pdf  Retiree News & Views - May/June 2014

Congressman José Serrano displays his Solidarity Award and is flanked, from left, by Curtis Scott, trustee; Nancy B. True, director, Retiree Division; President Gregory Floyd; Ruben Torres, secretary-treasurer; Patricia Stryker, recording secretary; and Edmund Kane, trustee.

The Founders Day theme, “Lifelong Solidarity: the Connection Between Creativity and New Roles in Retirement,” focused on the broad range of interests retirees pursue thanks to the security of union pensions and health-care benefits.

Nancy B. True, director, Retiree Division, welcomed guests on June 6 at the New York Hilton, noting that union benefits and pensions are “a platform in life that everyone should have.”

Yet about “65 percent [of retirees] in New York City live in poverty,”said Stephanie Luce, Ph.D.,associate professor of Labor Studies at the Joseph S. Murphy Institute for Worker Education. Luce noted that one million of 8 million New Yorkers are seniors, and the number is rising rapidly. “Unions are the greatest anti-poverty solution.”

Actor André DeShields’ presentation centered on doing what you love to do. He did just that with a spectacular impersonation of Louis Armstrong singing “What a Wonderful World.” The Retiree Salsa Dance Class, led by Franck Muhel, inspired the audience to fill the dance floor for an impromptu class.

Three retirees shared their post-retirement creative experiences, including Adeboye Subuloye, Grace Klein and Wilfredo Velez. Subuloye, a retired campus security assistant, established a foundation to help the disadvantaged in his homeland,Nigeria. Klein, a retired manager at the New York City Housing Authority, toured the world and the Big Apple. Velez, a retired plasterer helper, is a musician specializing in Afro-Caribbean rhythms.

At the luncheon, President Gregory Floyd thanked retirees for their years of dedicated service and assured them that while labor unions are under attack, “Teamsters Local 237 has your back.”

Congressman José Serrano of the Bronx discussed key issues in Washington and the importance of unions.“In D.C. there’s a group that wants unions to disappear,”he said, “but I believe more unions equal a stronger nation.” Serrano, the longest-running elected official of Puerto Rican descent, is campaigning for re-election and was endorsed by President Floyd.

Retiree Adeboye Subuloye addresses the audience.

Dance instructor Franck Muhel leads an impromptu salsa class.

Retiree Wilfredo Velez, right, and a fellow musician play Puerto Rican bomba y plena.

The audience applauds a speaker during the morning program.

Photos by Dave Sanders