Arthur Goldstein has taught in a New York City high school for almost four decades. He has been an active member of the United Federation of Teachers, the city’s powerful teachers’ union. Arthur also is a blogger and a journalist. His blog “nyceducator.com” is usually witty and often hilarious.
Recently Arthur posted a parody of a letter from UFT President Michael Mulgrew to UFT members. Arthur used the parody to complain about the deal made between the municipal unions and the city to shift their retirees from Medicare to a Medicare Advantage plan. Mulgrew was a leading advocate for this deal. The agreement saves the city $600 million a year, but forces retirees to give up Medicare for a for-profit MA plan that may deny permission for services and that may not cover the doctor of one’s choice.
Parody is no crime, but Arthur soon got a letter from the law firm that represents the UFT, threatening him with legal action.
Of course, Arthur posted the original parody and the lawyer’s letter.
Something tells me he will not back down. As he says, parody is protected by the First Amendment.
But there is something very scary when a powerful person with deep pockets threatens to sue you. Back in 2014, I received a letter from the representative for a billionaire with a lawsuit threat for something I wrote about him on this blog. It’s a bad feeling.
When a working teacher is threatened in this manner by the president of his union, it is especially bad.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Yes, really bad to see Mulgrew do this. Chilling. It shows how desperate Mulgrew is to force city retirees off the healthcare they earned and were promised—traditional Medicare and a Medigap supplement—into an inferior Medicare Advantage plan. He made a deal with the devil years ago, promising healthcare savings for raises, and now the bill is due.
I am affected by this healthcare deal. My secondary is my wife’s NYC municipal workers’ plan. We won’t give up Medicare. Too risky. I researched Medicare Vs. MA and the consensus was: MA is great if you are healthy, but if you are seriously ill (as happens when you get old), Medicare is best. I had open heart surgery two years ago. The total bill was over $800,000. I paid $300. Medicare negotiated a deal. The MA will save the city $600 million a year, and Aetna will make a profit. How do they cut all that money? By denying services. No thanks.
This will be much tougher on many city employees. Many DC37 workers make close to minimum wage. They will have no option to pay for Medicare. Furthermore, they wouldn’t have been able to afford the original Mulgrewcare opt-in of 2500 a year per person, double if you have a spouse.
The notion of granting the city 600 million a year in savings, forever, in exchange for a three year contract that hovered around cost of living is among the most idiotic I’ve ever encountered. Rank and file had no voice in this, and it was hidden from us as we voted.
AOC claims that Mayor Adams is prioritizing policing at the expense of schools, libraries and health care in the city according to an article in ‘Truthout.’ https://truthout.org/articles/ocasio-cortez-nycs-new-police-contract-makes-cops-rich-by-defunding-schools/
I follow Arthur’s blog. His writing is both informative and witty. Arthur also has endorsed Mulgrew’s caucus in the last election. What changed his mind was the duplicity around healthcare in our last contract negotiations whereby Mulgrew made a secretive deal with the city promising healthcare savings. Many teachers no longer believe Mulgrew can lead with fidelity. We are now working under an expired contract with no hope of receiving increases which will provide a living wage in the NYC area. Many teachers have 2 and 3 hour commutes just to afford a home.
Thanks for your kind words.
This is not a good look for a labor union that represents educators. It does, however, strike me as characteristic of the current UFT president. Incidentally, I am a dues-paying member of the UFT, and have been for eighteen years.
I had heard that Randi Weingarten is in favor of Medicare Advantage, while a year ago, she was against privatization of Medicare and Social Security. I had also heard that she helped Mulgrew write many of the negotiations for this the Aetna contract for this MA plan. I don’t know if it’s true, but would not at all be surprised at any of it. Don’t think she is so innocent or genuine . . . .
Thanks Robert. I have never regarded Randi Weingarten as either innocent or genuine.
Bravo to Arthur Goldstein and I hope that all teachers and retirees read another this. The Advantage plans offer all kinds of gewgaws immediately and have such great advertising that people don’t notice what they’re not getting, future guaranteed treatment for serious issues as they age. I almost fell for it, but was lucky to consult with a lawyer at our senior center.
If you really want a free gym membership and a food pantry, go with MA. If you want to choose your doctor and want to get the surgery you need without asking permission, stay with Medicare.
Advantage over teachers lives goes to Aetna.
I clicked the link and found a SHARE button after the post. I then shared it on Facebook and LinkedIn.
Please help spread this far and wide. The more people that SHARE the original piece, the more eyes will see it until the truth can’t be hidden.
WHAT?! What purpose does the union serve if not to protect its members? Teachers unions do not sue their members! I truly cannot believe my eyes. Mulgrew needs an immediate vote of no confidence and be recalled for threatening a teacher. Dump that corrupt four letter word president out on the curb, New York colleagues! Your union isn’t powerful when it’s stabbing you all in the back.
We are teachers. You hurt one of us, you hurt all of us.
I’ve seen enough of union leaders in several unions to know that they are all human. Yes, they do stupid things sometimes. They occasionally become high and mighty and feel they ARE the union, instead of just humans who have been chosen to lead. I don’t know Mr. Mulgrew, or how long he’s been in office, but I’m a big fan of term limits–as we had in most of NEA. AFT is a great union, but it’s tendency, like several AFL unions, is to choose the same leaders over and over again, until they sometimes feel privileged.
Not that long ago, I took a sled ride down the big farm field in front of my house. Every fall I make sure it’s ready for exactly this reason. Kids love it. And, taking a run myself is still one of the great joys of my life -despite being well past the AARP eligibility age.
It was an early and somewhat icy morning just after sunrise. The hill was fast. Real fast. Theoretically, it’s all straight down for miles to the Delaware River. Except for a field stone wall and the trees beyond that were now rapidly approaching me.
I dug in my heels, spraying up a cloud of snowy mist, the ice stinging in my eyes. (I’ve done this before.)
But, funny thing is, my first thought this time was NOT, ‘Hey, I could get seriously hurt here’.
No, it was, ‘I don’t want to deal with the insurance claim paperwork when I do hit that wall.’
Even before I came to a full stop, I was laughing, wow, what a thought. That’s how BAD it is.
The insurance paperwork, the long wait for appointments with specialists, the nurses and doctors and EMTs I know who are seriously overworked and stressed out amidst the endless bombardment of ads to ‘ask your health care providers about blah, blah, blah’…. Spending up….life expectancy down. Children everywhere in need. I was walking along the state road this spring and saw a hypodermic needle that was thrown out a speeding car window into the weeds.
On top of conservative court judges who want to rob women of their health care protections, our psycho president #45 who believes in medieval remedies and his supporters (who hate Obamacare until that same Obamacare lets their kids ride on their insurance until age 26.) Hypocrites and phonies.
So, THANKS to Arthur Goldstein and all the other educators and hardworking union activists out there who are keeping it real. You’re always welcome to stop by my house if you’re ever in this corner of the world. And, if hot chocolate isn’t your thing, summer is just around the corner. We can sit on the porch and just…look at the hill. I’ve got plenty of beer ready. We deserve it.
Thank you, John Ozozalek, invitation accepted!
Mulgrew betrayed the UFT members with his deal. Now karma is at his door. He just thought he and the the MLC could get away with this. Now he realizes he and the MLC got caught. You reap what you sow.
Thank you for calling attention to this egregious threat by Mulgrew. When a union president threatens to sue one of their own members simply for exercising their legal right to advocate for better conditions and the protection of health care for UFT members, it is quite obvious that the president has completely lost sight of his role as a labor leader, and has betrayed those he was elected to represent.
There is a huge difference between genuine Medicare and private so-called “Medicare Advantage” insurance. Read page 61 in your official 2023 “Medicare and You” booklet from Medicare, taking careful note of the fact that this page makes clear that so-called “Medicare Advantage” supplement plans are PRIVATE INSURANCE COMPANIES and are NOT Medicare. And there is a LIFE AND DEATH DIFFERENCE between genuine Medicare and so-called “Medicare Advantage” insurance. Here are some of the vital differences you and others should know about:
So, why do private Medicare Advantage plans even exist? Here’s why: Congress authorized co-called “Medicare advantage” plans as a favor to the private insurance industry in return for campaign contributions — and the key purpose of “advantage” plans was and is to allow insurance companies to bleed money out of Medicare and to gradually privatize it and do away with Medicare. BY JOINING A MEDICARE ADVANTAGE PLAN YOU ARE HELPING END MEDICARE.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-04-12/medicare-fraud-whistleblowers-accuse-insurers-of-faking-claims-to-make-billions?fbclid=IwAR06vx6yohhP8KcSr5NSXJUFJkS3Uxb7_Br8rKNe3mcX6–mU7geoar7c94
Thanks for the info.
More doublespeak from The United States of Corpromerica: the so-called “advantage” is in actuality Medicare Disadvantage.
I am not a NYC teacher. But, I don’t understand how the City and Mulgrew are able to force members and retirees into a medicare plan they didn’t choose? Isn’t which medicare program you choose a personal decision made when you retire? How is that choice being negotiated out of member hands? How can it be legal for a union president to transition retirees into a different plan than they originally chose? Retirees are not represented by Mulgrew. They aren’t serfs whose entire life cycle is owned by the manor lord. I don’t understand how the terms of their health care in retirement is negotiated without their representation or consent. I would think that this interference could successfully be challenged in court.
Mr. Mulgrew is serving up his members for and actively betraying their trust. What kind of union leader supports taking away members’ option to choose the best health care they can get at a time when they will be on fixed income and likely to need it the most? If I still had the misfortune to work in NYC, I’d vote with my feet.
The City is adopting MA for its retirees. If you don’t want MA, you pay for your own Medigap (secondary). Many retirees can’t afford to.
You pay for your own medigap plan, and you also pay the monthly fee for medicare. That could easily run a couple over 10K a year. That would be impossible for many DC37 workers and UFT paraprofessionals. I will have a much better pension than them, and it would be tough for me as well.