6 Predictions on Healthcare
Most UFT members are aware that major changes are coming to our healthcare. The MLC and Michael Mulgrew requested proposals from insurance companies that would cost the City less money. Essentially, healthcare cuts for all City workers. The reason Mulgrew and the MLC are looking to save the City mon
A Farewell to Collective Bargaining?
Over the last several years, UFT leadership has claimed repeatedly to be in an existential fight for our very right to collectively bargain. Infamously, they’ve made the absurd claim—over and over again—that pushing retirees onto Medicare Advantage isn’t about saving money at the expense of
Retirees Sue to Halt Forced Switch to Medicare Advantage
Yesterday, the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees initiated a new lawsuit against the City, as reported by the Daily News. Using a complicated mix of legal strategies, the goal of the legal action is ultimately to stop Mayor Adams from switching retired municipal workers—such as UFT membe
Imminent UFT Contract? Healthcare Alternatives, and More: UFT Executive Board Minutes 5-8-2023
Summary/Analysis: I’m getting home a bit late tonight, so just some quick notes/analysis. Open Mic Peter Lamphere: Good evening Executive Board members and UFT siblings… I recently had a second child and have come to even more appreciate the value of our hard-won health care benefits. Not
New Action/UFT Message on Contract/Healthcare
New Action is concerned about the current state of contract negotiations. We have repeated many times that by allowing DC-37 to negotiate their contract first, they have set the “pattern” for all subsequent contracts to follow. The UFT, the strongest city union, should have negotiated first. The
Healthcare Rally on Tuesday 4/11/2023 at 12:00 PM
On Tuesday, 4/11/23, at 12:00 PM, a rally is scheduled at City Hall in support of keeping traditional public Medicare. Retired and in-service members alike are urged to attend. Numbers matter. Show the City we aren’t going to just roll over and let them privatize our healthcare.
A Glimpse into a Day of Organizing: Grade-Ins and Healthcare Petitions
Writing can only be one small piece of unionism. Directly after publishing my piece yesterday analyzing the grade-ins (which was blatantly and maliciously misrepresented by Unity), I organized. Like many others in New Action and across the union’s progressive opposition, I did my part and shot
Union elections have consequences. One of those consequences is apparently getting your healthcare and retirement benefits stripped away without a membership vote.
Today, the Municipal Labor Commission (MLC) voted to force hundreds of thousands of retirees off of traditional public Medicare and onto one of two privatized Medicare Advantage Plans (MAPs). (Full analysis of those two plans and the UFT’s role: here). Most of the City unions did not vote in f
UFT/MLC to Greenlight MAP Nuclear Option
Medicare Advantage has arrived in New York, handing over eviction papers to traditional Medicare in the process. UFT bureaucrats are already informing retired members that the plan is imminent. By September, 2023, barring a win from opposition, it’s all but certain that UFT retirees will be ripped
UFT Contract Update and Analysis – Get Ready for a Pay Cut
Bad news abounds on the upcoming UFT contract. Teachers, paraprofessionals, and the rest of our members deserve answers on why. While, I’m bound by NDAs not to disclose what is said in the 500-member negotiating committee, I have more flexibility with information given in the Executive Board, Dele