No advantages

To the editor:

UFT President Michael Mulgrew has withdrawn support for the Medicare Advantage and the current health care negotiations for in-service and pre-Medicare retirees. In a letter to the Municipal Labor Committee outlining his about-face, he complained that “this administration has proven to be more interested in cutting its costs than honestly working with us to provide high-quality healthcare to city workers.” 

In an NY1 interview, Mulgrew added that the City “should stop all of these appeals” and expressed concern that a court labeled City attorneys “incompetent.” He also told The Chief that the relationship with administration officials has become “adversarial.”

These are crocodile tears, as MLC attorneys, with his blessing, have sided with the city in litigation brought by retirees. MLC legal filings have failed, and their lawyers are losing all the way to the bank.

According to the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees, MLC attorney Alan Klinger was paid $882,000 in 2022 and $763,000 in 2023 to fight the retirees in court. (The MLC’s house attorney, Harry Greenberg, has a $60,000 annual income.) With cash reserves drained, an attempt was made to pass an MLC dues increase to cover the $700,000 debt owed to a consulting firm for health plan guidance.


MLC Chair Harry Nespoli sent a letter to Mayor Adams echoing Mulgrew’s concerns about protracted ”legal hurdles.” Sadly, there was no call to drop any appeal. Nor did the MLC (or Mulgrew) endorse city and state legislation to protect retiree health benefits.

Nespoli writes that the mayor has rebuffed requests to meet, collaborate and resolve delays. Hizzoner won’t return calls. Nespoli now knows how snubbed the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees has felt these past three years. 

Harry Weiner