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To the editor:
Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers, calls healthcare a "broken system” that has created “a plague of medical debt.” She recently wrote that the AFT is fighting back “through organizing, contract negotiations, and state legislation.” (my emphasis added.)
Randi advocates for “a secure retirement.”
So why hasn’t she used her powerful voice to support the New York City Organization of Public Service Retirees’ campaign to pass city and state legislation to protect retiree health benefits?
Weingarten’s alignment - for better or for worse - with her successor Michael Mulgrew, might be the answer.
For Better: When the“New York State Court of Appeals issued a ruling adverse to retirees’ interests, the UFT criticized the ruling, and Randi echoed on social media: “@UFT couldn’t be clearer. No court ruling is changing the fight to keep Medicare and oppose Medicare Advantage. We all should be fighting against diminishing Medicare or Social Security. Thank you UFT for this statement.”
For Worse: Weingarten has refused requests by NYCOPSR President Marianne Pizzitola to use her powerful voice to support the City Council and state legislation.
She is an attorney and well versed in New York labor law.
Weingarten must know that Mulgrew’s claims that the bills interfere with collective bargaining and violates the Taylor Law are lies.
She may be upset that many UFT retirees are cancelling their pension check deductions to its political action arm (alternately contributing to NYCOPSR) because the money is being used to lobby against the legislation. Her silence tacitly endorses the influence campaign.
Weingarten’s is turning her attention to national issues while turning her back to her former local constituency.
Her new book is entitled, “Why Fascists Fear Teachers: Public Education and the Future of Democracy.”
It leads me to ask “Why does Weingarten Fear Mulgrew?”
Harry Weiner
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Valete
Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers, is criticized in Mr. Weiner’s letter for her silence on legislation protecting retiree health benefits in New York City. Is Mr. Weiner’s criticism of Ms. Weingarten relevant? The answer is: Yes! Ms. Weingarten’s silence on that matter is perceived as tacit approval of the opposing influence campaign.
Friday, May 29 Report this
Admin
I'll tell you why she doesn't. It's most likely the same reason why most union bosses that are part of the Central Labor Council don't advocate for retirees either - it's the money they would have to forfeit into the Welfare Funds for all their active members. That along with the sad fact that politicians rarely if ever keep their word to the people who in good faith trust them to do so. Municipal workers make a conscious decision to forgo employment in the private sector for the "guarantee" of certain benefits later on when they retire. It's very convenient for politicians to use retirees as a source of funding whenever they have a huge budget deficit to face. Mayor Mamdani will throw retirees under a bus too if he has to. Just wait and see.
Sunday, May 31 Report this
Valete
“Well said; I couldn’t have expressed it better myself.” Like Mayor Bloomberg, Mamdani is a vile bureaucrat who prioritizes party politics over the well-being of retirees. Bureaucrats motivated by personal gain and political power often view retirees as expendable and disregard union contract agreements when it suits their interests.
Tuesday, June 2 Report this