Selective Disservice

To the editor:

As reported in The Chief, Mario Cilento, president of the New York State AFL-CIO, lauded the Tier 6 pension reforms negotiated with Governor Kathy Hochul and other state labor officials and political leaders.

Cilento stated that “This demonstrates what the Union Movement can achieve when we stand together and raise our voices to improve the quality of life for all working people."

In contrast, he has unfortunately betrayed retirees by opposing state legislation that would protect our health care benefits. He echoed the falsehood pushed by Municipal Labor Committee leadership that the Health Equity for Retirees Act would interfere with collective bargaining and violate the Taylor Law.

Cilento’s lobbying helped kill the bill in the last legislative session. He also refused to support similar City Council legislation, which also died.

The State AFL-CIO, District Council 37 executive director Henry Garrido, United Federation of Teachers president Michael Mulgrew and former City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams exerted pressure and lobbied legislators who supported health care guarantees.

Marianne Pizzitola, president of the New York City Organization Public Service Retirees, called this out in an amNY Op-ed as “lies and intimidation.”  She added: “Why would unions hurt retired unionists? So they can continue to leverage the value of current retirees’ healthcare as a bargaining chip.”

These initiatives are being reintroduced, and hopefully enough representatives will have the courage to protect retirees who earned their health care benefits after so many years of public service.

Harry Weiner