Union democracy is an essential characteristic of the American labor movement. New England town hall meetings based on Athenian democracy allow every citizen to gather and voice their concerns and then vote. Many unions operate on that simple and direct model.

But as the size of the body grows larger and larger, a point of diminishing returns can make it unwieldy. While town hall direct democracy is ideal for a chapter at a school, it does not work for the Retired Teachers Chapter with more than 66,000 retiree members.

That is why representative democracy was developed. Union members in their workplace sites elect someone from their group to present their concerns and vote on their behalf. Such elected representatives could be a chapter leader, shop steward or one or more delegates who become part of a representative body such as a Delegate Assembly or a state or national convention.

For the RTC members, it is the monthly Delegate Assembly, yearly New York State United Teachers Representative Assembly and/or the biennial American Federation of Teachers Convention. Policies, programs and political endorsements are considered at all these official gatherings by the elected union delegates.

For the election of union presidents or officers, different unions, locals, statewide affiliates and nationals use differing processes.

In some cases, delegates to representative bodies choose their officers while others do so by mail ballot to the rank-and-file membership.

Which is better? There are arguments for both. The AFT and NYSUT have chosen the convention model and that has worked well. NYSUT especially has had vibrant contested elections in recent cycles, as has the AFT.

The UFT, AFT Local 2, on the other hand, sends direct mail ballots to all its members.

How do we, UFT retirees, fit into this process? In most unions, retirees play no role in choosing “in-service” officers. In fact, it is common in a lot of unions to say goodbye to retirees and wish them well, which may not include a benefit package or a defined-benefit pension plan. Fearing retirees would become a drain on their negotiated or legislative resources, they shed them like water off a duck’s back.

That is not the UFT way. UFT membership is all inclusive, from the newest in-service member to the most senior retiree. And we have thousands of members in their 90s as well as dozens who are more than 100 years old. While UFT retirees do not have a contractual relationship with our former employers, we are a seamless union working in solidarity for one another. In-service members lobby for senior benefits and retirees lobby for our working colleagues and for the schools and other workplaces in which we once served.

As UFT retiree members, we have the right to vote for all UFT officers. The UFT is one of the few unions to allow that. Our founders, even when there were very few retirees, had the vision to see the vital role we would and should play.

Now, at more than 66,000 strong, we are the largest bloc of voters in the UFT. And, as in public elections, we vote in disproportionately high numbers. To ensure that our role is to support in-service members and not dominate them, the UFT put a cap of 22,000 retiree votes that may be counted in a union election. As it has turned out, retiree votes have not exceeded that cap.

A UFT election for president and officers is now taking place. You should have received your ballot in the mail. Consider all the candidates who are running and evaluate them in your own way. Then vote as if your economically secure life depends on it. It does.