Bob Lyons. “The IEA and the IFT are not with us because they are not on the same side.”
Bob is a retired teacher and former elected member of the TRS board of directors.
On the issue of the state reducing the contributions to retired teachers' health insurance we have plainly seen that the IRTA is against the change and the IEA and the IFT have accepted it.
It is a situation that reminds of then TRS Board member and also then President of the IEA, Cyndi Klickna, arguing with me that our two teacher organization should not be competing because we are on the same side. And I would counter that that is true, except when we are not on the same side.
And I would remind her of when the IEA and IFT signed off on the state of Illinois shorting TRS two billion dollars over two years in return for the state's extension of the Early Retirement Option.
Her only counter was to say much of the money "saved" (which was the word she used) went to public education. On the current issue the law that established the funding for retired teachers called for four payers.
The state's annual ontribution would be equal to the amount that active teachers were required to pay the health care fund. If the state was going to save money, active teachers would contribute less as well.
The IEA and the IFT are not with us because they are not on the same side. Our people lose and their people gain. We worry if our health care will be paid in a timely fashion and at the same time active teachers have more money in their pockets. Does anyone really believe that spending less on health care this year is going to mean that people will need to spend less in the future. With the obvious exception of those that die because something wasn't treated.
Bob Lyons
Everyone in our vast world wants to believe that someone is on their side. The idea of having no one to protect our backs, to be constantly vulnerable, is threatening.
What could be worse? Having those we believe to be on our side betray us. That is abhorrent.
Yes, our union leaderships have done precisely that, and their behavior is indeed abhorrent; and to betray us during our most vulnerable physical age related problems is doubly abhorrent.