The UFT’s Retired Teachers Chapter hosted a celebratory luncheon on March 6 to recognize 68 educators who have been union members for 50, 60 or more years.

RTC Chapter Leader Tom Murphy applauded the honorees for their long service. “At the UFT, we value the breadth of experience and deep knowledge of our long-term members, who have demonstrated years of commitment to the union, our members and public education,” he said.

For many years, the RTC has honored members for decades of union membership, but historically, the awards ceremony was rolled into the Spring Education Conference, Teacher Union Day or other major union events. After a four-year pandemic pause, the celebration returned as a standalone luncheon.

“Retirees are integral to this union,” said UFT President Michael Mulgrew. “The UFT’s formidable strength and solidarity wouldn’t be possible without our most experienced members’ dedication.”

Retiree Gloria Dixon, who started teaching at PS 287 in Brooklyn in 1954 and retired in 1991, was recognized for starting her teaching career 70 years ago and signing her union card in the early days of the UFT. Dixon, now 91, and other retirees continue being a part of the UFT, she said, “so we can make sure our school system is the best it can be.”

The Retired Teachers Chapter’s size and level of engagement is unique among unions, Murphy said. “Most unions wish their retirees well when they retire and say goodbye,” he said, but the founders of the UFT envisioned a retiree membership that would stay active and involved. Consequently, the RTC boasts more than 70,000 retired members who form a formidable political bloc in local and national elections.

Gloria Sfiroudis started teaching in New York City public schools in 1955 and retired from PS 229 in Queens in 2021. She remains an active member of the RTC and frequently phone banks for political candidates. At the luncheon, Sfiroudis was honored for making more than 1,000 phone calls encouraging her fellow union members to vote in the special election for New York’s 3rd Congressional District, which NYSUT-backed candidate Tom Suozzi won on Feb. 13. “Sometimes I’d get my old colleagues on the phone!” she said.

Henry Levine, who began teaching history to Bronx junior high and high school students in 1962 and retired from the DOE in 1996, received the award for 60 years of membership. “I loved teaching,” he said. He only fully retired from substitute teaching in March 2020 at age 82. Levine said he especially appreciated the remarks from Mulgrew and UFT Secretary LeRoy Barr.

“They make us feel like we’re really a part of the union,” he said. “The UFT is still fighting for us.”