Listen: Labor’s Efforts to Throw NYC Retirees Under the Boss Shocks Legendary Union Organizer

Phil Cohen, legendary union organizer and author of “Maximum Leverage: From the Street to the Picket Line.”

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By Joe Maniscalco

Legendary union organizer and author Phil Cohen has seen a lot over his decades-long involvement in the American labor movement. But even Phil was shocked to learn during the latest Labor and Healthcare Confidential episode on WBAI that some of the most powerful labor leaders in New York State continue to try and undermine legislation blocking the diminishment of retiree healthcare.

“Last week, we did another video where we exposed New York State Regional Director Mario Cilento and the United Federation of Teachers literally lobbying against our legislation to protect retired unionists’ healthcare benefits,” Marianne Pizzitola, show host and head of the New York City Organization of Public Service Retirees, tells Cohen. “Phil, they actually reported for the last five months in legal documents that they’ve been lobbying against protecting retired unionists’ healthcare benefits—on the city and state level.”

That revelation absolutely floors Cohen, who in the same episode also talks about the sacred “covenant” he shared with the working people he championed throughout his long and storied career as a union organizer throughout the Deep South.

“It takes a helluva lot to shock me,” Cohen tells Marianne. “I almost feel like someone has done me a favor if they shock me because I realized I was shock-proof decades ago—but with all this you win the kewpie doll. You have succeeded in shocking me. That is actually beyond what I thought was possible in terms of union corruption in the 21st century.”

Cohen, author of a powerful new memoir from Hard Ball Press called Maximum Leverage: From the Street to the Picket Line, is also not shy during this Labor and Healthcare Confidential episode about further critiquing the state of trade unionism in America today, what needs to change, and what union organizers need to know to actually beat the boss.

Listen to the entire Labor and Healthcare Confidential episode below and let us know what you think:

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