Bravo on a great write up! A few points! The MLC does not hold a bargaining certificate. The Unions who do hold one, have right to negotiate healthcare as it is a mandatory subject of bargaining. They convey that power to the MLC when they participate in a vote. Did you know that union in the MLC who do not get their benefits from OLR voted against those who do? They never should have had a say in a healthplan that does not affect them.
The weighted voting structure has never been changed since the MLC was founded in 1966 - except that they passed a change to the bylaws going from 2/3 to 3/4 vote to change the bylaws. Someone doesn't want to lose power. Oh, that's right, Michael Mulgrew actually said that this week... he does not want to dilute his power in the MLC to another union. It on the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees YouTube channel. The current weighted vote is 1 vote for every 250 members. The MLC never divulges the weighted vote of any union before the roll call as is required under Robert's Rules, no one knows if the UFT or DC37 is including their retiree numbers in those stats and they should not be, and the unions cast the totality of those votes, for example in the UFT's case, knowing darn well many active teachers do not agree with him. But he casts the vote in his way in full. The reason is that he never brought the issue to his members to know how THEY feel.
The MLC was founded to be one big union - use the leverage of the entirety of the unions against the City. Today, the apathy you describe is in the MLC as well. It's because they do not stand up for what is right as an individual union for their members and go with the flow not to make waves. Waves are needed - or the MLC without a bargaining certificate will continue to negotiate away your health benefits. Retirees have been in Court for almost three years. Even though we won every single time, many unions are still choosing the Us vs Them mentality, delegates are frustrated and walk away, and in DC37s case, about 20,000 stopped paying union dues. Local 372 has less than 500 member vote in an election out of about 22,000. members and their union treasury is in the red. This SCREAMS it is time for a change and true leadership. I couldn't agree with you more.
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