A big fix for Tier 6

Months of fierce activism by UFT members to fix Tier 6 paid off big-time, with state lawmakers dropping to 58, from 63, the age at which members enrolled in the New York City Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS) can retire without penalty with 30 years of service.

The five-year drop marks the latest reform to improve the pension system for current and future employees.

“Albany heard us and took a major step in correcting the injustice of Tier 6,” UFT President Michael Mulgrew said of the tier implemented 14 years ago under then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, which reduced benefits and increased the retirement age to 63 for new employees. “It shows that progress is possible when we stand together.”

And the UFT did just that during a sustained campaign to raise awareness about the lack of fairness for Tier 6 members. It started in December and consisted of petitions, rallies, school actions and social media campaigns to publicize the issue. The efforts were further seared into Albany lawmakers’ consciousness on March 8, when thousands of UFT members showed up at the MVP Arena in the state capital to lend their voices to a rally of 15,000 unionists, all of them demanding, “Fix Tier 6!”

More than 78,000 UFT members are in Tier 6. Depending on a member’s salary, those who choose to retire five years earlier will save up to $45,000 in pension contributions, according to UFT calculations. Similarly, depending on a member’s final average salary, those choosing to retire five years earlier will collect up to $425,000 in pension payments during that time period.

The drop in retirement age is the latest in a string of Fix Tier 6 victories that the UFT has secured. In 2022, state elected officials reduced the vesting period for Tier 6 from 10 to five years. Two years later, they changed the final average salary calculation to mirror that of Tier 4 — the three highest-paid consecutive years of employment, down from five such years, which yields a higher pension calculation.

And the UFT seeks to win even more improvements to the tier. “We look forward to working with Albany and our legislative leaders to map out the next phase of pension reform,” Mulgrew said.

Tier 6 member Kristin DeFendis, chapter leader at MS 51 in Brooklyn, said the reduced age makes the road to retirement look more manageable for younger educators. It will also help with recruitment and retention. “A lot of them are thrilled because they were looking at 40-plus years” of having no choice about retiring with dignity, DeFendis said of her members.

The Fix Tier 6 campaign became a movement, and it was remarkable to see so many UFT members at the rally in the MVP Arena in Albany, DeFendis said. “That’s what being in a union is all about,” she said. “We have to support each other.”

Tier 4 members worked hard to advocate for the reform, DeFendis said, and she wants to do her part to make conditions better for future UFT members. “The point that I keep stressing to a lot of people is it’s a win, but the work is not done,” she said.

Abby Mathes, a Tier 6 member and the chapter leader at Newtown HS in Queens, agreed. The pension change wasn’t everything that the union asked for, and it may not have been what everyone wanted, but it’s an important victory that will make the job of being an educator more equitable, she said.

“This doesn’t mean that negotiations are finished,” she said.

Tracy Ivanic, chapter leader at PS 153 in Queens, said the pension reform is “a tremendous win” as a step forward in the process of correcting Tier 6’s shortcomings. Ivanic, who is in Tier 4, noted that it took many years to fix that pension tier.

The more people who join the Fix Tier 6 campaign, the better the odds will be of achieving additional reforms, said Ivanic. “There’s more power when there are more people,” she said.