Albany’s MVP Arena was filled to bursting on March 8 as some 4,000 UFT members joined fellow educators and other public-sector employee unionists to rally state lawmakers to fix Tier 6 of the state pension system.

Members rose early on a Sunday – with the added challenge of losing an hour’s sleep to the start of daylight saving time – to catch UFT buses bound for Albany. Carrying festive pom-poms, wearing “Fix Tier 6”  bandannas and hoisting signage, members took part in a coordinated push with public service unions statewide to win key reforms to Tier 6.

UFT members made up more than a quarter of the 15,000-seat arena, making a joyous, spirited noise to the rafters in support of pension reform.

The rally marked the culmination of the UFT’s monthslong “6” days campaign, an escalating series of member actions designed to raise awareness and pressure state lawmakers to address the grave inequities of Tier 6.

 UFT President Michael Mulgrew urged members to remain united across generations of public employees, framing Tier 6 reform as both a fairness issue and a critical step toward stabilizing the workforce.

“We come here to fix an injustice that was done to all of the public-sector workers of this state,” Mulgrew told the energized crowd of educators, firefighters, nurses and other public employees.

Tier 6, made law in 2012 under then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, stripped important benefits for new hires, including raising the retirement age from 55 to 63 after 30 years of service for an unreduced pension. It also required newer employees to pay higher contributions toward their pension benefit.

For many at the rally, the issue was personal. Elizabeth Hulse, a Tier 6 member and chapter leader at PS 375 in Brooklyn, said she wants “to have an option” about whether to work until age 63 for an unreduced pension. “I want to have a choice.”

That concern was echoed throughout the arena. Chapter Leader Lori Kay Thomas of District 75’s P17 @ PS 377 in the Bronx will have given 41 years of service if she works until age 63.

“You can love what you do,” she said, “but not see yourself doing it until 63.”

Queens educators Kevin Ranegan, a teacher at PS 229, and Jessica Krivac, a speech therapist at IS 429, attended with their young daughter, saying they were advocating not only for themselves but for the future of the profession. It’s not fair that Tier 6 members must work longer than those who entered the profession earlier to get the same benefits, Ranegan said.

Chapter Leader Tafiyya Williams of MS 363 in Brooklyn said the disparity between pension tiers is increasingly difficult to ignore.

“We see the benefits of the other tiers” and want fairness, she said. “That’s the biggest thing we’re looking for — equality.”

State leaders took notice. Among those addressing the crowd were state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, Gov. Kathy Hochul and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie as negotiations continued over the state budget.

“Whatever change to Tier 6 you win,” DiNapoli told attendees, “the money will be there to pay for your pension.”

The rally also featured lighter moments, with comedian and UFT member Gaspare Randazzo serving as emcee and a guest appearance by actress Lisa Ann Walter, “Melissa Schemmenti” of  TV’s hit “Abbott Elementary.”  Walter also serves as first vice president of the Los Angeles SAG-AFTRA union local, and she drew cheers when she revealed a “Fix Tier 6” T-shirt beneath her blazer.

Thomas Whitman, a retired teacher and Si Beagle coordinator from the Bronx, said his Tier 4 pension has allowed him to enjoy retirement, but he worries about the impact Tier 6 will have on newer educators.

“I’m living my best life as a retiree,” he said, but “it’s manifestly unfair that my recent colleagues have a substandard pension tier, which, in the end, is going to force people to leave the profession.”