Retirement can be a rich and fulfilling time. New York State United Teachers works hard to ensure that retired members can enjoy what many affectionately call their second career.

Former United Federation of Teachers President Al Shanker, welcoming the first members of the UFT Retired Teachers Chapter in 1961, said, "It's an opportunity for the active pursuit of all the things you never had time to do, to try or to study. It is a time for new independence."

Many retirees apply their new independence to improve education. They are energetic in lobbying, phone banks, communication, community outreach and dozens of behind-the-scenes efforts that contribute to the success of NYSUT local unions.

Pensions

New York State Teachers Association, a predecessor to NYSUT, began a legislative campaign that resulted in the establishment of the New York State Teachers' Retirement System in 1921. Annual pensions ranged from $400 to $800. Awards went to those over age 60, with 35 years in the classroom.

Many teachers could not meet the qualifications for full pension benefits. To compensate, the union established a Welfare Fund in 1925.

Mary Muldoon of Waverly was the first to chair the Teachers Welfare Committee. Monthly pension supplements from NYSTA helped retirees maintain their homes and meet medical expenses. The Welfare Fund was later renamed the Mary Muldoon Fund.

Growing numbers

When NYSUT's retiree program started in 1976, organizing new chapters was not a high priority.

As numbers increased, so did involvement in the union. Top concerns were retirement legislation, Social Security, consumer discounts, legal issues, health insurance, personal finances, housing relocation and continuing education.

In the 1980s, a Retiree Organizing Committee, predecessor of the Retiree Advisory Committee, was established to coordinate organizing efforts around the state. In 1985, they celebrated a huge victory with the passage of the "30-55" bill, providing full pension benefits to teachers who retire at age 55 with at least 30 years of service.

Full status

At the 1991 Representative Assembly, delegates voted for big changes. Retirees were granted a legitimate voice within the union. They could be voting delegates at the RA, enfranchising many who wanted to be politically active. Also, the dues structure was changed so that retirees' dues are pre-paid.

The NYSUT Board of Directors approved the creation of 43 retiree councils - one for each election district, one at large, and one in Florida.

In the years after 1991, the number of NYSUT retirees escalated - up to its current 88,700.

Structural changes improved political organization on national, state and local levels. Many times in the last decade, retirees came to Albany by the busload to lobby for issues like health care and pension supplementation.

Josephine Davenport, retiree-member on the New York State Teachers' Retirement System Board, began her career in 1954, teaching fourth grade at Riverview Elementary in Tonawanda, outside of Buffalo. "I was there before we even had collective bargaining," she recalled. "You have to be involved - and stay involved - to get what you need and protect everything you've gained."

Davenport, a former president of the Tonawanda Educators Association, has been involved in NYSUT's grassroots lobbying effort, "the Committee of 100," since day one.

William Cea began teaching in 1962. The former Clarkstown teacher is now president of NYSUT's Teachers Retired in Florida chapter, where members face a shortage of health and dental care providers who accept New York state employees' medical programs. Cea is proud of his members' activism: "Our people down here, whether they are teachers or School-Related Personnel, remain concerned about the state of education - in Florida where they now live, in New York where they used to work, and in the nation as a whole."

For Jeannette DiLorenzo, retiree-member on the New York City TRS board, "times change, but the issues remain more or less the same."

DiLorenzo was UFT treasurer for 20 years, and a liaison with retired teacher chapters. "The big issues were - and are - to safeguard health benefits, to get a permanent cost-of-living adjustment, and to protect Social Security."

DiLorenzo is enthusiastic about union-sponsored social and educational programs, and legislative efforts.

"Retirees need both," she said. "We can study anything from the opera to the stock exchange. We can also make vital contributions to political action efforts by working phone banks, attending demonstrations, and donating to VOTE-COPE (the union's voluntary, non-partisan political action campaign)."

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