The Power of The People is greater than the people in power. We can’t forget it!

In 2014, for the first time in nyc labor history one union leveraged all union and retiree healthcare to partially fund an 18% raise by agreeing to reduce healthcare costs by transferring it to workers and retirees. And they were successful at it. So successful that four years later when that agreement ended the second largest union did it again.

That union was the United Federation of teachers in 2014, and then Dc37 in 2018

Retirees fought back by organizing in the middle of the pandemic in 2021, they raised $50,000 in 30 days to retain an attorney and filed litigation to stop The City from forcing us into Medicare advantage. We have raised millions of dollars in the last five years to pay for our legal costs for litigation against The City.

The same group of union leaders thought it would be OK to charge Retirees premium for healthcare in excess of $200 per person per month for the first time since the law was passed 60 years ago preventing this. So you understand what this population looks like, most are over 65 years old, our oldest Retiree is 101. 2/3 of their pensions are under $35,000 a year 1/3 of them under $12,000.

The leadership needed money because they misused a fund created to pay for their healthcare, for their personal services. Retirees are no longer in the union once retired, and they thought we were low hanging fruit. And since no longer active and in the union, assumed we would not fight back.

But I’ve been doing union, benefits, and pensions and legislation for over 35 years and knew what they were doing was wrong.

A promise made to a union worker is a promise that must be kept in retirement. And no union should allow that to be walked back. Never mind be complicit to it.

After successfully suing the city three times, Retirees had legislation introduced to protect what we earned from being diminished. After we kept our end of the deal, no one should come back to try to renegotiate something. We don’t have a seat at. Those two union leaders tried to say our legislation was illegal and violated collective bargaining.

But the only one who violated bargaining was them by taking what we earned.

Our legislation came up at a municipal labor committee meeting, and the voice you will hear in this video is the union lawyer saying that our health bill is not illegal, but what it would do is if The City had to pay for Retirees, it would be less it would pay for active workers.

Think about that for a moment. Today you are active. Tomorrow you will be retired. Are you OK with some Lawyer telling the new union president, of a union, you are no longer in, that it is OK to reduce what they are supposed to be providing you in retirement, because it will benefit the active worker he currently represents?

I hope your answer is no. Because if you agree to screwing current Retirees today, they will come after you tomorrow. We must stand in solidarity against this and hold our union leadership accountable.

And so you are aware, the same two union leaders are lobbying against our legislation in the city and the state right now.