It’s unclear whether the pharmaceutical corporations like being called Big Pharma. Nicknames for monopolies, such as Ma Bell for AT&T, were comforting in an earth mother sort of a way. But in senior circles, Big Pharma is uttered with contempt.

Over the summer, RTC members helped their teachers union colleagues in Florida reach new state-mandated union enrollment thresholds and helped the United Farm Workers union organize migrant farmworkers in New York State.

Are UFT retirees missing out when they attend union events and courses remotely? The Si Beagle Learning Center now offers remote courses, activities and seminars that were only available in person before the pandemic. But there is growing pressure to organize more in-person activities, and the RTC is trying to provide both options.

The RTC Executive Board voted to allow the UFT president and the Aetna health care plan presenters to speak with an extended Q&A period at our March and April meetings, deferring other normal business. Many members who wanted information without disruption have applauded this approach.

Far right legislators see raising the debt ceiling as an opportunity to push an ideological agenda that could advance their cause.

In recent litigation over the New York City Medicare Advantage Plus plan, a judge ultimately gave the green light for the city to implement such a plan but he simultaneously took aim at the collective bargaining rights of city unions.