Statement from Bennett Fischer, Chapter Leader Elect of the UFT Retired Teachers Chapter

A response to UFT prez Mulgrew’s announcement that UFT will withdraw its support of City's Medicare Advantage plan and from the ongoing negotiations on in-service healthcare

On June 23rd, UFT President Michael Mulgrew sent two letters - one to the Municipal Labor Committee and one to the members of the UFT - announcing his withdrawal of support for the City's Medicare Advantage plan and from the ongoing negotiations on in-service healthcare. It's a good development, and it's entirely due to Retiree Advocate's big win in the RTC chapter election. We did this together!

Bennett's response to Mulgrew follows:

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Retiree Advocate / UFT stands firmly against Medicare Advantage. We won the recent election in the Retired Teachers Chapter by a wide margin – and the main issue was opposition to Medicare Advantage. I am the Chapter Leader elect because UFT Retirees reject Medicare Advantage.

In the wake of this historic election, UFT President Michael Mulgrew is withdrawing his support for Medicare Advantage for NYC retirees and is also withdrawing from the on-going healthcare negotiations for the city's in-service employees. I welcome these developments.

President Mulgrew should have acknowledged that he is changing his position because elections have consequences. He could have acknowledged that he is taking these steps because Retiree Advocate wrested control of the 70,000+ Retired Teachers Chapter from his Unity caucus, and because he sees that his control of the UFT is slipping away.

The delays that President Mulgrew cites as his reason for withdrawing his support for Medicare Advantage and the in-service health benefit negotiations, are not due to any dawdling by the city, nor to any disagreements he has with the city, as he claims in his letter to the MLC. Until now, Michael Mulgrew and Mayor Adams have been on the same page.

In his separate letter to UFT members, President Mulgrew correctly acknowledges that the delay in implementing Medicare Advantage for NYC retirees is entirely due to the grassroots organizing done by NYC municipal retirees and by the successful lawsuits filed on their behalf by the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees.

I disagree with President Mulgrew's analysis. UFT retirees are neither fearful nor anxious. We are clear-eyed and steadfast in our opposition to the privatization of our public Medicare benefits. We are not the panicked old fogies that President Mulgrew pictures us to be.

As always in politics, watch what they do, not what they say. This whole health benefit mess was brought on by President Mulgrew himself. He made a unilateral decision to fund UFT raises with money from the City's Healthcare Stabilization Fund and agreed to pay it back, and then some, by scuttling retirees' health benefits.

This would never have happened if President Mulgrew had involved UFT retirees in the union's decision-making process.

UFT retirees need to be intimately involved in all UFT policy decisions that directly affect them. This is the platform that Retiree Advocate just won an election on. We call on UFT President Michael Mulgrew to support legislation in the NY City Council, and in Albany, to protect our Medicare & Supplemental health benefits on both the city and State levels.

The way forward must be together.

Sincerely,

Bennett Fischer

Chapter Leader Elect, UFT Retired Teachers Chapter

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Editor’s note: Here is a video response to Mulgrew’s decision to withdraw support from the Medicare Advantage scheme from Marianne Pizzitola, President of the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees:

These are some media articles discussing these latest developments:

The NY Post - Reversing course, NYC teachers union president Mike Mulgrew now opposes changes to Medicare coverage

City and State - After rebuff from retirees, UFT’s Mulgrew bails on Medicare Advantage

The Chief Leader - UFT withdraws support for city’s Medicare plan

Union Matters - Mulgrew Says UFT Withdraws Support for Medicare Advantage

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