In an all-out drive to win full reimbursement for retirees’ Medicare Part B premiums, DC 37 activists are flooding the City Council with postcards and telephone calls.

Since January, union volunteers have logged tens of thousands of phone calls and members and retirees have mailed more than 70,000 postcards to support Intro. 580, which would save retirees nearly $200 a year.

Big push by retirees
“We are making a big push for this,” said DC 37 Retirees Association President Alma Osborne. “We want the members of the City Council to understand very clearly that there is a large constituency of voters out there who feel very strongly that the city should restore and guarantee full reimbursement.”

When the federal government created Medicare four decades ago, the city agreed to provide 100 percent reimbursement of the premium, which is deducted from retirees’ Social Security checks.

But the city reneged on its commitment during the Koch administration in the 1980s, and since then the reimbursement has dropped to about 70 percent.

“Most of us are basically living on pensions and Social Security,” said Sylvia Shields, a retired member of Local 372. “We would really appreciate getting back our premium, because it’s rough to pay for the rent and groceries.”

Earlier this year, DC 37 Administrator Lee Saunders wrote members and retirees to request that they send their City Council representatives a postcard in support of Intro. 580. City Council member Mary Pinkett, a former president of Social Service Employees Union Local 371, is the chief sponsor of the bill. In phone calls to retirees and members, volunteers have been explaining the issue, reminding them to send a postcard and requesting that they call their City Council members.

Lillie Cariño-Higgins, the union’s City Hall lobbyist, said the campaign appears to be paying off. She encouraged members and retirees to continue the effort.

“City Council members are feeling the pressure,” said Ms. Cariño-Higgins. “Several Council members have called over to the union to complain about how many phone calls they are getting. We respond by saying that the level of calls indicates how much this issue matters to us, and that we don’t want to see the bill watered down.”

“These calls are very important because a lot of folks don’t know the history of this issue, which boils down to the fact that the city in effect broke its promise to its workers,” said Stuart Leibowitz, 1st vice president of the Retirees Association.

“If this bill becomes law, it will correct a terrible injustice,” said Retirees Corresponding Secretary Norman O. Davis. “This is a real pocketbook issue for retirees. We’re also fighting to make sure current city employees don’t find themselves in the same predicament when they retire.”