Officers deliver good news to NYSUT retirees

April 8, 2005

PICTURED: Dan Garcia, president of RC 21, Long Island, and John Rigney, a Rochester TA retiree from RC 5, meet at the RA.

Good news came quickly for NYSUT retirees at a "cracker-barrel" session of the Local and Retiree Council Presidents' Conference. NYSUT officers announced the union had just signed a contract with the Medicare Rights Center, based in New York City and Washington. With this new agreement, retirees will be able to gain access to the center by computer or phone with questions about their rights under Medicare.

The center has a booth at the RA's Benefits on Display.

"You have a question: Is someone entitled to a wheelchair or a hearing aid? ... what are your benefits if you move to another state?" said NYSUT Executive VP Alan Lubin. "These can be answered by the center."

Lubin and the other NYSUT officers - President Tom Hobart, Vice Presidents Dick Iannuzzi and Maria Neira, and Secretary-Treasurer Ivan Tiger - participated in the question-and-answer session. John Rigney, a Rochester TA retiree and member of Retiree Council 5, thanked the officers for sending two retiree reps to a Social Security conference hosted by the Alliance of Retired Americans.

Some retirees asked about negotiations toward a possible unification of NYSUT with NEA/NY. Iannuzzi said the NEA/NY leadership would vote at its delegate assembly next week on a potential unification plan. If the NEA leadership agrees by a two-thirds majority, NYSUT will spend the next year preparing. "This could lead to a vote here next year," said Iannuzzi.

"We have to be thinking ahead to welcoming them and making this work," said Hobart.