Wednesday, April 25, 2018

INDEPENDENT BUDGET OFFICE BREAKS DOWN WHERE CITY RETIREES (INCLUDING TEACHERS) LIVE

Harris Lirtzman sent me this information from the Independent Budget Office that shows where NYC government employees retire to. It is fascinating reading. Looking at the data, it shows that New York City retired government employees, including teachers. live all over the country and some even outside the country.

Here is a part of the IBO Report:

  • All 50 states and the District of Columbia have New York City pensioners residing within their borders, from 5 in North Dakota to the 35,410 Floridians who were paid $1.3 billion in pension benefits in 2017. The 1,601 beneficiaries living in Puerto Rico received $42 million in benefits, while an additional $24.4 million was paid to 866 retirees living outside the United States and its territories.
  • After New York and Florida, the eight other states with the most New York City government retirees are New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, California, and Connecticut.
Let's look at Teachers Retirement System payouts specifically from Palm Beach County, Florida where the data shows that over $175 million in pension payouts were made. That is a lot of pensioners who all can vote in UFT elections for who will represent working teachers.

If we are honest, there is no possible way anyone campaigning for UFT office who isn't Michael Mulgrew could get themselves known to all of these retirees living all around the country. Ergo, it is impossible for an insurgent group to win a UFT election when all we have to become known is an ad in the NY Teacher once every three years. Retirees are a huge chuck of the UFT electorate who should vote for their own VP and their own issues but should have no say in who negotiates for active teachers. It's hard enough to become known in the schools.

After looking at this report, it's even more amazing that dissidents have won the high schools so many times in UFT elections. All of us who have worked so hard to get some kind of voice on the Executive Board can take some credit.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

No other union in the country allows retirees to vote in elections. The UFT is rigged, corrupt and not a legitimate union. It needs to change immediately or many of us will stop paying dues.

Anonymous said...

Rigged, corrupt and not a legitimate union. Sounds about right.

Anonymous said...

Retirees don't give a rats ass about teachers in the trenches, Can you blame them? No, they just want to ensure that their pensions and medical benefits are secure. This set up is the perfect scam by the UFT to ensure that that the retirees vote UNITY. People think that the mafia runs things best? Fuck that. UFT has the mafia beat my miles.

Harris L. said...

Some of us retirees do care! But your larger point is probably true....

Pete Zucker said...

Told a friend who works for UPS that retirees can vote in UFT elections. He never heard such a thing and he is a Teamster, which is probably, or was, more corrupt than the UFT

Anonymous said...

You’s guys are really giving the newbies way too much credit. Half of these hipster Teaching Fellows would elect Moskowitz for UFT President if given the chance. You’d be shocked at how many of these young dodo-birds are Ron Paul supporters. So, maybe the old timers are really a buffer.

Bronx ATR said...

The Teamsters have nothing over on the UFT - Jimmy Hoffa was an amateur compared to Randi Weingarten and Michael Mulgrew. Some are telling us to keep paying dues to change things from inside? How's that supposed to be done? They have absolutely no motivation to change unless we cut them off from the cash. If they know this is a real possibility, it'll create an ephiany. That's a lot more important than the advertised fear of the boogey men / Koch brothers - the real fear is the lack of that cash flow for self preservation and interests. Time for a real union, even if their fear for its self preservation causes it's reformation.

UFT Orphan said...

The results of our union elections are rigged!!! Once Mulgrew took over, any so-called resolutions that came up always seemed to go "the other way," of which we voted for as a school majority. There's no point voting, but I surely will. Alas, Mulgrew will be President til death do us part.