NYC retired teachers on a roll. Union Boss Mulgrew caves on Medicare Advantage switch.
United Federation of Teachers president Michael Mulgrew likes to talk tough.
But in the wake of a historic defeat for his ruling Unity Caucus Machine in an election that would determine who would be in leadership of the union’s retiree members, Mulgrew folded like a lawn chair.
I heart New York retired union teachers!
Since he sided with former New York Mayor Bill DeBlasio in a scam to push teacher retirees into a for-profit Medicare Advantage plan and continued to hold that position under the current mayor Eric Adams, the movement to defeat the plan has grown.
Of course, that’s not how Mulgrew explained it.
As usual he pinned his unilateral change of positions on the Medicare Advantage switch on everyone but himself.
But I can tell you that the full credit belongs to the rank and file organizations and activists like Retired Advocate that mobilized their members and allies to vote against Unity’s slate in the recent election for retiree leadership in the UFT.
They beat Unity fair and square.
Writes Arthur Goldstein on his Union Matters blog:
We cannot, will not forget that it was Michael Mulgrew who initiated this. We will not forget that his Unity Caucus supported him every step of the way. We will not forget our voices being shut out from our own union meetings. We cannot forget the ridiculous UFT Facebook group that discusses vacations and does not allow members to discuss their feelings on being sold out.
Marianne Pizzitola of the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees:
Jonathan Halabi on his blog post:
Mulgrew can make up excuses… but he was still supporting privatized medicare before the last appeal failed, and still boosting it before his retiree election slate got wiped out. He argued Medicare Advantage’s merits in his campaign literature. And he sent his lawyer to consult with NYC’s attorneys during the last appeal, while they tried to stave off defeat.
Today Mulgrew announced that the UFT was no longer supporting Medicare Advantage. And he gave excuses. Weak excuses. And he left out “because the retirees forced me. They beat me in court, and they beat me in union elections.”
“This has got to stop – the members have spoken, the courts have spoken – so why are we continuing to do this?” Mulgrew asked. “Why would the city continue to put its retirees through this process anymore?”
As if the process was not of his making.