Retirees key contributors to union

Retirees like Abe Levine (left) and George Altomare are among the UFT’s best assets during election phone banking.

Retired Teachers Chapter activists reach out to strengthen the UFT and support in-service colleagues in so many ways that we are now often referred to as the “Daytime Union.”

Our political army of activists — and we encourage and invite all of you to become active members of the chapter — did an outstanding job in this midterm election to help elect candidates who support our education and social justice issues.

But there are other important areas in which retirees have an opportunity to do the work of the union that needs to be done while our in-service members are in their classrooms or jobs during the day — the time when we are available.

While retirees have always been part of Albany lobbying days, rallies and demonstrations and can always be counted on to help hand out fliers during budget and education issue campaigns, we are also important at City Council hearings. The UFT often provides testimony before various committees of the Council and the presence of supporters of the union position in the chamber is often critical. RTCers provide that critical presence.

Some 30 retirees who are former chapter leaders go into schools across the city at the invitation of district representatives to support and mentor new chapter leaders. Although the UFT provides special weekend training courses for new chapter leaders, retiree experience and one-on-one consultations are especially helpful in providing ideas for implementing and reinforcing that training.

Ed Johnson and Winston Silvera who are veterans as in-school leadership supporters said the new school leaders are very appreciative of their help.

Today, with the Department of Education closing down some comprehensive high schools and reopening them with  several schools in place of one, there has been a jump in the number of newly elected chapter leaders. Retiree experience is very welcome.

Retiree Josie Levine (standing) has been involved with AFT organizing campaigns in Texas for the past eight years.

As a direct aid to in-service members, many retirees are involved in providing professional development opportunities and up-to-the-minute research for teachers, especially new teachers, at workshops and conferences organized by the UFT Professional Committees. Ron Campana explained that the work of setting up the annual conferences, and finding keynote speakers and workshop leaders for the professional committees like the New York City Art Teachers Association and the Association of Teachers of Social Studies that draw hundreds of teachers, is extraordinarily time consuming.

Retirees are not only very active in the work of the committees, they provide the manpower and hours for organizing the conferences and share their experience and expertise often as leaders of workshops at the conferences.

RTCers do a lot of networking with other unions and retiree organizations by attending city, state and countrywide meetings and conferences to keep everyone informed and in the loop. Our members sit on the boards of both the state and city Alliance for Retired Americans and participate in meetings with the municipal unions here in the city. They make sure education issues and retiree issues such as pensions, Social Security and Medicare are kept high on every agenda.

UFT retirees are even active across the country working through the AFT in organizing campaigns. Josie Levine has been going to Texas every year for the past eight years to spread the word. She calls it her “missionary work, a chance to give back” in return for all she has gained in benefits as a UFT retiree. Josie has created strong ties with the small Texas towns where she helps with organizing and where teachers in this right-to-work state work under conditions “we wouldn’t believe.”

She isn’t the only RTCer involved in national organizing. George Caulfield is among those who travel the country all year to help out in local and state AFT campaigns.

Keeping the local, state and national spotlight on issues important to retirees and to education is expensive. And when it’s political funding it’s illegal to use membership dues. So Linda Selesnick wants to remind retirees, especially our newest retirees, that COPE contributions are more important than ever. If you were a regular COPE contributor in your active years, remember that in retirement you must sign up again to have your COPE contribution automatically deducted from your pension.

It takes all of us working together to keep our union — which now represents some 197,000 members — at peak performance. These are critical times for all of us. Teacher bashing is unprecedented, public schools are under attack and everyone is gunning for retiree benefits. So we’d better stay strong, united and active. Join us.