UFT Members Need Transparency On Healthcare

A Statement from A Better Contract on the Proposed UFT Healthcare Deal

The proud educators and UFT members, both in-service and retirees, who ran with A Better Contract (ABC) are not so careless or reckless as to tell UFT Chapter Leaders and Delegates how to vote on this proposed healthcare deal. That is not our job — and it certainly should not be the job of Unity Caucus leadership, the political machine that has controlled our UFT for over 60 years and now serves only the whims of Michael Mulgrew.

Our job is to stand up for rank-and-file educators and demand real transparency, something Mulgrew and Unity have avoided for years. Every UFT member deserves all the facts before any vote — not just Unity’s scripted talking points and social media propaganda.

UFT members must be told:

• Why did the Delegate Assembly of PSC-CUNY — the union representing professors and staff at the City University of New York — commit to vote NO on this deal? Why did PSC-CUNY not have access to “the financial elements of the plan, the exact cost-reduction targets, and whether the City will seek to make changes after 2026.”?
  PSC-CUNY: Union-Wide Forum on Proposed Health Plan
  

• The serious concerns raised by Marianne Pizzitola, president of the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees, who has been fighting tirelessly to stop City Hall and Unity from forcing retirees into private Medicare Advantage plans. Marianne has raised the issue of a tiered network of hospitals within this proposed healthcare plan.
  NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees: Proposed Health Plan for NYC Active Workers & NON MEDICARE Retirees
  

• Why should we trust Unity Caucus to negotiate a fair deal after years of failed leadership and backroom deals? It is Unity Caucus that stood by and allowed Tier 6, continues to allow paraprofessionals to be underpaid (where is the promised $10,000?), and even attempted to cut retiree healthcare without a membership vote.
  The Chief Leader: The City’s Medicare Advantage Ruse
  

• How can we trust the Municipal Labor Committee (MLC), of which Michael Mulgrew is Executive Vice Chair, to effectively run this new self-funded healthcare plan in partnership with the City? The MLC and the City recently bankrupted the Healthcare Stabilization Fund (HSF), which existed for decades to protect our healthcare costs. This has impacted all City employees, and has even left 9/11 widows and orphans without critical medical payments. If the City and MLC cannot even protect 9/11 families, why should we believe they will effectively protect us?
  NY Daily News: NYC Stiffing 9/11 Widows and Orphans of Critical Medical Payments
  

Instead of providing real answers to these questions and concerns, Mulgrew sends his district reps and “special assistants to the president” — Unity loyalists whose main skills are propagandizing in our union hall and on social media — to pressure UFT members into a yes vote.

Let us be clear: these Unity loyalists are political operatives, not healthcare experts. They have no business telling anyone how to vote on something this important.

We demand the full contract language, every single detail, and a chance to hear directly from the negotiators who cut this healthcare deal in our name. This is our healthcare, our families, and our shared future. We cannot allow Unity to gamble with our lives in backroom deals.

UFT members, form your own judgement. Talk with your chapter, your colleagues, and your family. Ask hard questions and demand straight answers. Tell your Chapter Leader and Delegate(s) how to best represent you at the UFT Delegate Assembly on September 29. This is where the vote will be taken to approve or deny the proposed healthcare plan.

If you are a UFT Chapter Leader or Delegate, engage with the UFT members of your chapter. Hold a chapter meeting to provide information and answer questions and concerns of the membership. Follow the will of your chapter members. When the time comes to vote on September 29 at the UFT Delegate Assembly, vote with full knowledge and in the best interest of the UFT members you represent — not with fear, spin, or pressure from Unity Caucus insiders.

Be informed, be independent of what Michael Mulgrew and Unity Caucus tell you to think and do, and make the choice that protects you and the UFT members you serve.