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.

Each year my colleagues and I go on the road for Annual Meetings, mostly from January through March, with our far-flung retirees across the country and in Puerto Rico.

New blood is important to any organization or institution so that it continues to maintain its mission and prepare for a dynamic future. With that in mind, the UFT Retired Teachers Chapter Executive Committee, at my request, recently authorized the creation of a Leadership Council.

This year is an off, off year for elections and that means we have a political breather. But it is not a time to be idle.

Midterm elections used to be mostly unremarkable events that revolved around local issues for the most part. Rarely did these contests rise to a national level. A truism has been that the political party of the incumbent president tended to lose congressional seats due to public weariness of that party’s missteps.