Why “Fix Tier 6” Stops at 25/30 — and Not 25/55
Because 25/55 was already given away in 2009. All roads lead back to Randi Weingarten.
When members ask why union leadership is only fighting for 25/30 and not 25/55, the uncomfortable answer is this:
25/55 was already conceded.
And the concessions didn’t start with Cuomo.
They didn’t start with Tier 6.
They started with Randi Weingarten.
2009: The Deal That Built the Runway
On June 22, 2009, Mayor Bloomberg and UFT President Randi Weingarten jointly announced a so-called “New Age-55 Pension Plan.” The City’s own press release bragged about what the deal really was:
$100 million a year in savings for the City — for 20 years.
That savings didn’t come from Wall Street.
It came from future teachers.
To undo her own self-inflicted disaster from the 2005 contract—forcing teachers to report two days before Labor Day—Randi agreed to a contingent Memorandum of Agreement, pending Albany approval, that fundamentally altered the pension landscape.
Here’s what she gave up:
Retirement moved from 25/55 to 25/57
Career-long pension contributions for new hires
Guaranteed TDA return cut from 8.25% to 7%
That deal is what many educators rightly call “Tier 4B.”
It was followed by the short-lived Tier 5, and then—inevitably—Tier 6.
Tier 6 didn’t come out of nowhere. The runway was built in 2009 by Randi and Unity.
Unity Didn’t Just Accept Givebacks — They Normalized Them
This wasn’t a one-off mistake. It was yet another banner moment where Unity institutionalized concession bargaining.
Every giveback was sold the same way:
“Necessary”
“Responsible”
“For the common good”
“ We achieved “cost savings for the City” while “improving our benefits”
And no one embodied that thinking more than Unity’s chief apologist, Randi’s longtime personal assistant, Leo Casey.
For decades, Casey has faithfully defended:
The disastrous 2005 contract
The 2009 pension concessions
And now, copays imposed on retirees
Different issue. Same message:
Suck it up—for the common good.
While the Ground Was Being Given Away, There Was No Fight
Fast-forward to 2011–2012.
Bloomberg and Cuomo push through Tier 6, the worst pension tier in state history.
And where was Unity?
There was no mass mobilization.
No sustained organizing.
No serious resistance.
Now—13 years later—the same leadership claims they’re “fighting Tier 6,” while refusing to admit that:
Extended years of service
Lifetime pension contributions
Reduced retirement security
…were already conceded on their watch.
James Eterno Warned Us — In Real Time
The late, great James Eterno saw exactly where this was heading and said so in 2009, when it still mattered.
He called it what it was:
A billion-dollar giveaway to save the City money — paid for by future educators.
He was right then. He’s right now.
All Roads Lead to Randi
This is why “Fix Tier 6” stops at 25/30.
Not because 25/55 is unrealistic. Not because it’s impossible.
But because Unity already surrendered it — quietly, strategically, and proudly — while calling it “responsible unionism.”
The same concession logic that gutted pensions is now being used to gut healthcare.
Different decade. Same playbook.
These are not the values of unionists.
These are Proxies for Management.
Morticians of our hard-earned benefits.
Receipts 👇
James Eterno on the 2009 giveback:
https://iceuftblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/billion-dollar-days-off.html?m=1
https://iceuftblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/june-da-report-farewell-randi-tier-v.html?m=1
Leo Casey defending the Bloomberg–Weingarten pension deal:
https://web.archive.org/web/20150606054122/http://www.edwize.org/uft-and-city-reach-agreement-on-pension-ending-two-days-before-labor-day
Unity’s failure to fight Tier 6 (2011–12):
Editor’s note: To all those who celebrate: Happy Valentine’s Day. Shout out to The Tribe of Love.
Guess you forgot to mention that the agreements also included breaking the “pattern,” a raise far beyond the pattern, which you received every year and increased your pension.