and widowers who also receive government pensions of their own; and
WHEREAS, currently, in some states, the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), reduces Social Security benefits for individuals who also receive a pension or disability benefit from an employer that did not withhold Social Security taxes:
RESOLVED, that the AFT and our affiliates will call for improving-not diminishing-our healthcare safety net, including protecting and improving Medicare; and RESOLVED, that the AFT will support political candidates dedicated to preserving high-quality and affordable benefits for workers and families;
That the AFT will monitor federal legislation and will lobby our legislators to minimize economic challenges to current and future retirees and foster simple solutions to necessary changes to ensure the continued success of these earned benefits; and
RESOLVED, that the AFT — a union of educators, healthcare worker and public employees — will seek federal legislation to maintain Medicare and expand Social Security benefits for seniors as well as to ensure that these benefits will never be diminished and that any future contemplated changes should act only to enhance these benefits, which have been earned after decades of employee and employer participation into the Medicare and Social Security systems and need to be preserved into the foreseeable future.