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Retirees: COPE helped us

Sep 25, 2008 10:29 AM

Stephen McNulty applauds Mary Ann Giorgio as she makes a point while speaking to chapter leaders about COPE.

'Key to all of the UFT’s political work, from electing Barack Obama to lobbying the state Legislature and the City Council against harmful education cuts, is COPE, the Committee on Political Education.

COPE subsidizes the union’s political work, and it is funded in turn by voluntary contributions by members.

So, what has COPE done for us lately?

At the Sept. 18 citywide chapter leaders meeting, recent retirees Mary Ann Giorgio and Stephen McNulty, both educators at Grady HS in Brooklyn, credited COPE dollars with giving the UFT the wherewithal to win the 55-25 early retirement package last spring.

Giorgio wasn’t planning to retire early, but was compelled to in order to care for her 89-year-old mother. “Retiring wouldn’t have been possible without COPE’s political support,” she said. “COPE made all the difference in my life and who knows what it will do for yours.”

McNulty, who described himself as “a proud beneficiary of 55/25,” recognized COPE for “being instrumental in getting this benefit for us” and for letting him retire so soon.

UFT President Randi Weingarten said the connection was clear.

“If we didn’t have the clout we have in Albany, we would not have gotten 55/25 passed,” she said. “That is what COPE does.”