All members are prospective retirees!

All Local 100 members are prospective retirees! If you screw former Local 100 members then you also screw current Local 100 members. A recent article in The New York Times released on Wednesday by the Empire Center for New York State Policy highlighted reports that there is no money for retiree health cost.

Number one in giving empty promises to the retirees is New York City, number two is New York State, and number three is our employer. There are ‘professional economists’ who are opposing promised retirees health care costs and there are legions of others that are on the other side of the issue. What weighs heavily with us is that for nearly a quarter of a century those opposing promised retirees health care costs have held to their belief and the disastrous results speak for themselves.

Empire Center for New York State Policy has the right to their opinion and we respect that. If they decide not to have their family members participating and benefiting from any retirees health care programs then that is their right. But why must they impose their will on the rest of us by almost denying those who want and indeed demand this type of retirees health care for their own family members. That cannot be tolerated.

By our own count, all members of Local 100 want the retirees health care and should be  given the opportunity to benefit from such a program. We here in why did you join the union have heard numerous complaints from the current and retiree members facing difficulties in attaining health care for their family members. We look at those members as if they were our own family members, and feel that their families should be entitled to have health care coverage.

Samuelsen will be held accountable if in the 2012 contract he screws retirees health care. However he has steered the ship in the right direction recently and based on his good government role we hope he will indeed help out the retirees of Local 100.  He has the type of good government role like that of Fiorello LaGuardia and hopefully it is not a ploy. Hopefully he maintains his new style of leadership and we will take the role of Fiorello LaGuradia rather than the morals of Plunkitt of Tammany Hall. Good intentions and worthy goals is not what we are looking for but for the retirees to get the health care that was promised to them.