Lack of candor on Medicare

To the editor: 

Back in November 2020, the city’s Office of Labor Relations issued a public notice soliciting expressions of interest from vendors to provide a Medicare Advantage plan to retirees.

History shows that it went under the radar, unnoticed until April 23, 2021, when journalist Sam Mellins published an article detailing the city’s intentions.

Until then, by all accounts, not one union informed members of this consequential action. And as negotiations enfolded, information relayed to retirees was sparse.

Fast forward to 2023. Gregory Floyd, secretary of the Municipal Labor Committee, Teamsters 237 president and EmblemHealth board member, offered this explanation (actually a mea culpa) of the ongoing lack of candor, as reported by journalist Bob Hennelly: “From the very beginning when the questions came up, we wanted to put something forward to tell everyone exactly what was going on and it was the last administration, the de Blasio administration who thought they could just push this through and did not talk about it — so they didn’t agree, and they wouldn’t allow us to go out and explain exactly what was going on from the beginning.”

Hmm. This rationale cries out for elaboration. Who in the administration imposed silence? It is also problematic on two other levels. One, that a responsible Union President would keep membership so uninformed due to a mayoral directive.

Second, if this is true, then it is certainly disqualifying if Mr. de Blasio seeks to be the next United States secretary of labor, as media reports indicate. As a Teamsters 237 member and retiree, I do find that Mr. Floyd’s acquiescence or that of any other union president are not profiles in courage.

Harry Weiner