Whose Side Is Unity On?

Very soon, something will happen quietly in Albany—something that affects every single retired UFT member and every active educator who hopes to retire one day.

The Health Equity for Retirees Act (S3607)—a state bill sponsored by Senator Pete Harckham—was written to protect retirees from being forced into privatized Medicare Advantage plans. But it’s about to die without a vote unless a new champion steps up.

Not because it lacks merit. Not because retirees don’t support it. But because Michael Mulgrew, the UFT, and the New York State AFL-CIO actively lobbied against it.

Why? Because the New York State AFL-CIO—where UFT President Michael Mulgrew serves as Executive Council —has reportedly threatened to pull political support from Senator Harckham if he doesn’t withdraw his sponsorship of the bill. This is the same strategy they’re using to pressure lawmakers around New York City Council bill Intro 1096.

And unless something changes, he will.

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Instead of supporting legislation that would protect the healthcare rights of retirees, the AFL-CIO has demanded that both S3607 and Intro 1096 be watered down. Specifically, they’ve pushed to insert so-called “moratorium language”—which would only prohibit cuts to retiree healthcare if the same cuts are applied to active workers.

In other words, a statewide labor federation is lobbying to allow retiree healthcare to be diminished—as long as everyone gets hit.

This isn’t just a betrayal. It’s a direct reversal of the intent of what UFT and NYSUT fought for and won in 1994, when retiree healthcare protections were codified in Chapter 729 of the Laws of 1994 and made permanent in Chapter 504 of the Laws of 2009 (see below). This law prevented retiree benefits from being reduced as it would be political suicide to reduce healthcare for in-service employees. Those laws recognized that while it’s politically unthinkable to cut healthcare for in-service workers, retirees must be legally protected—because they’re not at the bargaining table. Now Mulgrew, Unity, and the NYS AFL-CIO are willing to reduce benefits for both active and retiree health insurance at the the state wide.

Now, the very organizations that once shaped those protections are weaponizing them to reduce healthcare for both retirees and active members—leaving retirees reeling from backdoor premium increases in the form of new co-pays, deductibles, and prior authorizations. All to create the illusion of “savings” that union leaders can offer up at the bargaining table.

For the last 30 years, New York law has protected school district retirees: you can’t cut their healthcare unless you cut active workers too. That legal firewall kept old school leadership from quietly gutting retiree benefits behind the scenes.

Over the last decade, Mulgrew has diminished healthcare benefits—not just for retirees, but for everyone. They’re pushing “moratorium language” that sounds like protection, but really means this:

• They can pass costs onto retirees as long as the equally pass costs onto active members.

• It will also force retirees into managed care, because they wont be able to afford the costs of increased deductibles and co-pays.

Either way, Mulgrew wins the ability to bargain away healthcare for both groups—depending on who’s most politically convenient.

No labor leader in their right mind should be negotiating away healthcare—especially for retirees. Under the law, the union still cannot negotiate for retirees or bargain for them as they are not members of the bargaining unit which is composed of active members. They are not eligible to vote on contracts. There should be no reason any labor leader should be backtracking on the health insurance retirees were promised.

Michael Mulgrew proved whose interests come first when he cut the Medicare Advantage deal, then approved co-pay hikes—all without input from retirees and imposed them on ALL NYC employees and retirees.

Imagine being a retiree and being told your healthcare costs are going up because the UFT is looking for givebacks to fund raises for in-service workers. Even worse—many retirees weren’t even union members to begin with. One-third of NYC retirees were city policymakers—mayors, deputy mayors, commissioners, lawyers, agency heads—who never belonged to a union. These “deals” are being forced on them with zero voice.

When Senator Harckham asked why he should gut retiree protections, the AFL-CIO reportedly said: “The UFT likes the language. So the retirees should too.”

It gets worse. The NYS AFL-CIO’s NYC office is located at 50 Broadway, on the 35th floor—in a building owned by the UFT. The same UFT that quietly endorsed the move to Medicare Advantage. The same UFT now helping kill a bill meant to protect the very retirees who built this union.

This isn’t just political irony. It’s political rot.

So where is Michael Mulgrew now? Silent. Again.

As UFT President and Executive Council in the AFL-CIO, he could have said, “We don’t trade retiree benefits for access or favors.” But he didn’t. He could have stood by Senator Harckham. Instead, he helped orchestrate the AFL-CIO’s campaign to crush this bill—and our retirees with it.

S3607 and Intro 1096 are not radical proposals. They’re basic protections—safeguards that have existed for 60+ years to ensure retirees aren’t pushed into second-rate healthcare plans they didn’t earn, don’t want, and can’t afford. Both of above bills protect a floor that has been in place for 60 years, no more no less.

And while Unity stays quiet, A Better Contract (ABC) will not.

We stand fully behind S3607 and Intro 1096—without compromise. We believe in honoring the promises made to retirees. We believe in a member-led union. And we believe it’s time for leadership that fights for the people—not backroom bosses.

If Mulgrew and the AFL-CIO won’t defend retiree healthcare, we will. And we won’t stop until this union is truly accountable—to you.

When the UFT says this is “misinformation” like they normally do, just remember, you don’t come for the King if you don’t have receipts.