This year, 2025, is an election year for both our city and our union. Retired Teachers Chapter Leader Bennett Fischer encourages retirees to education themselves about all the candidates and then get out and vote.

We have a lot to be happy with regarding the state of the RTC chapter. We have debates of retiree issues and an enhanced voting process. But I am concerned that Zoom is hurting the quality of our union engagement.

UFT retirees will support our school-related professionals now more than ever. How can we do that? By keeping our union strong.

We may have differences, but we all work together on the important stuff. We put members first, and we don’t let our differences get in the way of our similarities.


The RTC’s voice is more powerful than it’s ever been, and the chapter is poised to be more active and engaged than ever before. Longtime retirees’ wisdom and experience combined with newer members’ energy and ideas is a winning recipe for protecting and improving our benefits.

In the months leading up to November's momentous presidential election, we can remain on the sidelines and let the bad guys make the decisions, or we can enter the political fray, enlist our friends and allies in the battle and forge victories.