I took a few notes but go listen here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/conversations-with-bennett-fischer-and/id1490313171?i=1000646815704
Bennett is up first and is running for Chapter Leader of the 60-70 thousand member UFT retiree chapter. Bennett describes his reasons for running for chapter leader of his school in order to lead a fight back against supervisor over reach. He makes an interesting analogy to his current run for RTC Chair, leading a slate of 300, as fighting back against the same supervisor type mentality by which Unity has been running the chapter.
What is wrong with Medicare Adv? Limited care ecosystem, gate keeper for care who can second guess your doctor, fully subsidized supplemental care by NYC Org of Public Service Retirees )NYCOPSR) -- people have planned based on a given assumption. A forced switch to Med Adv could cause irreparable harm and even death. Not only retiree think that but state courts, and even mainstream press reports on dangers and scams of MedAdv.
Danial -- how would a victory change things? Look what we've done so far? Fought back, alliances with other unions and Marianne group, 300 delegates and honest information to members. May never be the union president -- we can have a strong chapter to guide and inform the leadership.
D: What does an effective CL look like? Listens to membership, guide to resources, will work with union leadership when it can but if necessary will stand up to leadership. Right now chapter does service things right and we will continue to do the same thing - serve members. The team RA will bring to the chapter is amazingly skilled and well qualified. Hundreds of years of experience. Former HSVP -- Michael Shulman. Arthur Goldstein. Gloria Brandman. People in union since 1964 -- Bobby Greenberg.
Next step in campaign is to get information out to 70k members. Many are not even aware yet. People leave job and often stop paying attention under assumption they have what they always had. We need to reach people before they open their ballot in mid May.
Daniel -- not just any election but a referendum on the UFT leadership and Unity Caucus.
B: Unity Caucus pushing this entire MedAdv plan - they set this up by fudning raises in 2014 contract on the back of retirees.
Hey, union family:
I’m inviting to join me, tonight, Sunday, February 25th at 7 PM, for a very special broadcast of Talk Out of School on WBAI 99.5 FM.
I speak to retired educator and union activist, Bennett Fischer.
Bennett, along with over 300 retirees, is running on the Retiree Advocate slate to lead the Retired Teachers Chapter within the United Federation of Teachers.
Retiree Advocate (RA) is political caucus in the Retired Teachers Chapter (RTC) of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT).
They will challenge Michael Mulgrew’s deeply entrenched Unity caucus with a full slate of three-hundred retired educators — teachers, paraprofessionals, therapists, counselors, nurses, secretaries and other UFT titles - in the triennial chapter elections this spring.
For nearly three years, Retiree Advocate/UFT and our allies from across the spectrum of NYC municipal unions, have been fighting to preserve our traditional Medicare benefits, as they face attacks from the mayor's office, the Municipal Labor Committee, and Mulgrew, the architect behind the city’s privatized Medicare Advantage plan (MAP).
Health care decisions should be between us and our doctors. Big private insurance corporations should not profit at the expense of our health. Thankfully, RA and NYC retirees are fighting to preserve and strengthen NYC laws that protect our benefits.
This upcoming spring retiree chapter election may have a big impact on our union leadership in regards to the fight to stave off attempts by the city to force all Medicare eligible city retirees into the highly litigated and much maligned MAP.
In the second segment, I speak to Marianne Pizzitola, president of the New York City Organization of Public Service Retirees. Her organization, comprised of NYC retirees from our city’s unions, has been leading the fight against the city and the top establishment union bosses who are partnering in cost savings healthcare givebacks that endanger the healthcare benefits of retired and active city workers.
She will share updates on the fight the NYC retirees are waging to preserve their hard earned benefits. We also have an very interesting conversation about the upcoming RTC election and the history behind the misuse of the Healthcare Stabilization Fund.
You don’t want to miss tonight’s broadcast! You can listen to the livestream on your computer or mobile device at wbai.org
The show will be available to download as a podcast on Apple, Spotify, and here, at The Wire.
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