By Joe Maniscalco

Editor’s Note: This is the first of a multi-part report following today’s New York City Organizaiton of Public Service Retirees’ press conference held outside City Hall. 

Sonia Agron, a retired EMT for the City of New York stood in a downpour outside City Hall this afternoon talking about how she and her husband — a retiree from the NYPD — are both “very sick” with 911-related illnesses and feeling very betrayed by all those trying to strip municipal retirees of their traditional Medicare health benefits and force them into a profit-driven Medicare Advantage program run by Aetna.

“We didn't go into this job because of the high pay,” Agron said. “We went into it for what we were promised when we retired — and this mayor has lied to us. He lied to us during the election by saying [Medicare Advantage] was a bait and switch. Many of us voted for him because we wanted our rights to be protected, and he turned his back on us.”

The New York City Organization of Public Service Retirees [NYCOPSR] called a press conference outside City Hall today in response to a recently broadcast “Inside City Hall” interview between District Council 37 Executive Director Henry Garrido and Spectrum NY1 political reporter Errol Louis following the introduction of City Council Intro. 1099 — new legislation aimed at preventing Mayor Eric Adams and the heads of the Municipal Labor Committee [MLC] from privatizing retiree healthcare.  

“The Daily News reported that our former union leader, DC 37’s Henry Garrido, threatened to withdraw support and donations to any elected official who supported our legislation,” Pizzitola said. “Not because of the merits of the bill —  but because our unions made a deal with the devil — and that was to trade away our Medicare benefits for their own enrichment.”

So far, only a dozen City Council Members — often congratulated for being women-led and the “most progressive” legislative body to date — have signed onto the two-sentence measure since Council Member Charles Barron [D-42nd District] introduced it last week.

Pizzitola continued saying, “Mr. Garrido then went on “Inside City Hall with Errol Louis to misrepresent and distort his actions, to misrepresent the facts of this case without any fact-checking from us, or input from us. We would’t have needed Intro. 1099 if our union protected us like they were suppose to.”

The NYCOPSR leader further slammed Garrido for appearing on an “anti-union media outlet” in a spot “funded by Aetna,” a non-union insurer with a “history of insuring the lives of slaves” and under investigation by the DOJ for Medicare fraud — all to “justify his actions of selling off retiree healthcare and putting us into a Medicare Advantage Plan, privatizing Medicare.”

“Mr. Garrido then smeared Councilman Barron and these fine Council Members supporting the Intro. to defend the one benefit that retirees relied upon — Medicare,” Pizzitola said. 

Intro. 1099’s fist sentence, Pizzitola explained, “requires the City of New York to provide a MediGap plan for our traditional Medicare.” The second “specifically states that this bill does not prevent any of our unions from collectively bargaining their benefits.”

For many lifelong trade unionists fighting to retain their traditional Medicare coverage, having a politician say one thing on the campaign trail, and then do an about-face once in office, is galling enough. It is something else entirely, however, to have leaders within the labor movement push for privatization and “sell-out retirees.”

“As a former educator, I don't understand how the heads of our union — especially [United Federation of Teachers Presidnt] Michael Mulgrew in New York City and Randi Weingarten at the [American Federation of Teachers] level — are against privatizing education by limiting the charter schools, but they're totally in favor of privatizing healthcare for retired seniors,” Annie Prickel told Work-Bites.

The retiree called the situation both “abominable” and “disgusting.”

“Especially with Randi who's in Washington, D.C. She should know [U.S. Senator Richard] Blumenthal who is the head of the committee that's investigating all the Medicare Advantage programs. I mean, doesn't she know what's going on? [Late union President] Albert Shanker, may he rest in peace, would turn over in his grave because neither of these people know what unionism means.”

Despite the “gym memberships,” “free rides,” “customization,” and other specious perks the privatized health insurance industry is using to obfuscate the delays and denials of care inherent in the profit-driven model — New York City municipal retirees fighting back against the tide of privatization are clear about who will suffer.

Michelle Keller, a retiree with more than 40 years of civil service, and head of the Coalition of Labor Union Women [CLUW], said she is “truly concerned, hurt and annoyed” that union retirees “by-and-large women [of color] who look like me — limited income, public facing, labor-committed and everyday heroes — are being treated like trash.”

“Traditional Medicare/SeniorCare through manageable, affordable, reliable and available service — no perks necessary and no confusion…the legislation of the City Council nails this process into the law,” Keller said. “We support Council Member Barron and all of the council co-sponsors who are remaining consistent by their words and their deeds.”

Neal Frumkin, vice-president of Inter-Union Relations for the DC 37 Retirees Association, said members of his organization are, indeed, “amongst the hardest hit by this attack.”

“They are the low-paid retirees,” Frumkin said. “They were low-paid when they were working, and were low-paid in retirement. They are also predominantly Black and Latino women.”

Pizzitola also took direct aim at Garrido’s claims about why the Health Insurance Stabilization Fund — a fund established back in the 1980s to offset municipal healthcare costs, and ostensively the whole reason for pushing municipal retirees into a profit-driven Medicare Advantage program in the first place — is “dwindling” and now needs to be financed at all.

“That fund has been misused and we have been saying that for years,” Pizzitola said. “It has been misused by our former unions and the City of New York for enrichment. One billion dollars was taken our of that health fund in 2014 to finance the teachers’ contract and collective bargaining. This city has taken money out of that fund also to use for budget shortfalls, and now they want to say they have to do this to us because they misused money — they’ve done this for years.”

As a retired MTA train operator and Sanitation worker with some 30 years dedicated to civil service, John Pinard has a hard time understanding why retirees have to fight to retain the healthcare package they where promised decades ago — and why more City Council members have not yet signed onto Intro. 1099.

“I risked my life getting shot at, ducking bullets, dodging cars to pick up garbage,” Pinard said. “I had to work all kinds of unpredictable shifts for 18 years, but I did it for a better future. When I finished 29 years of civil service, my employment deal wasn’t based on if the city had the money at the time of my retirement or not. The deal was to complete my end of the bargain, and cash in on my medical and pension [at the end].”

Pinard added, “When you take a job as a council member I would imagine it’s to help people. I mean, you want to be a police officer to help people, right? So, why is there only 12 co-sponsors [in the City Council]. I just can’t get it.”

New York State Assembly Member Kenneth Zebrowski [D-96th AD] has introduced his own version of Intro. 1099 at the state level, saying “it’s critical we stand up for our retirees.”

“Look at all of us senior citizens,” Agron said. “We did our time, and now they're trying to eliminate that. That's unfair. That's wrong. It's inappropriate, and it's disgusting. I'm proud to say this as a retired EMT, for all of us who are retired — it should not be happening.”

Work-Bites reached out to DC 37 for comment on this story, but has not gotten a response.