The Lessons Of 55-25 [Restored]

[A computer in Ohio swallowed the end of the original post. I have rewritten that part.]

In the late 1970s, at the height of New York City fiscal crisis and before many of today’s teachers were born, the law governing the pensions of New York City public school educators was changed for the worse. New tiers with diminished benefits were created, and new teachers had to teach for thirty years or until age 62 before they could retire without a reduction penalty in their pensions.

This last week the UFT achieved the high point of a decades long struggle to bring equity to the pension tiers with legislation that restored the pre-1975 benefit — the right to retire at age 55 with 25 or more years of service — to all educators in service.

What is all the more remarkable is that this enhancement of our pensions came in the face of a wave of coroporate attacks and diminishments of the pension benefits of American working people, and overcame the last minutes efforts of corporate lobbies in Albany to stall the legislation.

There are lessons to be learned here about the importance of building and wisely using the power of union solidarity — and in sheer, dogged persistence.

For the better part of three decades, the UFT fought to bring equity to the different pension tiers and to restore the Tier 1 pension benefits — especially 55-25 — to all New York City public school educators. On two previous occasions, we were successful in passing legislation through the NY State Assembly and State Senate, only to face a gubernatorial veto. Each time we suffered a setback, we renewed the battle. Now, at a moment when few would have predicted it and against the larger trends in American society, we have been successful.

Our success shows the importance of the savvy use of collective bargaining, starting with the inclusion of 55-25 in the 2005 contract and concluding with a contract implementation agreement last fall which made the implementation of school-wide bonuses contingent upon the passage of 55-25 legislation. As a consequence, when the corporate and business lobbyists launched efforts to thwart 55-25 in the days leading up the governor’s signature, the city was actively supporting its adoption.

Equally important was the judicious use of the influence and power acquired through the UFT’s political action arm, the Committee of Political Education [COPE]. Financed totally by voluntary contributions from UFT members, COPE makes possible and supports our work in the electoral sphere. It was that work, and the friends it has won us, that ensured the political muscle necessary to pass 55-25.

Together, all of these levers of power, painstakingly built through union solidarity, brought victory.

Tagged: 55/25

 Print