After three years without their annual luncheon, UFT Retired Teachers Chapter members reunited to celebrate their service to the union and the integral role retirees play in strengthening the power of the UFT.

More than 400 retirees attended the event on May 30 at the New York Hilton Midtown. The RTC and New York State United Teachers gave out 42 awards that honored retired educators and nurses for their work over the past four years.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew said he gets calls from political hopefuls in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida and elsewhere requesting help from the UFT’s so-called retiree “daytime army.” Its reputation for effective phone banks and other actions “is the stuff that has made this union a legend,” he said.

The American Federation of Teachers relies on its largest local, too, he said.

“With the AFT, anytime there’s a tough race anywhere, my phone rings,” Mulgrew said. “You guys always answer the call — every single time.”

The UFT can’t afford not to be politically active, Mulgrew said, reminding retirees of the upcoming New York City primary and the presidential election on the horizon. “The bad people are very politically active, and they’re always trying to take stuff away from us,” he said.

RTC Chapter Leader Tom Murphy reflected on how the COVID-19 pandemic helped boost member engagement. Thousands more retirees participate at monthly RTC membership meetings, he said, since the meetings shifted to all-virtual during the pandemic and then to hybrid last fall.

Shelvy Young-Abrams, the retired chair of the Paraprofessionals Chapter, announced a new union outreach initiative to find out what programs, services and workshops retired paraprofessionals and paraprofessionals approaching retirement would find useful. “Paras deserve the same treatment and love in their retirement as everyone else,” she said.

Lorraine Shaughnessy Ferrannini, a retired District 75 teacher and chapter leader on Staten Island, said she was honored to accept a new award named for the late Joyce Magnus, who developed a political action “posse” of retirees to advance the union’s agenda. Ferrannini met Magnus as a new retiree in 2019. “She said, ‘Lorraine, don’t worry. I’ll put you in my posse, and you’ll stay busy.’ ”

Jonathan Fickies

UFT President Michael Mulgrew tells members that the retiree “daytime army’s” work “is the stuff that has made this union a legend.”

The award will hang beneath a photo of Magnus in the UFT’s Staten Island borough office, said Ferrannini, who is shepherding and building the posse. “She shouldn’t be forgotten,” Ferrannini said.

Retiree Vince Gaglione, a UFT Executive Board member, accepted the Tom Pappas Award for outstanding service to the chapter. Pappas served as RTC chair and as UFT staff director.

Gaglione said he was honored to receive an award named for Pappas, whom he called “a strong and imposing leader.”

“Tom had high expectations for the people who worked with him,” said Gaglione. “He was a model of what we all want and need for the good and the benefit of our union and our chapter.”

Retired teacher and school counselor Marta Sierra, who retired in 2020, said events like the annual luncheon are a great way to continue friendships and bond with people who are part of your community. “Once you’re a UFT member,” she said, “you wear it proudly.”

See the article on the UFT website for the complete list of award winners.